Tziortzis third in Czech Republic despite damaged car

Tired but particularly pleased, Vladimiros Tziortzis returned to Cyprus early on Monday having climbed twice to third place in the fourth round of this year’s EuroNASCAR Championship in Most, Czech Republic.

For Tziortzis it was the sixth podium this year in eight races. With his unparalleled stability, the Cypriot driver of the Academy Motorsport / Alex Caffi Motorsports joint venture remains in contention for the title.

“It was a really difficult two days where things could have gone very badly. Thank God everything went well,” said Tziortzis. “Where to start? On Saturday in qualifying the gas pedal broke and I was unable to complete my efforts. Fortunately the time I had up to that point was enough to qualify second. The team fixed the pedal.

“In the PRO class race, my team-mate, with whom I share the #5 Chevrolet Camaro, had a bad crash that broke the chassis in front of the suspension point. A superhuman effort was made by the team to get me on the track. A minute before the pre-grid time expired they still hadn’t put the tires. Of course I went out without measuring the steering wheel – which was definitely not straight – and the set up not correct,” he addedd.

“At a time when participation in the race itself on Saturday was doubtful, the goal was simply to finish. I managed to be third with a lot of effort since the car wasn’t turning at all. On Sunday I had third time at the start, and was able to finish third in the end, although it was a twisty race and I also had to make a risky pass on Delsaux which ultimately turned out to be unnecessary as the Frenchman, like Pontinen, received penalties after overtaking at a point of the race that was prohibited. In general, the two podiums were the maximum I could get.”

After the race in Belgium (7-9/10) the drivers will have completed ten races from which they will delete their two worst results. They will then compete in Croatia (29-30/10) where the points of each race count double (the first gets 80, the second 70, the third 68 points).

Tziortzis’ big goal is to go to Grobnik with a difference of less than 20 points from Naska so that the championship is in his own hands. To achieve this he needs to collect more points than Naska in the upcoming race in Belgium.

If today we were to remove the two worst results of each driver, the score would be below:

1. Alberto Naska 235 2. Liam Hezemans 213 3. Vladimiros Tziortzis 212 3. Martin Doubek 205

Tziortzis’ participation this year is supported by ALCO Filters, the Cyprus Sports Organisation, the Cyprus Automobile Federation, the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, ENEOS Motor Oil, Psaltis Auto Parts, Televantos Used Trucks, Sana Hiltonia and Daytona Raceway.