Another thrilling NASCAR Whelen Euro Series race at Autodrom Most is in the books and it was Vladimiros Tziortzis, who led flag-to-flag in EuroNASCAR 2 to extend his championship lead in Round 7. The Cypriot survived one safety car period and a Full Course Yellow to bring home his fifth race win of the season. The driver of the #5 Academy / Alex Caffi Motorsport EuroNASCAR FJ was the dominant force and made a statement in the EuroNASCAR 2 championship battle, while his closest rival, Alberto Naska, suffered a setback with his #54 CAAL Racing Chevrolet Camaro.
An early incident involving Paolo Valeri and Riccardo Romagnoli triggered a FCY right in the very first lap of the race, which was shortened to 13 laps from the 14-lap original distance due to Stefani Mogorovic’s stoppage during the formation lap. The Safety Car was eventually deployed to allow the marshals to remove the cars of Valeri and Romagnoli. Another FCY was called late in the race after Claudio Cappelli beached his car on the gravel at turn 20. Tziortzis survived both restarts to solidify his status as the championship leader in EuroNASCAR 2.
“It was a good race after a stressful two hours!” said the Academy / Alex Caffi Motorsport stalwart in the Victory Lane. “We had to change the gearbox because in the last two corners of the EuroNASCAR PRO race, I lost second and third gear. We nearly lost some positions there, but this one was a perfect race. We didn’t push over the limit and the key was in the restarts and Full Course Yellows. We did everything right and I’m happy that the team allowed me to race in just two hours because it would have been such a shame not to race this one after the podium in EuroNASCAR PRO!”
Paul Jouffreau added his sixth podium finish in seven races with the second place under the checkered flag. The Frenchman in the service of RDV Competition confirmed his title ambitions and made another step to become one of the top drivers in EuroNASCAR. The Frenchman edged out Patrick Schober, who grabbed his maiden NASCAR podium at the end of a strong run in his #27 Double V Racing Ford Mustang. The Austrian wants “to make the next step” towards the top as he’s aiming to score his first ever win in the 2023 NWES season.
Gil Linster continued his impressive streak of now seven top-5 results. The Luxembourgish driver finished fourth and confirmed his role as “Mr. Consistency” at the wheel of his #50 Hendriks Motorsport Toyota Camry. An impressive performance was delivered by Jack Davidson, who took advantage of his best Qualifying result to date to score his first career top-5 finish. The Brit also scored his second Rookie Trophy victory of the season, beating Thomas Dombroswki who finished in sixth place.
Nick Schneider not only took seventh but also rounded out the Rookie Trophy podium behind Davidson and Dombrowski. Valerio Marzi secured eighth place ahead of Alina Loibnegger, who scored her ninth Lady Trophy win in her EuroNASCAR 2 comeback at the wheel of the #99 Bremotion Chevrolet. The Austrian was followed by Arianna Casoli and EuroNASCAR debutant Stefani Mogorovic, who had to park her car due to technical issues during the formation lap.
Roberto Benedetti was penalized for a false restart, but late drama allowed the Italian to still take the win in the Legend Trophy for drivers aged 40 and over at the wheel of his #88 CAAL Racing Chevrolet. The Team Bleekemolen duo of Melvin de Groot and Michael Bleekemolen ran strongly for most of the race, but de Groot got involved in an incident with fans favorite Martin Doubek while Bleekemolen had to retire with just a lap to go due to mechanical issues. Doubek was penalized for his actions and dropped to 13th in the final results.
Tziortzis leads the EuroNASCAR 2 standings by 22 points ahead of Jouffreau. Naska follows in third while Linster and Dombrowski complete the top-5. The Cypriot is the dominant force in the 2023 season but he has to stay focused as the two worst results of the regular season will be dropped after the NASCAR GP Germany in Oschersleben. In addition, the NASCAR Finals at Circuit Zolder will reward double points and therefore the competition still has all the opportunities to challenge the fast Cypriot from Nicosia.
The NASCAR GP Czech Republic will continue on Sunday with two more exciting European NASCAR races at one of the finest race tracks in Central Europe. All rounds will be broadcast live on EuroNASCAR’s YouTube channel, Motorsport.tv and several TV services from all around the world.
EuroNASCAR PRO Results | EuroNASCAR 2 Results
NWES PR
