Nicolai Elghanayan

Last updated
Nicolai Elghanayan
Nicolai Elghanayan.jpg
Elghanayan in September 2018
Nationality Flag of the United States.svg American
Born (1994-02-27) February 27, 1994 (age 31)
Laguna Beach, California, (USA)
Blancpain GT World Challenge America career
Current teamMarcoPolo Motorsports
Car number71
Starts15
Wins1
Previous series
2016Lotus Cup USA
Championship titles
2016
2017
Lotus Cup USA
Lotus Cup USA

Nicolai Nourollah Elghanayan [1] (born February 27, 1994, in Laguna Beach, California) is an American sports car driver and graduate of USC School of Architecture. Elghanayan currently races a KTM X-BOW in the Blancpain GT World Challenge America GT4 America class with MarcoPolo Motorsports.

Contents

Early career

Elghanayan began racing with his father, Jeff, who previously raced in IMSA. [2] The two started competing together in the Lotus Cup USA, where Nicolai earned the “Most Improved Driver” award in 2015, then his class championships in 2016 and 2017. [3]

Blancpain GT World Challenge America

After three years of competition in Lotus Cup USA, Elghanayan advanced to the Pirelli World Challenge, now the Blancpain GT World Challenge America, at the end of the 2017 season, competing in the TC class. He returned for a partial season in the GTS class, earning one win, three additional podium finishes, and two pole positions. [4] His strongest result weekend of note was the Lime Rock Park double header, where he earned both pole positions, his first win, and an additional podium. It was announced in January 2019 that Elghanayan would run his first full Blancpain GT World Challenge America, running a KTM X-BOW in the GT4 America class with MarcoPolo Motorsports. [5]

Charity work

In 2018, Elghanayan and his father Jeff raised $39,000 [6] for the Tahirih Justice Center, a non-profit national organization that provide legal services, policy advocacy, and training and education to protect immigrant women and girls fleeing gender-based violence. The father and son pair auctioned off VIP experiences at race events, raising enough funds to protect seven women from abuse. In January 2019, Elghanayan again auctioned off a VIP race weekend experience raising $21,000 for the Children's Hospital of Orange County, a facility Nicolai once attended as a patient. [7]

Personal life

Elghanayan graduated from USC School of Architecture in 2018 and is currently working full-time at an architecture firm when not racing. [3]

Motorsports career results

Lotus Cup USA

YearTeamCarClass12345678910111213141516RankPoints
2015Lotus ExigeTrophy CHW
3
CHW
3
SMM
3
SMM
2
AUS AUS LAG
3
LAG
2
THU
1
THU
2
BUT
1
BUT
2
ACS ACS THC THC 2nd183
2016MuellerizedLotus ExigeTrophy WILL
5
WILL
1
BUT
1
BUT
1
LAG
1
LAG
1
THU
1
THU
1
SMM
1
SMM
3
SON
2
SON
1
THC
1
THC 1st
2017Marco Polo MotorsportsLotus ExigeTrophy AUS
3
AUS
1
CHW
2
CHW
DNS
ACS
1
ACS
1
SON
1
SON
1
BUT
1
BUT
1
BUT
1
BUT
1
1st

Pirelli World Challenge (Blancpain GT America)

YearTeamCarClassChampionship123456789101112131415161718RankPoints
2017MuellerizedLotus ExigeTC VIR VIR MOS MOS LRP LRP UMC UMC AUS AUS LAG
NC
LAG
13
2018Marco Polo MotorsportsKTM X-BOWGTSSprint + SprintX STP STP AUS
10
AUS
6
VIR VIR MOS MOS LRP
1
LRP
3
RAM
9
RAM
13
POR
NC
POR
9
UMC
12
UMC
3
WGI
2
WGI
5
22nd80
2019Marco Polo MotorsportsKTM X-BOWGTSSprint STP
DNS
STP
6
LBGP
8
VIR
4
VIR
5
MOS
1
MOS
6
SON
7
SON
7
WGI WGI RAM RAM LAS LAS

KTM X-BOW Battle

YearRaceTeamCarClassR1 PositionR2 Position
2018GT4 Sprint,
Misano, Italy
Razoon-More Than RacingKTM X-BOWSPXRET2

24H Series

YearRaceTeamCarClassDriversOverall PositionPosition in Class
2019 Dubai 24 Hour Reiter Engineering KTM X-BOWSPXAdam Galas (AM)
Jan Krabec (AM)
Nicolai Elghanayan (SEMI PRO)
Benjamin Mazatis (SEMI PRO)
Mech.Mech.

2018 GT4 Central European Cup

YearRaceTeamCarClassDriversOverall PositionClass Position
2018 Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort, NetherlandsTrue Racing – Reiter Engineering #23 KTM X-BOW GT4Pro/Am Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Sergej Pavlovec
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg David Klar
Flag of Austria.svg Laura Kraihamer
Flag of Norway.svg Mads Siljehaug
Flag of the United States.svg Nicolai Elghanayan
RETRET

References

  1. "Nicolai Nourollah Elghanayan, Born 02/27/1994 in California". CaliforniaBirthIndex.org. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
  2. "Jeff Elghanayan (USA) - Complete Archive". Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  3. 1 2 "Nicolai Elghanayan Joins MarcoPolo Motorsports Team". Blancpain GT World Challenge America. 2018-03-21. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  4. "Pirelli Paddock Pass: Nicolai Elghanayan". SportsCar365. 2018-09-26. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  5. Staff (2019-02-13). "Nicolai Elghanayan Announces 2019 GT4 America Season with MarcoPolo Motorsports". SRO America.
  6. Dagys, John. "Pirelli GT4 America Elghanayan Using Racing to Fight Gender-Based Violence". SportsCar365.
  7. Dagys, John. "Elghanayan, MarcoPolo Confirm GT4 Sprint Return". SportsCar365.