On the back of Nova Race’s announcement earlier this week that it would race two Honda NSX GT3s in next year’s Italian GT Championship, the team has now named its first driver. 18-year-old Jacopo Guidetti will make his GT3 debut next year as part of the JAS Motorsport Development Driver program, with the European Honda NSX GT3 constructor also providing technical support to the team.

Guidetti is a graduate of touring car racing where he raced in his first two years in motorsport — claiming the 2019 Coppa Italia Turismo title — before being picked up by JAS Motorsport for its Development Driver program in 2020.

“Ever since I joined the JAS Motorsport Driver Development Programme earlier this year, my target has been to move into GT3 racing with the NSX GT3 Evo and the skills I’ve developed through my involvement have definitely improved me as a driver and made me ready for this opportunity,” said the driver from the Lombardian town of Mantua. “I’m thrilled to have the chance to compete with Nova Race in 2021. They are a strong and experienced team who have been winning in Italy and Europe for 10 years, so I’m sure they will give me everything I need to make a successful transition from TCR racing into GT3 competition.”

Image by JAS Motorsport.

Nicola Sinigaglia, general manager of Nova Race, is looking forward to adding more young drivers to the team’s roster: “Nova Race has already proven itself to be an ideal team for gentlemen drivers, and now we believe that we can be as successful supporting promising youngsters to make their way to the top of GT3. It won’t hurt that one of the pillars of our team is coaching from Christian Pescatori. The former sportscar driver has helped boost our GT4 young guns’ 2020 title bid and hopefully the same will happen next year as we take on GT3.”

Alessandro Mariani, JAS Motorsport CEO, said: “The primary goal of the JAS Motorsport Driver Development Programme is to provide a stepping stone for young racers who want to reach the top level of sportscar competition; giving the drivers a complete education to enhance their on-track and off-track skills. A critical part of this is ‘on the job’ training within a strong customer team, and we could not have wished for a more suitable partner for Jacopo’s graduation to GT3 racing than Nova Race. They have been a successful team in both GT3 and GT4 competition and, with the links between JAS Motorsport and Nova Race now strengthened through the Driver Development Programme, everything is now in place to help this extremely talented young driver progress to the next level.”

 
 

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