🇮🇹 Francesco Merlini

Francesco Merlini is an entry-level professional competing in multiclass endurance racing on national grids. He spent eight seasons in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie, a shared-driver championship where amateurs and professionals race the same events across fifteen classes, primarily in the one-make Cup 3 and Cup 5 categories and the near-standard V5 class. He also contested the Nürburgring 24 Hours three times. He raced for Smyrlis Racing, a small operation that has fielded established professionals alongside developing competitors.[1]

Merlini took five wins and twenty-four podiums across forty-two starts in the Langstrecken-Serie between 2017 and 2024, establishing himself as a regular front-runner in its single-make classes. He finished closely matched with Moritz Oberheim, an entry-level professional who won the Cup 3 and Cup 5 titles multiple times and remains a fixture in the series. Against Stefan Kruse, a semi-professional regular, Merlini typically finished ahead. His endurance record includes one podium from three starts in the Nürburgring 24 Hours.[2]

Among the strongest drivers Merlini has faced were two established professionals: he finished ahead of Joel Eriksson, an FIA Platinum-graded driver with fifty-six Formula 3 European starts and thirty-five DTM entries, and beat Max Hesse, an FIA Gold-graded driver with twenty-six GT World Challenge Europe starts, twice. In a field that regularly mixes amateurs with graded professionals, Merlini held his own against experienced competition while building a steady record in the endurance classes where he competed most.