VLADIMIROS Tziortzis was impressive in his debut in the 2023 European NASCAR championship, participating for the first time in his career in both categories.
He made his debut in EURO NASCAR PRO and took part in EURO NASCAR 2 for the fourth year.
“It was definitely a weekend that stressed me from a psychological point of view but also in terms of physical condition as the temperature was high (inside the car it reached over 65 degrees),” says Tziortzis.
In Valencia, the Cypriot driver became the first in the history of the European NASCAR championship to take two pole positions in two categories of EURO NASCAR in the same weekend. In the races he recorded two wins in EURO NASCAR 2, while he was second in his first race in EURO NASCAR PRO.
His successes saw his team, Academy Motorsport / Alex Caffi Motosports, as the best of the two days in the Spanish city. In total he won three of the four available pole positions.
“Most importantly I showed that I can claim the title in PRO. For me this is a big thing and I also showed myself that my body can manage both categories in a busy schedule, which gives me great strength for the future.”
An example of the pressured schedule was that after finishing qualifying in one category he had to conduct immediate press conferences, and then immediately find himself in the qualifying of the other category.
Things could have been even better for Tziortzis had he not been hit in Sunday’s race while being second two laps before the end.
After the first weekend he leads the EN2 class PRO Junior Cup, and is sixth overall in the PRO class. He started the first race of PRO from pole position, losing two places, after “we were told that they would turn off the red lights and turn on the green lights, but for some reason they only turned off the red lights”.
He got behind Hezemans and Ercoli, pressing hard to overtake. “I was committed to three corners that I could overtake. I tried in the two corners until the last eight laps and my efforts were not working, so I then devoted myself to the last corner of the track where Ercoli had very bad exits,” he says.
There, Tziortzis managed to overtake the Italian, before entering the last lap and taking second place. He would have the same result in the second race, which took place on Sunday, but while he was pushing Lasserre for the lead, two laps before the chequered flag, the Frenchman suddenly hit the brakes, forcing Tziortzis to do the same , with Ghirelli, who was following him, hitting on the left side.
He managed to continue the race and eventually finish 13th. “After the race we went to file an objection, but already the race director made a decision to Ghirelli with a ten second penalty” notes Tziortzis. Absolute ruler As for his presence in EURO NASCAR 2, he completely dominated,and is the leader of the class . Starting both races from pole position, he held the lead until the finale, keeping his rivals within five seconds from Alberto Naska. The next race is scheduled on June 17-18 at Brands Hatch in Great Britain.