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Racing driver of the ADITIS Racing Team Bartosz Groszek completed only four race weekends last year, but he won the first one and then stood on the podium for the rest of the year, so his ambitions for this year’s championship are certainly tenable.
Your team boss Radim Adámek talked about you in superlatives and how great the 2021 season was for you. Do you agree with him? Are you satisfied with last year’s performance?
First of all, I’m more than happy that Radim was pleased with my work last season. I 100% agree with him. It was a very good season for me and the whole team.
Did you expect to win the second race during your first race weekend in TCR Eastern Europe?
I definitely wasn’t expecting to. After gaining pole position in the second race, I aimed to finish in the Top 3. But winning in my very first TCR Eastern Europe race weekend was a big surprise for everyone, not just for me.
You also finished all of your race weekends in the Top 3 and you were named best rookie in TCR Europe at Monza. I mean, those are great successes in your first season behind the wheel of a TCR car, don’t you think?
We had a good podium streak last season; I’m not going to lie. Race after race, I felt better in the car, and receiving the title of best rookie at Monza in TCR Europe rewarded the work of the entire team throughout the season. It wasn’t a perfect season because we didn’t reach P1 in driver or team standings, but that would have been hard to achieve because of missing the first two rounds. I would also like to thank Mr. Josef Křenek for his help with our start in TCR Europe.
But now it is time to look into the 2022 season. You can build upon your previous results, so what are your expectations for the upcoming season?
I have only one plan for this season – to get a title. I know it will be even harder than last year with new cars arriving on the grid, but that’s our goal to achieve.
Do you think you can fight opponents with newer cars on a regular basis?
It will definitely be a difficult task because new cars are simply more refined and thus, theoretically, they should be faster. However, over the course of the season and with a guest start at Monza, we showed that „old Audis“ have a chance to compete with new Hyundais and Cupras. So I think we have a real chance to fight. Let’s not forget that this season, we will be racing with tyres from a new supplier, so everyone will have to learn how to ride them.
How do you like the fact that your team boss Radim Adámek is also a driver, and basically the second driver of the team?
I feel very good about it. It’s always better if there is more than one driver on a team. It gives us more data, etc. He has more experience racing, so sometimes, like on tracks I’m unfamiliar with, he can give me some advice and tips.
You have a rich sim racing background. How helpful has sim racing been for your career on real circuits?
I started with sim racing, and it is still something that I like to do in my spare time. It helps me get to know new tracks (for example, Most and the Red Bull Ring this season), benefit from concentration exercises, and practice side-to-side fights with other drivers. Unfortunately, due to the current border restrictions, it is still difficult to test on real tracks, which is why the simulator acts as an alternative.
Do you have other plans, like starting in TCR Europe again?
At the moment, TCR Eastern Europe is my main plan for this season. I want to concentrate on that. For sure, TCR Europe is our next step, but it’s not our target for this season. Maybe for the next one. But I’m not ruling out participating in one of the rounds this season.
