Tziortzis battles to important result on Dutch oval
“It was a survival race and we managed it with important points that help us to remove misfortunes of past races” says Cypriot driver Vladimiros Tziortzis, recording his experience on the Raceway Venray oval track in the Netherlands, in the fourth race of the year in EURONASCAR PRO.
“I’m happy with myself. I withstood constant pressure with 103 laps, overtaking from the outside until the end of the race and we had no damage,” states the Cypriot about his experience on an oval track.
“The fact that my times were good on an oval is a very positive sign, as I only had three sessions to get the feel of the oval.”
The 27-year-old fought until the finale for 8th place, eventually finishing in 12th place in the race.
How did the two days go?
After one hour of Saturday’s practice the Academy Motorsport / Alex Caffi Motorsports driver was among the top five times, feeling that “I was able to get straight into the rhythm with my first contact on the 800m oval track”.
On Sunday, the two official tests took place, the first on a wet surface and the second on a dry surface.
“In the second I managed to finish sixth, a result that determined the position I would start in qualifying. I came out to the track sixth from the end, which was a very good position but the advantage was definitely the first three of the test riders as the track dried more” he says.
Scoring the eighth fastest time, just two tenths off first, he started from pole position in the 100-lap race. “I was starting from the inside lane, which is the slowest (more steering wheel while turning), with a plan to get to the top lane as quickly as possible. This happened, but like the others in the inner line, we lost 2-3 places” states Tziortzis.
“I fought throughout the race for eighth place, which I held until lap 95, when the safety car came out and three more laps were added. They gave a restart but, after my spotter was wrongly told to take the inside line for the restart, we lost places and finished 12th. The oval is unpredictable.”
Summing up, his efforts, he said: “This is the oval. If you want to overtake, you may have to take the inside lane and lose places there because you turn more on the inside lane than on the outside lane and you slow down.
“The important thing was that I managed and scored important points, which help us to remove previous results (mechanical problems and crash in Valencia).”
The next race for Tziortzis will take place between August 31 to September 1 at the Autodrom Most circuit in the Czech Republic.
Gold sponsor of Tziortzis’ effort is the company HTFX, while he is supported by ALCO Filters, ENEOS Motor Oil, Psaltis Auto Parts, Televantos Used Trucks, PrivenGAS, Sana Hiltonia and Daytona Raceway.