Academy Motorsport had a weekend of two halves in Vallelunga thanks to the contrasting performances that the No. 1 and the No. 5 team achieved on the third round of the 2023 EuroNASCAR season.
NASCAR GP Italy at Autodromo Vallelunga proved to be a challenging one for home team Academy Motorsport. Alex Caffi and Federico Monti‘s team had mixed fortunes because continued progress made by the No. 5 team was beset by the litany of issues that the No. 1 team experienced in Italy.
Vladimiros Tziortzis once again was Academy’s bright point as he took the top step in the Junior Trophy for the third time in 2023. While his victory streak in EuroNASCAR 2 came to an end, a podium finish was enough to consolidate his position as the championship leader in the junior class at the halfway point.
“In the end it was a good weekend,” said the Cypriot driver in Academy’s post-race release. “It was impossible to push harder because the oil and water temperatures were at their highest.”
“In the last laps of the ENPRO race I was praying that the car would hold out until the end! It’s important to have made it to the end of several races, to have taken important points and now we are already thinking about Most.”
For the No. 1 team, it was like a “crash magnet” had been attached to their car in Italy as Advait Deodhar and Max Mason constantly got involved in incidents. Deodhar didn’t even start his second race as Mason was involved in the Big One in his own Sunday race, forcing Deodhar – and six other drivers – to sit in the sidelines due to the crash damage being too much for the team to repair in time.
The results have relegated the London-based Indian driver to 17th in the overall ENPRO standings and fourth in the Challenger Trophy race, 40 points behind trophy leader Fabrizio Armetta. Mason is currently 19th in the EN2 standings as he continues his recovery from the injury that he sustained in the Big One.
“Definitely a different weekend from what I had imagined, in the end I only ran a few laps,” admits Deodhar. “The guys at Academy Motorsport worked incredibly hard to give us back a competitive car, but then the damage caused to the #1 during the EN2 race where Max, who was unfortunately involved, prevented us from continuing. Now let’s focus on the next round in Most.”
Monti himself was back in the wheel of the No. 1 Ford Mustang at Vallelunga. Competing in the second round of EuroNASCAR Club Challenge, Monti finished fifth and scored enough points to move him up to second in the overall standings. He thanked his team members for their hard work after a tough weekend, noting that the home races tend to be the hardest to get it done.
“I could certainly have done better in my race, but it is strange to say that the home race is always the most difficult for us,” said the co-owner. “Unfortunately Advait was involved in an on-track tussle despite a good performance and everyone is sorry for Max due to the crash that stopped his race. I really want to thank everybody for working so hard until the very end.”
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