Nick Maloy and SRO Q&A
Nick, how does it feel to be making your GT4 European Series debut this year?NM: “It’s been quite amazing to be part of this championship so far. It’s my first time in Europe and only my second full year of racing, so coming from no experience it’s in at the deep end! I started racing when I was 15, just doing track days for fun. I’ve always loved cars as a kid, but racing was never prevalent. I was living in Utah and the Utah Motorsports Campus was only an hour away, and my dad, Steve, got invited down there with his manual BMW M4. Every Wednesday they ran amateur track days for like $60-75 an hour, so it was super cheap and we’d just do it to build up speed. I met a lot of people there and made some great connections.”
So how did racing begin for you?“During those track days I met Jerry & Shawn Tatum, who run Tatum Racing in Tooele, Utah. They invited me to do a 12-hour World Racing League event with them at Daytona and I’m super grateful to them as they gave me my start.”
This is your second full year, but what have you raced before?“After the 12 hours I raced a Porsche Boxster in some club stuff in America but last season I joined the Porsche Sprint Challenge in North America for my first full campaign in something. That was my introduction to the Cayman GT4. I finished third in the Junior category and got selected for the Porsche Junior Programme in my first season. I haven’t really started work with that yet as it’s on hold for a year while I race in Europe. But everything has moved so quick.”
Why did you opt to come and race in Europe?“I never thought I’d get the chance to move to Europe so soon, but my manager offered me the chance to join Wimmer Werk Motorsport and couldn’t turn it down. It’s a whole different level of competition. Especially when you’re coming in without a lot of experience. I knew learning to race in America that I’d be competing against Europeans eventually. And look at half the Pro drivers in championships like IMSA, all the best ones have competed in Europe. It was the best way to test my talent and learn from the best.”
Was it ever intimidating?“It was a big step up initially. I did a GT4 Winter Series race in Barcelona to ease the transition a bit, but we only had like 18-20 cars and a much smaller event, so it was still a step-change when we went to Circuit Paul Ricard for round one. I was used to being on the podium a lot last year and at the front of the field, so it’s a big change being mid-pack and pushing forward. But it’s been so cool to get involved and be closing the gap to the quick guys with every meeting. Our team-mates are really quick, so we have a good benchmark within the team to chase.”
How are you working with your team-mate, Emil Heyerdahl?“Working with Emil is great. He’s super-kind and easy going and helps a lot with data. A lot of the drivers have karting backgrounds and are a bit older than me so I’m keen to learn about all that and catch up. I’m like the little brother of the team! Also Max and Felix who run the Wimmer Werk team are brilliant to be around. They’re so supportive and we have a really great atmosphere at the team.”
What’s the ambition for this season?“We want to move up the grid and get onto that podium. We’ve shown we can do it. Look at Misano, our sister car went from last to P4, and we passed 27 cars in my stint and were on for a really good result until we had a few electrical problems that held us back. But we know the pace is there and the team is doing such great work. Ultimately if we keep scoring points and hard well, the results will come.”
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