Vladimiros Tziortzis continues his perfect winning record in EuroNASCAR 2 after he survived multiple restarts on Saturday and wet weather action on Sunday to win both races at the American SpeedFest 10.
Vladimiros Tziortzis continues to be the driver to beat in EuroNASCAR 2. The Cypriot driver continues his 100% winning record in NASCAR Whelen Euro Series’ junior class after he won both races that were held at Brands Hatch’s American SpeedFest 10, Powered by Lucas Oil.
It wasn’t an easy sweep for the Academy Motorsport driver, however, as he had to survive two restart periods on Saturday and wet weather racing on Sunday to keep his perfect record alive. The recap of Saturday and Sunday’s action can be checked in the sections below.
Race 1 Recap
EuroNASCAR 2 already had plenty of moments that kept the fans in touch, most notably in Qualifying when stewards’ decision decided who gets to be on pole position for the Saturday race. In the end, it was Alberto Naska who led the field to the green flag at 4:54 PM local time in unusual circumstances.
During the second of the two formation laps, Nick Schneider in the No. 46 Marko Stipp Motorsport managed to stall his car on the uphill climb to Druids corner. This caused the drivers that were due to start behind him to stop in confusion before it became clear that Schneider had experienced mechanical issues.
Schneider was able to refire his car, but surprisingly the planned start was not aborted. This caused several drivers, such as SpeedHouse teammates Matthias Hauer and Arianna Casoli, to not be caught up to the side-by-side starting formation when Naska took the green flag to signify the start of the race.
In a highly dramatic race that had three Safety Car periods and the race itself ending under yellow, it was Vladimiros Tziortzis who came out on top after the Cypriot driver bested Naska in the first restart period to notch his third consecutive win of the year.
“You remember what I told you before the start?”said Tziortzis in Victory Lane, referencing his quotes from the pre-race interview with series interviewer André Wiegold where he said that the EN2 race is “a new day already for him” after the issues that he experienced earlier on the day.
“From this race, it’s like a new day because I didn’t start the best way today. We’re back to winning. Things are good, we did it and we will keep going!”
After Naska pulled away from the field on the opening laps, the first Safety Car period was called on lap 5 after Schneider came to a halt on lap 3 at Clark Curve. He was able to put his car into the grass embankment on the inside by the time the field passed by on the next lap, but the Safety Car was called soon after to allow marshalls to tow his car back to the pits.
When the green flag was waved again on lap 10, Naska was unable to find the pace that he had at the start and Tziortzis found a way past the popular Italian driver on the very next lap. From then on, the Cypriot managed the gap while also praying that his car survives without any issues as chaos unfolds in the closing stages of the race.
The drama began on lap 25 when Claudio Remigio Cappelli, who already had an off-track excursion on lap 2, tangled with Michael Bleekemolen at Clark Curve. Michael was forced to retire his car after the collision and not long after, Thomas Toffel spun his No. 34 Toffel Immobilier Camaro at Graham Hill Bend.
Toffel was unable to refire his car and in the process, forced Riccardo Romagnoli into the grass run-off at high speed. Romagnoli’s rallycross moment damaged the front-right body panel of his No. 65 Dinoil Camaro. Toffel’s stranded car necessitated the Full Course Yellow – and later the Safety Car – to be called for the second time with just 4 laps to go.
This led to an Overtime finish attempt that went horribly wrong for Patrick Schober and Jack Davidson. Schober lost control of his No. 27 Double V Ford at Paddock Hill and was unable to get his car going again fast enough.
Davidson, unaware that Schober was slowing down, rammed the back of Schober’s car. The collision sent both cars into the tire barrier on the outside with Schober taking the full force of the impact. Both drivers were unharmed, but the No. 27 Double V Ford sadly took too much damage from the crash and was unable to take part in Sunday’s activities.
With the race ending under yellow, Tziortzis went on to take the checkered flag ahead of Naska and Martin Doubek. Gil Linster settled for fourth while Paul Jouffreau completed the top-5. It was a tough race for the driver that originally won the Pole Award, although he secured himself a spot in the front row for the Sunday race.
Despite his collision with Michael Bleekemolen, Claudio Remigio Cappelli went on to finish in sixth and took the win in Legend Trophy after initial Legend Trophy winner Melvin de Groot was penalized for overtaking under Full Course Yellow.
Thomas Dombrowski once again topped the Rookie Trophy in seventh ahead of Legend Trophy podium finishers Romagnoli and Roberto Benedetti, both of whom received five second time penalties for start procedure violations. He also secured the bonus points for most positions gained, which initially went to Nick Strickler before the results were finalized.
Victor Neumann scored a top-10 finish on his debut ahead of Igor Sicuro, both of whom completed the Rookie Trophy podium. De Groot was demoted to 14th in the end, just ahead of Hauer, Casoli and Gordon Barnes who were all lapped by Tziortzis.
Max Mason’s unlucky streak continues as he was forced to not start yet again due to Advait Deodhar’s crash in the preceding EuroNASCAR PRO race. As he was the sole driver to not start the first race, Mason will have to start Sunday’s Race 2 from the back of the grid.
Race 2 Recap
The second EuroNASCAR 2 race, which is the final race of the weekend at Brands Hatch, went to green at 4:47 PM. The heavens had opened just after EuroNASCAR PRO’s Sunday race had finished, meaning that the EN2 field had to deal with a slippery track condition for their Sunday race.
The wrath of the British weather took its toll on Thomas Dombrowski, who managed to spin his No. 66 Chevrolet Camaro at Surtees before he even got onto the grid. Thankfully, the Frenchman was able to rejoin the track and take the start.
Paul Jouffreau, who started on the front row alongside Tziortzis, got off to a great start and was able to get past the Cypriot driver at Paddock Hill from the outside. Jouffreau opened up an advantage of 2 seconds in the initial portions of the race, but he began to struggle when the track gradually became more dry.
This allowed Tziortzis to make a move for the lead at Clark Curve on lap 18, but he lost it a lap later when he ran off at the same corner. Jouffreau defended his lead as hard as he could, but in the end Tziorzis’ pace was too fast in the drying conditions and the Frenchman surrendered his lead for the final time at Graham Hill Bend on lap 24.
From that point, no one was able to catch Tziortzis as he cruised to his fourth consecutive win in EuroNASCAR 2. The 26-year old driver took the checkered flag with a winning gap of 5.177 seconds from Jouffreau. Alberto Naska, whose pace also improved dramatically in the drying conditions, ran out of laps to catch Jouffreau and had to settle for third place.
“Congratulations to my biggest competitor in this race for his amazing effort! His improvement from last year has been great, I remember him as a small kid coming here to join the series,” said Tziortzis, who greatly praised Jouffreau’s skills in his Victory Lane interview.
“For me, I expected that it would be difficult as we have the sun almost all weekend. We lost a place at the beginning in the rain and when it gets dry, I push a lot. I lost the car while leading at the first time, that’s why Paul took the advantage again. He was defending very well, but we managed to claim the victory.”
“I didn’t expect it at all!” said Jouffreau after the race, clearly surprised with his performance in the wet. “I think that we were really fast at the start of the race because we have a higher tire pressure, so when it starts to dry my tires are used up and when you looked at my last few laps, it felt like I was about 3 seconds a lap slower from Vladimiros!”
Melvin de Groot created a highlight moment when he put his car on the grass to get the run he needed to overtake Martin Doubek for fourth position in lap 25. De Groot retained the position to the checkered flag, allowing the Dutchman to grab the win in the Legend Trophy sub-classification.
Doubek then lost another position to Hendriks Motorsport teammate Gil Linster in the closing stages of the race, meaning that the 2021 EN2 champion missed out on a double top-5 finish at Brands Hatch.
Hendriks also played a hand at seventh place finisher Jack Davidson’s efforts, as the Dutch team helped Marko Stipp Motorsport to do another overnight rebuild for the No. 48 GTOmega Chevrolet. Davidson’s results were enough to give the Scotsman the victory in Rookie Trophy, the only one to finish in the top-10.
Riccardo Romagnoli finished eighth as the last car to finish in the lead lap. After going off-course at Clark Curve on lap 7, Claudio Remigio Cappelli went on to finish ninth ahead of Michael Bleekemolen, who secured his first top-10 finish since Zolder in 2022.
Dombrowski and Nick Strickler completed the Rookie Trophy in 11th and 12th respectively. Both drivers finished ahead of their Rookie Trophy compatriots Max Mason and Nick Schneider, who received a drive-through penalty for spinning Igor Sicuro and Victor Neumann respectively.
Sicuro went on to finish 15th ahead of Hauer, Barnes and van Laere. Thomas Toffel is the sole retirement of the race after his No. 34 Toffel Immobilie Camaro went to a halt with just 2 laps to go, but he had completed sufficient race distance to be classified in 19th place ahead of Casoli and Neumann.
Two drivers did not take the start: Patrick Schober and Roberto Benedetti. Schober was unable to compete after Double V discovered that the chassis of their No. 27 Ford received sustainable damage from Saturday’s crash, while Benedetti was on the sidelines after Max Lanza rolled the No. 88 Wakala Camaro in the preceding EuroNASCAR PRO race.
The continuation of Vladimiros Tziortzis’ perfect streak meant that the Cypriot continues to hold the lead in the championship with 160 points. Alberto Naska and Paul Jouffreau’s strong performances at Brands Hatch also allowed them to retain second and third place in the overall standings, 21 and 25 points behind Tziortzis respectively.
Gil Linster is still fourth with 131 points while Doubek moves up to fifth with 122 points scored. In sixth place is Thomas Dombrowski, who continues to lead the Rookie Trophy contenders in the overall standings with 118 points.
Seventh place in the standings is Riccardo Romagnoli, who also continued his Legend Trophy lead with 115 points. Cappelli, Jack Davidson and Patrick Schober completed the overall top-10 drivers in the EuroNASCAR 2 standings.
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.