Gianmarco Ercoli

Gianmarco Ercoli (born 5 May 1995 in Rome) is an Italian professional racing driver that currently competes in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, driving the No. 54 Chevrolet Camaro for CAAL Racing in the EuroNASCAR PRO class. He is a former one-time champion in the Euro Series, having won the Elite 2 championship title in 2015.

Gianmarco Ercoli
Nationality	Italian
Born	May 5, 1995 Rome, Lazio, Italy
NASCAR Whelen Euro Series career
Debut season	2014
Current team	CAAL Racing
Car number	54
Starts	49 (EuroNASCAR PRO) 22 (EuroNASCAR 2)
Championships	1 (2015 Elite 2)
Wins	1 (EuroNASCAR PRO) 4 (EuroNASCAR 2)
Poles	0 (EuroNASCAR PRO) 1 (EuroNASCAR 2)
Fastest laps	1 (EuroNASCAR PRO) 2 (EuroNASCAR 2)
Best finish	1st in 2015 (Elite 2)
Finished last season	6th in 2019
Previous series
2003–13	Karting
Championship titles
2015	NASCAR Whelen Euro Series – Elite 2

Racing career

Ercoli started his racing career in 2003 on karting. During his karting career, he won the 2009 Italian Open Masters in the KF3 class.[1] He made his racing debut in 2014 when CAAL Racing entered him in the second round of the 2014 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season at Brands Hatch.[2] He scored his career podium finish in his home race at Magione. Ercoli would finish his debut season in 11th place with 2 podium finishes and 5 Top-10 finishes.

Driving for Double T by MRT Nocentini in the No. 9 team in 2015, he beat Stienes Longin by 0.3 seconds to score a victory in the first Elite 2 race of the season at Valencia, his first career win in the Euro Series.[3] At Tours, he scored his first win on an oval when he beat Ulysse Delsaux in a green-white-checkered finish on the Sunday race.[4] Ercoli would sweep the season finale round at Zolder to claim the Elite 2 title despite he entered the race in fourth place in the championship.[5][6] Ercoli would finish his season with four wins, ten Top-5s, and eleven Top-10 finishes.

As a reward for winning the Elite 2 title, Ercoli made his racing debut in the United States in 2016 when he took part in a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series late model race at New Smyrna.[6] He moved up to the Elite 1 class for the 2016 season, staying with the No. 9 Double T team. Ercoli finished his debut season in Elite 1 in 8th place with 4 Top-5s and 6 Top-10 finishes, achieving a best finishing result of fourth in the second race at Venray and the first race at Zolder.

In 2017, he stayed in the No. 9 team as Double T and Vict Motorsport merged to form Racers Motorsport.[7][8] Ercoli would improve his position in the Elite 1 championship as he finished the 2017 season in 7th place with 8 Top-10 finishes with a best finish of 5th at Brands Hatch.

In 2018, Ercoli scored his first Elite 1 podium finish in his home race at Franciacorta before he became the first Elite 2 alumnus to win a race in the Elite 1 class after he scored a victory from pole position in the Sunday race at Brands Hatch.[9][10] Ercoli would finish the season in 8th place once again, having scored 1 victory, 3 Top-5s, and 8 Top-10 finishes.

Ercoli began the 2019 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season with two finishes outside of the Top-20 in the season opening round at Valencia. His first Top-10 finish of the season came at his home race at Franciacorta, where he finished in 7th place on the Saturday race. His first Top 5 finish came during the Playoff races at Hockenheim, where he finished 4th in the Saturday race before he scored his only podium finish of the season with a third-place finish in the Sunday race.[11] He closed his season with a double Top 5 finish at Zolder to secure 6th place in the championship, his best championship finish in Elite 1 so far. He finished the 2019 season with 1 podium, 4 Top-5s, and 8 Top-10 finishes.

Complete motorsports results

Whelen Euro Series - EuroNASCAR PRO

(key) Bold - Pole position awarded by fastest qualifying time (in Race 1) or by previous race's fastest lap (in Race 2). Italics - Fastest lap. * – Most laps led. ^ – Most positions gained.)

NASCAR Whelen Euro Series - EuroNASCAR PRO results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	NWES	Pts
2015	Double T by MRT Nocentini	9	Chevy	VAL	VAL	VEN 14	VEN DNS	BRH	BRH	TOU DNS	TOU DNS	UMB DNS	UMB DNS	ZOL DNS	ZOL DNS		20th	207
2016			Ford	VAL 5	VAL 13	VEN 14	VEN 4	BRH 11	BRH 9	TOU 11	TOU 13	ADR 22	ADR 10	ZOL 4	ZOL 5		8th	525
2017	Racers Motorsport			VAL 9	VAL 15	BRH 5	BRH 6	VEN DNS	VEN 6	HOC 6	HOC 8	FRA 7	FRA 6	ZOL 11	ZOL 11		7th	535
2018				VAL 10	VAL 7	FRA 3	FRA 23	BRH 25	BRH 1*	TOU 10	TOU 9	HOC 19	HOC 5	ZOL 8	ZOL 13		8th	407
2019				VAL 25	VAL 21	FRA 7	FRA 19	BRH 7	BRH 7	MOS 7	MOS 16	VEN 15	HOC 4	HOC 3	ZOL 4	ZOL 5	6th	452

Whelen Euro Series - Elite 2

(key) Bold - Pole position awarded by fastest qualifying time (in Race 1) or by previous race's fastest lap (in Race 2). Italics - Fastest lap. * – Most laps led. ^ – Most positions gained.)

NASCAR Whelen Euro Series - Elite 2 results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	NWES	Pts
2014	CAAL Racing	31	Chevy	VAL	VAL	BRH 25	BRH 7	TOU 10	TOU 24	NÜR 4	NÜR 17					11th	487
		25										UMB 2	UMB 13	BUG 2	BUG 16
2015	Double T by MRT Nocentini	9		VAL 1*	VAL 2*	VEN 5	VEN 3	BRH 5	BRH 8	TOU 5	TOU 1*	UMB 22	UMB 5	ZOL 1*	ZOL 1*	1st	663

References

1. "Gianmarco Ercoli intent on making his mark in Whelen Euro Series". motorsport.com. Motorsport.com. 16 May 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
2. "Whelen Euro Series News & Notes: Brands Hatch". speed51.com. Speed51. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
3. "Ercoli Delivers First Euro Series Triumph". speedsport.com. Speed Sport. 25 April 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
4. "Gianmarco Ercoli wins second race of the season in Tours". automobilisport.com. Automobili Sport. 28 June 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
5. "NASCAR Whelen ELITE 2 Final 2 Zolder: Gianmarco Ercoli Wins And Grabs Title". automobilisport.com. Automobili Sport. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
6. "Gianmarco Ercoli Set for US Debut at New Smyrna". whelen.com. Whelen Engineering. 10 February 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
7. "An Amazing NWES Season Is About To Begin!". motorsportsunplugged.com. MotorSports Unplugged. 31 March 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
8. "NASCE IL RACERS MOTORSPORT E PUNTA ALLA VETTA DELLA NASCAR EUROPEA". monzaspeed.it (in Italian). Monza Speed. 29 March 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
9. "The Music of Victory Keeps Playing for Alon Day". euronascar.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. 16 April 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
10. "Gianmarco Ercoli Grabs Maiden Elite 1 Win in Brands Hatch". euronascar.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. 16 April 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
11. "Hezemans Makes It Four In A Row, Puts His Hands On The NWES Title". euronascar.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. 22 September 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.

External links

• Gianmarco Ercoli driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Career summary on Driver Database