Nathalie Maillet

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Nathalie Maillet
NationalityLuxembourgish
Born11 May 1970
Verdun, France
Died15 August 2021(2021-08-15) (aged 51)
Gouvy, Belgium
NASCAR Whelen Euro Series career
Debut season 2012
Former teamsRacing Club Partners, RCP / Marc VDS
Starts22 (ENPRO), 10 (EN2)
Championships0
Wins0
Poles0
Fastest laps0
Best finish12th in 2012, 2013, 2014
Finished last season12th in 2014

Nathalie Maillet (11 May 1970 – 15 August 2021) was a French-Luxembourgish architect, promoter, and racing driver. She previously competed in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series and was the former CEO of Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for five years before her passing in 2021.

Contents

Biography

Maillet was born on 11 May 1970 in Verdun into a family immersed in automotive sport. Her father was a driver and her uncles directed a racing circuit. [1] She married Franz Dubois, also a racecar driver. [2] [3] [4]

Maillet earned a degree in architecture from the University of East London [5] before starting a career in which she specialized in eco-architecture. [1] In 2000, she founded Churchill-Hui International, based in Luxembourg. [5]

In 2004, at the age of 33, Maillet became a racing driver. [1] She participated in a number of events, such as the 25 Heures VW Fun Cup  [ fr ] in 2006. [6] [7] Maillet competed in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series championship for three seasons under a Luxembourgish racing license, driving for the Racing Club Partners team that she and Dubois owned. She competed in the top Elite 1 class (now known as EuroNASCAR PRO) for two seasons before she stepped down to the Elite 2 class (now EuroNASCAR 2) in 2014 following her team's merger with Marc VDS Racing Team. In the Elite 1 class, she scored a best finish of 8th on the first race at Spa-Francorchamps in 2012 while she scored a best finish of 6th in Elite 2, which she achieved twice in both Nürburgring and Circuit Bugatti. She scored a best championship finish of 12th, a feat she achieved in all three seasons that she competed. [8] [9] [10] Maillet retired from racing at the conclusion of the 2014 season and she began to take up promoter duties. She played a role in organizing and promoting the American Festival Finals at Circuit Zolder, which was added to the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series calendar in 2015 and is still part of the Euro Series calendar as of the 2022 season. [11]

In June 2016, she became Director of the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, succeeding Pierre-Alain Thibaut. She took office on 1 July of that year. [12] [13] Under Maillet's watch, Spa-Francorchamps began hosting the FIA World Rallycross Championship in 2019. [14] Maillet also unveiled an €80 million dollar renovation project to the circuit that started its work in October 2020. The upgrade would see gravel traps being placed at La Source, Raidillon, Blanchimont, Les Combes and Stavelot and expansion of the runoff on corners such as Raidillon as part of Spa-Francorchamps' plan to host motorcycle races again. The upgrade will also include a grandstand at the top of the Eau Rouge/Raidillon hill and a new, shortened corner with more run-off space is added to the circuit at the Jacky Ickx corner that is due to be used for motorcycle racing purposes. [15]

Death

On 15 August 2021, Maillet was found shot dead at her home in Gouvy with her partner, Ann Lawrence Durviaux. The discovery came after she had missed a scheduled showing during that year's Ypres Rally. [16] [17] The investigation would reveal that Dubois committed the killings and then committed suicide after calling the police. [18] [19]

Legacy

Tributes to Maillet were made within hours after her death was first reported. Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps described Maillet as "the face of the Circuit" and a woman that "embodied the passion for racing that we all share" in their official statement. Frédéric Lequien, CEO of Le Mans Endurance Management, stated that Maillet was "a woman full of energy, ideas and was a great pleasure to work with". NASCAR Whelen Euro Series described her as "a fierce competitor and a wonderful member of the EuroNASCAR family". Automobile Club de l'Ouest, Formula One Group, and websites such as Dailysportscar and Jalopnik also expressed their condolences in the days that followed after her death. [11] [20] [21]

The upgrades to Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps that Maillet unveiled during her time as the CEO of the track was completed in March 2022, a few months before FIM Endurance World Championship's visit to the track on June. FIM Endurance World Championship would honor her by giving the Nathalie Maillet Challenge trophy to the fastest rider in Qualifying for the 24H Spa EWC Motos, in which Karel Hanika became the inaugural recipient of the trophy. [22]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position. Italics – Fastest lap. * – Most laps led. ^ – Most positions gained)

Whelen Euro Series - Elite 1

NASCAR Whelen Euro Series - Elite 1 results
YearTeamNo.Make123456789101112NWESPts
2012 Racing Club Partners46 Chevy NOG
13
NOG
17
BRH
19
BRH
15
SPA
8
SPA
21
VAL
11
VAL
13
BUG
14
BUG
11
12th445
2013 NOG
16
NOG
11
12th475
Toyota DIJ
18
DIJ
14
BRH
18
BRH
16
TOU
11
TOU
13
MNZ
16
MNZ
14
BUG
17
BUG
18
2014 RCP / Marc VDS VAL
VAL
BRH
BRH
TOU
TOU
NÜR
NÜR
UMB
DNS
UMB
DNS
BUG
DNS
BUG
DNS
32nd106

Whelen Euro Series - Elite 2

NASCAR Whelen Euro Series - Elite 2 results
YearTeamNo.Make123456789101112NWESPts
2014 RCP / Marc VDS 46 Toyota VAL
12
VAL
16
BRH
21
BRH
12
TOU
14
TOU
17
NÜR
6
NÜR
19
UMB
DNS
UMB
DNS
BUG
10
BUG
6
12th481

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References

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