Luca Eiger

## SMA Racing Career

### Starts

A-Sanctioned: 64 (ISCRA: 41, Race of Champions: 18, Other:5)B-Sanctioned: 9 (Drydene Modified Tour: 3, Hankook GT4: 6)

### Wins

A-Sanctioned: 8 (ISCRA: 5, RallyX: 1, Race of Champions: 1, Other: 1)B-Sanctioned: 0

### Best Finish

1st (2021 ISCRA Championship, 2022 ISCRA Championship, 2022 SMA Race of Champions)

### First Race

Overall: 2019 Hankook Tire GT4 Challenge Round 1 (Donington Park)A-Sanctioned: 2020 Aspen RallyX Round (Aspen)

### First Win

Overall/A-Sanctioned: 2020 Aspen RallyX Round Race 3 (Aspen)

Luca Eiger (born 6th June, 1992) is an active driver from Lugano, Switzerland, currently racing full-time in the ISCRA Championship. Luca Eiger is a double series champion, and with a ROC championship, Drydene Desert Duel victory, and numerous other accolades, is considered one of the greatest SMA drivers of all time.

## Racing Career:

### Early Career:

Eiger was born into a family of race fans, rather than racers, and his frequent visits to Monza at a young age planted a racing addiction firmly in his mind. Eiger began racing karts himself in his early teens, and quickly distinguished himself, racing in neighbouring Italy. By age 17, Eiger had established himself in regional formulas and was a household name for many feeder series fans. However, Eiger was not born into a rich family, and his father losing his job in 2013 temporarily ended his racing career.

Eiger returned to the racetrack in 2017, this time in club racing in closed-cockpit cars. Eiger's initial return was naturally shaky, with Eiger receiving injuries from a crash at Imola whilst racing a Lotus S2 Elise in December. He returned to the track in mid-2018, and his results significantly improved.

### GT4 and second financial hiatus:

In early 2019, Eiger began sourcing his own funding rather than relying on family finance, asking companies local to his Lugano birthplace to sponsor him. Eiger was forced to aim quite high, since he had high ambitions - racing in the inaugural SMA Hankook Tire GT4 Challenge. Eiger would be signed by the Portuguese team, Torre Vidro Motorsport, driving an Audi R8. Eiger's debut was quiet, qualifying inside the top 10 on his debut but finishing 16th. The second race that weekend yielded a minor improvement with 14th. Eiger's results would improve from there, with him recording a career series best result in the second race at the Red Bull Ring, where he finished 4th. At Monza, he finished 7th in both races. However, the writing was on the wall by then.

Eiger had failed to raise enough through sponsorship to cover the whole season, and had made an agreement with Torre Vidro owner Ivo Almeira to make two payments to the team - one pre-season of everything he had made so far, and a second, slightly larger payment before races 7 and 8 at Istanbul Park. Whilst Eiger continued a desperate search for sponsorship, he was unable to raise the necessary amount and the team was forced to release him for breach of contract. Failing to find a replacement, Torre Vidro closed permanently. Eiger was unable to find a second driver and, almost entirely out of money, moved to the United States to attempt to revitalise his racing career.

### Career as a Spotter:

Eiger would be able to revitalise his racing career almost as soon as he arrived in the USA, but in a way different to how he might have expected. In August 2019, Luca Eiger joined Drydene Modified Tour team Diaz Racing, Inc., to serve as a spotter for the team's second car, driven by multiple drivers. Eiger got on well with team boss Julian Diaz and his son, Romeo, who was the team's lead driver. As a result of this friendship, Luca Eiger would drive for the team in the season finale that year, at Five Flags. Eiger's return to the racetrack was strong, qualifying 7th and running inside the top 5 all race. Unfortunately, a sheared shock mount would leave him failing to finish, but Eiger had rediscovered his love for racing. Over the winter, Eiger returned to Europe, and found a love for another kind of racing: Rallycross.

### Rallycross:

Eiger would return to DRI to spot in 2020, this time for Romeo Diaz, but he would balance that with a return to the full-time racing scene. After running in his own car, bought for a cost of €3000, in club racing over the winter, Eiger won an open challenge organised by future Halford's RallyX Championship team Reddmango Racing, in which the prize was a race seat. Unfortunately, things did not start well. Eiger failed to qualify for the first round in Monaco. However, the rebound was dramatic. Eiger performed very strongly in Aspen, winning the final race, having finished on the podium in the race before. He would win the event overall. Unfortunately, the season was drawn to a halt by 'The Pandemic'.

The regional series were the first series to restart following 'The Pandemic', so Eiger ended 2020 back in Modifieds, once again driving Julian Diaz's second car. These two starts would come at Kingsport and Langley. Kingsport was mediocre, with Eiger finishing 11th, but at Langley he scored pole. He ran well in the race, too, finishing second, completing a Diaz Racing, Inc. 1-2.

### ISCRA:

Eiger's strong rallycross and modified performances caught the attention of a very big name indeed. Toyota Gazoo Racing signed Luca Eiger to drive their #80 car for the inaugural ISCRA Championship in 2021. Eiger proved his value immediately, finishing second at the Daytona 500. What impressed many was his versatility, both with regards to his diverse racing background and his ability to perform on any track type in ISCRA. His second start came at Walt Disney World, and he dominated, leading all but 2 laps and winning by 5.9 seconds. This gave Eiger the points lead, and it would be some time before he lost it. Eiger's second win came Race 11, in Paris. Once again, he dominated. Eiger entered the final race of the year a few points behind teammate Ashe Reyes, but was clearly the best car at Homestead, and held on for victory, to take home the championship, with 3 wins to his name.

Eiger returned to the #80 for 2022. Eiger's start to 2022 is considered the greatest start to any season ever. Over the first five races, Eiger amassed 129 laps led, and an insane average finish of 2.0. At it's peak, Eiger's points lead was 141 points over this stretch. However, it would decline rather quickly, with mechanical issues at Mosport and a wreck at Vermont leading to him losing the points lead entirely heading into the European season. 3 top 5s in the European races led to him taking it back, however. Eiger's second and final victory of the season came at Phoenix, where he beat Soren Kragh Andersen in a late duel. Eiger did not get things all his own way, by any means. A pair of poor runs at Talladega and Jacarapagua led to him losing the points lead to Creed Daniel with two races left. Homestead was chaotic, as Eiger was the best car early, but was put in the wall on a late race restart, dropping him down the order. He clawed back to 11th, however, winning the title on a tiebreak with Daniel.

Eiger has appeared three times in Race of Champions, culminating in his 2022 appearance. In 2022, Eiger showed great consistency, winning in Barbagallo and scoring 4 further top 5s to end the year with an average finish of 5.33. He would win the championship by two points over Nonagon Scott.

Eiger opened 2023 by apeparing in the Drydene Desert Duel, for his fifth career Drydene Modified Tour start. Eiger won his heat, and came out on top of a three way duel to take victory, pushing his career win count to eight.

## Personal Life:

Luca Eiger married long-time partner Aline Grégard in late 2018. In November 2020, they welcomed their first child, Sebastian.