Nicolai Elghanayan

Nicolai Elghanayan
Elghanayan in September 2018
NationalityUnited States American
Born (1994-02-27) February 27, 1994 (age 30)
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.

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

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Rank Points
2015 Lotus Exige Trophy 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
 2nd 183
2016 Muellerized Lotus Exige Trophy 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
2017 Marco Polo Motorsports Lotus Exige Trophy 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)

Year Team Car Class Championship 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Rank Points
2017 Muellerized Lotus Exige TC VIR
 VIR
 MOS
 MOS
 LRP
 LRP
 UMC
 UMC
 AUS
 AUS
 LAG
NC 		LAG
13
2018 Marco Polo Motorsports KTM X-BOW GTS Sprint + 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 		22nd 80
2019 Marco Polo Motorsports KTM X-BOW GTS Sprint 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

Year Race Team Car Class R1 Position R2 Position
2018 GT4 Sprint,
Misano, Italy 		Razoon-More Than Racing KTM X-BOW SPX RET 2


24H Series

Year Race Team Car Class Drivers Overall Position Position in Class
2019 Dubai 24 Hour Reiter Engineering KTM X-BOW SPX Adam Galas (AM)
Jan Krabec (AM)
Nicolai Elghanayan (SEMI PRO)
Benjamin Mazatis (SEMI PRO) 		Mech. Mech.

2018 GT4 Central European Cup

Year Race Team Car Class Drivers Overall Position Class Position
2018 Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort, Netherlands True Racing – Reiter Engineering #23 KTM X-BOW GT4 Pro/Am Czech Republic Sergej Pavlovec
Czech Republic David Klar
Austria Laura Kraihamer
Norway Mads Siljehaug
United States Nicolai Elghanayan 		RET RET

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. ^ a b "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.