The battle for the championship within EuroNASCAR 2 championship is heating up after the events of the NASCAR GP Italy. Vladimiros Tziortzis had been dominating the season after scoring four consecutive victories in Spain and the UK, but the Academy / Alex Caffi Motorsport driver suffered his first defeats in Italy. Alberto Naska and Paul Jouffreau stopped Tziortzis’ perfect streak with their respective victories at Vallelunga. Both drivers have now truly established themselves as the main rival of the Cypriot ahead of the next NASCAR GP at Autodrom Most on August 26-27.
Alberto Naska’s visit to the Victory Lane at his home race proved to be a major confidence boost for the popular YouTube superstar. The 2022 runner-up came into the season as the favorite for the title, but found himself on the backfoot despite four podium finishes. He admitted that it has been tough to become the chaser given the pre-season expectations, but with a strong effort from CAAL Racing on the car setup, he secured a highly emotional victory in front of thousands of his fans.
“Men cry for many reasons: Sadness, joy, emotion, sorrow. Today I cried,” the 33-year-old says in his latest YouTube video. “I cried a lot, like a child, and I tell you, it’s been many years since I cried like this. This victory shows that good results are not a coincidence, they are the result of hard work, commitment and suffering. A month ago we were in despair because I had started the season as the man to beat, but life brought me back down to earth. I was slow and we fell behind. After four losses in a row, we had to work, all together as a team. The team changed the setup and I trained for hours in the simulator.”
For Paul Jouffreau, his sophomore season has shown that he’s ready to fight against the best that the series has to offer. Jouffreau scored one podium in his debut season in the division last year, but the Blaye native took a gamble by switching teams to RDV Competition in the winter. The gamble paid off: Jouffreau scored five podiums in six races and his maiden victory in Round 6, which he achieved after overtaking Naska at the start. He will have a busy second half of the season as he’s scheduled to do double duty in the #3 Ford Mustang, but pursuing his first championship title in EuroNASCAR 2 will be the main goal for the 19-year old driver.
At the top of the standings, Vladimiros Tziortzis plans to quickly return to the form that granted him four consecutive wins to open the season. The Cypriot, who was unstoppable in Valencia and Brands Hatch, didn’t find the best feeling with the #5 Academy / Alex Caffi Motorsport EuroNASCAR FJ at Vallelunga but left with a fourth and a third place and recently completed a productive test in Italy to solve the issues that slowed him down in July. Tziortzis definitely has a good feeling with the Autodrom Most, where he scored two podium finishes in 2022.
Gil Linster continued his consistent run with another set of top-5 finishes in Italy. The Luxembourger also scored his first podium finish for Hendriks Motorsport in Round 5, but will need to take another step forward to overcome the 29 point deficit he has to Tziortzis. Sitting behind him in the standings is a promising young talent: Thomas Dombrowski. The Team Bleekemolen driver made his debut this year and has impressed through his consistency. He has also been dominating the Rookie Trophy, winning five rounds and boasting a healthy lead from his main trophy challengers Nick Schneider and Jack Davidson.
2021 EuroNASCAR 2 champion Martin Doubek had a rough start to the season. The Czech driver visited the podium at Brands Hatch, but a retirement at Vallelunga dropped him outside of the top-5 in the standings. He’s currently ahead of Claudio Remigio Cappelli, who leads the Legend Trophy for drivers aged 40 and above. Despite starting his season with a late spin in Round 1, the Italian consistently took top-10 finishes since then and brought home three victories in the special classification.
Patrick Schober bounced back from a disappointing American SpeedFest with a strong result in Italy. The Austrian had a new chassis at Vallelunga due to the heavy damage his Ford Mustang sustained in the UK. 73-year old Michael Bleekemolen is ninth after scoring three back-to-back top-10 finishes, proving that he still has the speed despite being the oldest driver on the grid. Schneider, the first full-time Brazilian driver to compete in NWES in the last five years, completes the top-10 ahead of teammate Davidson, who took a popular Rookie Trophy win in his home race at Brands Hatch.
The action from the most unpredictable category in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series will continue when the championship visits Autodrom Most for the NASCAR GP Czech Republic on August 26-27. All qualifyings and races will be broadcast live on EuroNASCAR’s YouTube channel, Motorsport.tv and several TV services from all around the world.
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