NWES’ first Summer Camp saw drivers such as Oliver Webb and Daniel Rowbottom taking part to test the EuroNASCAR cars for the first time, with Alex Caffi Motorsport’s Vladimiros Tziortzis also joining the Summer Camp to do his first pre-season testing for the upcoming 2020 season.
On 29 and 30 July, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series hosted the series’ first edition of the Summer Camp at Fontenay. Drivers from various backgrounds, such as WEC driver Oliver Webb, BTCC driver Daniel Rowbottom, Britcar driver Will Powell, Finnish Legend Cars young talent Leevi Lintukanto, and FEED Racing academy driver Alexis Giroud all took part in the Summer Camp to test the EuroNASCAR cars under the guidance of series veterans Thomas Ferrando and Lucas Lasserre.
The drivers that took part all found themselves impressed with the EuroNASCAR stock cars that they drove with in the Summer Camp.
“It was great to experience such a different car and meet the EuroNASCAR team. It’s obviously a very different car from what I’m used to – from the LMP cars to the electric cars – since it’s all manual,” said Webb, the 2014 ELMS champion to euronascar.com. “It has power with very little downforce and it’s all about side-by-side racing, which is great fun. It was a very good day and I met very nice people. Hopefully I can get more experience in the car soon!”
“We were happy to participate in these EuroNASCAR tests and despite the pandemic, it was great to make a quick journey to France between our national race weekends,” said Powell, who drove the first Brabham car to race in any form of motorsport since 1992 when the BT62 Competition made its debut in last year’s Britcar season finale at Brands Hatch.
“I was surprised and impressed by the EuroNASCAR’s dynamics, reactions to driver inputs and performance. It’s a truly raw and involving race car but the stereotypes about how an American stock car handles on a road course were quickly dispelled. I really enjoyed it and we look forward to entering the EuroNASCAR series as soon as this season and also working with our racing customers in the UK to bring them to NWES.”
“It was a really nice opportunity to test the car and the whole team was really professional. Handling the gearbox was the only difficulty I found, but I learned quite rapidly. Every run was better and better and I drove plenty of stints,” said the 18-year old Lintukanto to euronascar.com. “We also tested with different tires and I really like it. I had two very good days and now I know exactly what I want. I want to drive the EuroNASCAR car. Many thanks to Jerome Galpin and Lucas Lasserre for the support.”
Also joining the Summer Camp is Alex Caffi Motorsport’s new EuroNASCAR 2 recruit Vladimiros Tziortzis. Tziortzis, the first Cypriot in NASCAR, used the Summer Camp to do his first pre-season testing in his No. 1 Remedica Ford Mustang.
“I am very pleased with how both days went, we worked a lot on my driving style and I improved every time I went on track. This is the most important thing for now. I learned many things and I think we took a big step forward. Now we have to keep building from here and improving,” said Tziortzis to euronascar.com.
“I want to thank the whole NASCAR Whelen Euro Series staff for this chance to prepare for Vallelunga and also Lucas Lasserre for being next to me during two days. With his experience and his suggestions, I was able to try many different things.”
Disclaimer: Unless noted, all photos used in this article are courtesy of NASCAR Whelen Euro Series.