Néstor Girolami secures late call-up for Paul Ricard

Néstor Girolami will make a surprise debut in TCR Europe this weekend Paul Ricard after being called up by PSS Racing to replace Viktor Davidovski.

Davidovski has been unable to travel from North Macedonia to France because of COVID-19 travel restrictions, with a request for exemption from the current travel ban having been denied.

As a result, Girolami – who has been working as a coach with the team – will instead step in to replace Davidovski in a new build Honda Civic Type R that has been based at JAS Motorsport, who will assist with running this car this weekend.

That assistance comes with a number of PSS Racing team members having also been denied permission to travel.

“I’m so happy to have the opportunity to race in TCR Europe this weekend, to work with PSS Racing Team, and to show the potential of the Honda Civic Type R in this hugely-competitive series,” Girolami said. “I am proud to be part of the Honda Racing family, and when your family asks for your help, you do whatever you can.

“It’s been eight months since I last raced and is still nearly four weeks until WTCR begins, so to have the chance to use this event as a warm-up – against such a high-quality line-up of drivers and teams – will be extremely good for me.”

Aleksandar Todorovski, PSS Team manager, was pleased to be able to call on Girolami to step in for the weekend.

“I can’t believe we’ve been so lucky,” he said. “The situation looked quite impossible earlier this week, but our vision is that nothing is impossible, and we’re extremely proud of the friendships and bonds that have led to this.

“We could not have put this together without the help and support of JAS Motorsport, Honda Racing WTCR and, most of all, our friend and coach, Néstor Girolami. To have a world-renowned driver leading the way for a Macedonian team in Europe’s biggest TCR championship is something that makes us feel very good. We’re super-excited. Vamos Néstor!”