The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series is divided into two championships where two drivers share the exact same car. While the EuroNASCAR PRO Championship is dedicated to professional drivers and elite amateurs, the EuroNASCAR 2 division is the home of gentleman drivers and young talents. Liam Hezemans made his racing debut in 2022 and went on to win the EuroNASCAR 2 title. The driver of the #50 Hendriks Motorsport Toyota Camry stepped up to EuroNASCAR PRO in the 2023 season and found the right pace early on, but problems shuffled him down the order as the series reached its mid-season point.
Liam Hezemans is the younger brother of Loris Hezemans, who won the EuroNASCAR PRO championship twice in his career and also competed at the highest level of NASCAR in the USA. So the 20-year-old has an experienced mentor in the garage of the Dutch powerhouse. In his very first season in motor racing, Liam Hezemans finished at the top of the EuroNASCAR 2 championship and also got his first taste of EuroNASCAR PRO after Tobias Dauenhauer had to end his season early due to budget reasons.
In 2023, Hezemans is competing full-time in EuroNASCAR PRO and he’s trying to beat the best of the European NASCAR elite. He surprisingly won the first race of the season at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia and had the pace to compete at the front. One win and three top-5 finishes are proof of the Dutchman’s ability, but he still lacks the consistency and luck to be among the title contenders. Two retirements and a finish outside of the top-10 meant that he sits ninth in the overall standings, 54 points behind Gianmarco Ercoli. He’s also third in the Junior Trophy standings – the special classification for drivers aged 25 and under – behind Vladimiros Tziortzis and 2018 EuroNASCAR 2 champion Ulysse Delsaux.
But how was it for Hezemans to take the step as a full-time driver in EuroNASCAR PRO and partner with Gil Linster, who is behind the wheel of the #50 Toyota in EuroNASCAR 2? “The transition went really well. We won the first race in Valencia and were fast in the second race until we made contact with Ercoli. The transition was okay, but the level is a bit higher in EuroNASCAR PRO than in EuroNASCAR 2.” Despite the setbacks in the first half of the season, Hezemans is looking to bounce back with two joker races at the end of the regular season that could catapult him back into title contention.
“I’m happy and not happy at the same time about the first half of the season,” continued Hezemans. “We had a lot of ups and downs and if you look at it, we could have scored a lot more points if everything had gone our way. It was always the same: the first race of the weekend went well, the second race we always had problems like crashes or technical problems. The transition went well, but we lacked the necessary luck in the races. In the end it is the little things that make the difference, so there are different areas where I want to improve.”
Hezemans still has his sights set on winning the championship as “winning races is nice” but “winning the title is always the big goal”. He wants to improve in Qualifying as the #50 Toyota has always been fast, but the Dutchman “missed that little click” to put together the perfect lap and grab Pole Position. “At Valencia I missed a few hundredths of a second, at Brands Hatch a few thousandths of a second,” he said. “In Italy we made a mistake with the tire pressure and we were not in the mix. I want to grab the Pole Position and also get the lap on the chart in the race to start at the front in the second race as well”.
“I have already had three bad races and I can only drop two, so there is no room for mistakes anymore,” explained Hezemans. “We want to maximize the results in the upcoming second half of the season and win as many races as possible. I think we are fast enough to visit Victory Lane again. We are trying to make up the points and fight for the title at Circuit Zolder, where double points are on the line. We will do our best to get back in the title hunt for sure.”
The 2023 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season will continue after the summer break at Autodrom Most. The NASCAR GP Czech Republic will take place on August 26-27 and will be broadcast on EuroNASCAR’s YouTube channel, Motorsport.tv and various television services around the world. Hezemans is looking to bounce back and make his mark at the final three events at Most, Oschersleben and Zolder. Will the 2022 EuroNASCAR 2 Champion grab more wins to challenge Ercoli, Lucas Lasserre and all the other title contenders for the overall win?
Featured image by NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / Nina Weinbrenner
