Sandro Tavartkiladze offers his insight to the results that he achieved in the first three events of 2026 – The Georgian was beset by bad luck, but knows he had the speed with his Team Bleekemolen machine
- Sandro Tavartkiladze experienced a series of difficult races to start his second OPEN season
- One bad luck after another left the Georgian chasing his rivals
- A Master Trophy sweep in the UK was the right step forward for Tavartkiladze
Every top driver is going to face a rough patch and for Sandro Tavartkiladze, he experienced those hard times in the first three events of the 2026 season. Tavartkiladze is one of the OPEN division’s brightest stars, having won the Master Trophy title and finishing fourth in the overall standings during his debut year in 2025. A move to Dutch powerhouse Team Bleekemolen for his second campaign marked the Georgian as one of the prime candidates for the championship, but a run of poor results have left him trailing his rivals instead. However, Tavartkiladze is not giving up and he is determined to reach the Victory Lane after claiming a fine set of Trophy silverwares in the NASCAR GP UK.
The setbacks started from the very first round in Spain. Prior to the race, everything had been going well for Tavartkiladze: He rapidly adapted to his new team and showed his class by leading his Master Trophy rivals during practice and qualifying. Unfortunately, a multiple car incident on the first lap of Round 1 not only left him empty handed, he also had to start from the back of the grid for Round 2.
A situation like this is a difficult one to recover from, but for an elite contender like Tavartkiladze, it was an opportunity to make some daring overtakes and charge his way up through the field. That’s exactly what the Georgian did: He maximized his results and brought home the Master Trophy victory in eighth place, but he knew there’s more potential that can be uncovered.
“We will fight for the top-3,” Tavartkiladze said at the time and he backed his words when the NASCAR Euro Series made its first visit to the Circuit Paul Ricard. The 27-year old quickly found his footing at the legendary Le Castellet venue and qualified inside the top-3 in front of the passionate French fans. But then heartbreak struck yet again: A mechanical issue in the formation lap of Round 3 left him standing in the sidelines, pondering what is happening for him to receive all the misfortunes.
A further incident in Round 4 cost Tavartkiladze even more points, leaving him with nothing to lose for the next event at the UK. Brands Hatch is a challenging short track that rewards the bravest competitiors, the perfect combination for Tavartkiladze to thrive. He once again qualified in the top-3 and drove his heart out in Round 5, putting himself in the position to fight for the victory to reward the fans that attended the round in spite of the tricky British weather.
Even with the odds seemingly in his favor, bad luck still plagued the driver of the #72 Toyota Camry. Communication problems with his spotter left him unable to react in time during the final restart, costing what was going to be a sure-fire second place finish. The Georgian still claimed the win in the Master Trophy, but for him, it was a hollow victory due to the circumstances.
“We were there, we were P2 for the whole race,” said Tavartkiladze after the checkered flag. “After the halfway point, we had no spotter communications, so on the last restart we lost three positions. It’s unlucky again, this year it’s just unbelievable how unlucky we are. Of course the pace is there, but I need more luck to show the results.”
Round 6 saw Tavartkiladze missed out on the overall podium after a late struggle with his tires, but it was a round that confirmed what was possible for the #72 Team Bleekemolen crew. He made a couple of clean overtakes in the opening lap to lead for the first time in the OPEN division and with another Master Trophy win in the books, the Georgian is hopeful for the best outcomes after the summer break.
“Unfortunately, luck has not been on our side in the first half of the season,” said Tavartkiladze on what the future holds. “On every occasion, we had the pace, but due to the issues we faced, we were unable to convert that into results. We had the potential to be in the top three of the standings, but we will do everything we can to recover in the second half of the season and achieve the best possible result in every race. If everything goes according to plan, we still have a chance to fight for the title — at least in the Masters category — although our main goal remains the overall championship.”
Tavartkiladze has plenty of work to do to complete his recovery from 15th in the provisional OPEN standings and fourth in the Master Trophy race, but with his worst result dropped after the last round of the regular season at the Czech Republic and two double points playoff events in Italy and Belgium that can heavily swing the points to his favor, the title opportunity is still on the cards for the talented Georgian.
Featured image by NASCAR Euro Series / Bart Dehaese
