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Jáchym Galáš has only one goal for 2020 season – to win the championship. But he realises, that to do so, he needs to beat the reigning champion Milovan Vesnič first. He admitted that and even more in our exclusive interview.
Jáchym, last year you had your TCR debut and it went very well for you as finished 2nd in the overall standings. What are your ambitions for 2020? A championship title?
Yes, this year I’d like to win the title. Last year’s 2nd place overall was a great way how to start, but this year it must be the overall championship win. The GT2 Motorsport team is set to race with 2 cars this season, which should help us to set the car better, for example.
The only driver that was faster than you last year was Milovan Vesnič. Who do you expect to be the one to beat this year? Are you expecting another tough battle with a Serbian driver and with Dušan Kouřil jr.? Or do you think we are going to see some new news, like your former Renault Clio Cup rival Michal Makeš, who is joining the category this year for the first time?
I have no doubts that my biggest rival in the championship battle will be Vesnič. For sure, he fully intends to defend his championship crown and he’s going to do anything to achieve it. He’s also the most experienced driver, but beating someone like him also makes it much more rewarding. Makeš could also play some role, he was able to be fast with Renault Clio in a relatively short time. And the TCR cars are just faster Clios.
Last year, you were the only GT2 Motorsport driver in TCR Eastern Europe series. But, as you have already mentioned, the team is set to race with two Volkswagen Golf GTI cars this year. Your teammate is going to be Szymon Ladniak. You two already raced together at Grobnik last year in a TC-3500 Endurance race. What do you expect from this partnership with a Polish driver?
As I’ve mentioned, doubling our efforts is surely going to help us to find the right car setup or to find the ideal racing line. Of course, I’m looking forward to the partnership, but I don’t want to expect too much. But we do work well together.
Jáchym Galáš will aim at the championship title this year.
Just theoretically, in case that your teammate is way ahead of you in points, fighting for the championship and you are already out of the battle, would you consider helping him on the track?
If something like that really happened, it’d probably be the wisest decision to help my teammate. It’s something we should do as a teammate and I probably wouldn’t have much choice. However, you never know because all it takes is to not finish the first two races and you’re out of the championship. Then all you have is a hope that it’s going to happen to your rival throughout the season as well.
The upcoming season was supposed to have 6 rounds, but now there is one race less as the opening round at Hungaroring was cancelled due to the coronavirus situation. However, there is still some chance it might happen later during the season. What are your thoughts on that? Is the current situation going to affect it a lot?
Cancelling of the first-ever seems like the best possible decision at the moment. Of course, I hope that the Hungaroring round can find a new date and that this epidemy ends as soon as possible, especially after all those preparations throughout the winter. To lose all this would be the last thing I want.
In case everything goes well, the championship will head to Poznań in June. Are you looking forward to that event?
After spending several hours on a simulator, Poznań doesn’t seem like a bad circuit. I especially like the middle part of the circuit, which has a nice flow just like Grobnik. But I miss more overtaking spots like Remus at Red Bull Ring. There, you brake hard from top speed to a very slow and tight corner, which is amazing for overtaking. But there is nothing like that on this circuit and it could make racing more difficult.
Last year, you didn’t race just in this category, but you also took part in TC-3500 Endurance races, where you won the championship title. Are you going to defend your championship crown?
I’d like to do endurance races once again, and even to try to win the championship again. Thanks to these races, we can do more laps throughout the weekend, which is another great opportunity to try more stuff, learn the track better and move forward.
What are your career ambitions? Do you have any dream championship?
I’d like to race in the TCR Europe championship one day. It’s not impossible and there are always great races with 30 cars on the grid. But if I ever could move to such a championship, I would do it only after winning here.
Jáchym Galáš tried racing against TCR Europe drivers already at Hungaroring last year.
