What a race for Academy Motorsport / Alex Caffi Motorsport driver Vladimiros Tziortzis in his #5 EuroNASCAR FJ: the Cypriot led flag-to-flag to grab his maiden win in EuroNASCAR 2 after three second places back in the 2021 season. The 25-year old led all laps starting from Pole Position and beat rookie Alberto Naska by 6.619 seconds. A perfect start into the 2022 NWES season sets the base for more strong performances from Tziortzis, who joined the series in 2020.
The Cypriot made a perfect start and immediately pulled away in front of the field with Naska trying to keep up with his more experienced competitor. Naska tried his best to keep up with Tziortzis but eventually Tziortzis was able to open a comfortable gap and bring home a strong lead to the checkered flag. The Academy Motorsport / Alex Caffi Motorsport driver again impressed with his consistency that awarded him his ninth career top-5 result.
“We did our job, it was our main goal from the beginning of the year to start with a positive result and we’ll continue like this. That job must be done at all costs!” said Tziortzis on his maiden visit to the Victory Lane.
Followed by thousands of fans in Italy, Naska made an incredible debut at the wheel of a 400 hp strong V8 beast without any electronic driving aids. According to the YouTube star, “managing the tires” is the key to success during the race weekend and that’s why Naska was aiming to save some of his tires for Sunday when he will start the race from second place – again next to Tziortzis, who clocked the fastest lap and therefore secured pole position for tomorrow’s race. With his phenomenal performance, Naska also won the race in the Rookie Trophy classification.
After a thrilling battle with Gil Linster, reigning EuroNASCAR 2 Champion Martin Doubek finished in third place at the wheel of the #7 Hendriks Motorsport Ford Mustang. The Czech actually got spun on the opening lap, but the defending Champion recovered with minimal time loss as he carved his way up the ranks and made the decisive move on Linster on lap 12. For Doubek, who won five races in the 2021 EuroNASCAR 2 Championship, the third place is the first step on his mission to win back-to-back EuroNASCAR 2 titles.
Linster, sharing the EuroNASCAR PRO winning car with Nicolo Rocca, finished fourth at the end of a solid run as another former EuroNASCAR 2 Champion Ulysse Delsaux rounded out the top-5. Delsaux shone in a battle with rookie Liam Hezemans, brother of reigning EuroNASCAR PRO Champion Loris Hezemans. The Frenchman made a fantastic overtaking maneuver on the Dutchman at Turn 12 on lap 8 as Delsaux went on to finish fifth, while the Dutchman ended up sixth and therefore claimed second in the Rookie Trophy standings.
Speedhouse youngster Paul Jouffreau also had a strong start to his EuroNASCAR 2 career. He not only finished seventh in his first EuroNASCAR 2 race but also completed the Rookie Trophy podium. The Frenchman was followed by Melvin de Groot – the Dutchman topped the Legend Trophy rankings by finishing eighth. Marko Stipp Motorsport monopolized the rest of the podium for drivers aged 40 and more with Miguel Gomes in second and Yevgen Sokolovskiy in third. Gomes, who finished ninth overall, was followed by Leevi Lintukanto in tenth place with Sokolovskiy finishing 11th.
Another EuroNASCAR debut worth celebrating was the one of Aliyyah Koloc in the #29 Buggyra Racing Ford Mustang. The 17-year-old ended up 17th in her first outing in EuroNASCAR and beat another debutant – Luli Del Castello – and reigning Lady Trophy Champion Arianna Casoli. Being the most unpredictable Championship in the world of EuroNASCAR, the EuroNASCAR 2 battles for the titles and Trophies promise to not only be thrilling but also provide a spectacular show for NASCAR fans from all over the world.
The EuroNASCAR PRO and EuroNASCAR 2 championships will be back in action on Sunday with two more races on the schedule. EuroNASCAR 2 Round 2 will take place at 10:55 am CEST, while the elite of NASCAR in Europe will close the weekend with another 75-km race at 2:05 pm CEST. All races will be broadcasted live on EuroNASCAR’s YouTube channel, Motorsport.tv and several TV services all over Europe.
NWES PR
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