Another podium for Tziortzis in Rome

It was an action-packed weekend for Cyprus star Vladimiros Tziortzis with another podium, pole position, 46 points and a moment of great misfortune at Vallelunga in Rome, where the third round of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series was held.

With this harvest, Tziortzis remained in the top three in the championship standings ahead of last year’s champion Martin Doubek, who is now fourth.

On Saturday, Tziortzis was second, climbing to the podium for the fifth time in a row. “I didn’t push at 100 per cent, he moved as fast as he needed to set the fastest lap to start from pole position on Sunday. It was obvious that Naska distroyed his tires a lot, unlike mine which I kept in good condition,” the Cypriot said.

On Sunday he started from pole position – for the fifth time this year out of six races – and moving almost a second per lap faster than his competitors, as a result he opened up a three- second gap from the rest of the drivers.

But the Chevrolet Camaro engine decided otherwise and he had to retire on lap four.

“Things were going as planned and we were nine laps from victory. The engine was scheduled to be replaced after the race as part of routine maintenance,” commented the 25-year-old driver.

The race was won by Liam Hezemans, brother of last year’s PRO class champion who is competing in EURO NASCAR 2 this year and is second behind Naska.
It is worth noting that the lap time of Tziortzis on Saturday was also faster than the lap times of the PRO drivers.

“We are halfway through the championship and I don’t have a complaint. In six races we were on the podium five times, had five pole positions and four fastest laps – two fastest by PRO.

“Unfortunately we had the unfair penalty in the second race that cost more than ten points and the engine problem at Vallelunga that shaped the standings as they are now and not as they should be” comments the Cypriot driver who for the third year is taking part in EuroNascar with the Academy Motorspot / Alex Caffi Motosports joint venture and technical support from Petri Corse Automobili.

The championship still has a way to go as after the August break EuroNascar goes to the Czech Republic to be followed by the fifth round in Belgium in early October.

From the first ten races of the season (five rounds since each round has two races) drivers will subtract their two worst results ahead of the final round in Croatia where points count double.

Championship Standings after 3 rounds
1. Alberto Naska (Ιtaly) 222 points
2. Liam Hezemans (Netherlands) 213
3. Vladimiros Tziortzis (Cyprus) 181
4. Martin Doubek (Czech Republic) 180
5. Ulysse Delsaux (France) 172