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Martin Kadlečík seized a remarkable opportunity to participate in the TCR Eastern Europe series during the opening weekend of the season at Balaton Park. He teamed up with Aditis Racing and took the wheel of the Audi RS3 LMS TCR for the first time in Hungary, securing an impressive second-place finish.
Last year’s Clio Cup Trophy champion, Kadlečík, faced a significant challenge in his career. He arrived at Balaton Park without any prior testing in the Audi, experiencing his first drive in the car during the practice session. Despite this, he enjoyed every second of it.
„The TCR car is really on another level. I’m enjoying every kilometer and gradually getting used to it, so for me, this weekend is like a test session since I hadn’t driven this car before. But with every lap, I’m improving,“ Kadlečík explained after the qualifying, in which he set seventh fastest lap. However, his qualifying time wasn’t truly reflective of his speed.
„The qualification didn’t go as planned, and a red flag also appeared, so I no longer had a chance to set a better lap. In the race 1, I made a mistake at the start and stalled the engine. I had to restart the engine and fell behind the entire field. It’s hard to recover from that, but I enjoyed the chase,“ Kadlečík described his first race in TCR, where he finished sixth.
„Balaton Park is a rather narrow track, so it’s important to have good exits, especially getting ready for the larger braking zones, like the first turn where overtaking is possible. There are several racing lines in that first turn. Then, essentially, there’s a long straight at the back, where overtaking is also possible.“
Then came the second race. Kadlečík started from fifth place and swiftly made his way through the field in the first turn, slicing through like a knife. He advanced to second place by the second turn and maintained that position until the race finish.
„I managed to go inside in turn one, and then space opened for me in turn two, allowing me to move into second position. After that, it was basically about conserving tires. I tried to push for first place for a while, but Attila was fast, and I decided to focus on managing my tires.“
„Securing second place was a complete surprise. I wouldn’t have believed it if someone had told me before the weekend that I would finish second. I’m happy that I managed to adapt so quickly, and I’m looking forward to more starts.“
