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Petr Semerád from Hyundai / Janík Motorsport scored his first win in the TCR Eastern Europe championship. He even got the so-called motorsport Grand Slam – starting from pole position, setting the fastest race lap, and winning the race.
Starting next to Semerád on the grid was Petr Čížek with a Cupra. Václav Janík and Bartosz Groszek started from the second row. Semerád, with a Hyundai, got away without any problems this time and remained in the lead, in front of Čížek. Groszek, with an Audi, had a great start on his home soil and soon passed Čížek. But Groszek didn’t have time to continue his attack on Semerád, as the safety car was sent out onto the track.
The reason for the waving of the double yellow flags was Sanel Cehic’s incident. Cehic had also had a great start in his Audi and had moved into fourth place. But in the back section of the track, he went wide on the exit of the corner and lost control on the grass. He moved across the track and was unable to stop the car. He slid over a small bump of grass, which turned his car upside-down. The safety car was sent out and Cehic left his Audi in an uncomfortable kind of way.
Cehic’s Audi was left there upside-down and the green flags were waved once more. Groszek tried to attack the leading Semerád as soon as possible, but the Czech driver managed to keep the local driver behind his back while maintaining a fast pace, so Groszek decided to focus on finishing the race instead.
Petr Čížek drove a lonely sort of race, as he wasn’t fast enough to get close to the first two drivers, but he was faster than the driver in fourth, Milenko Vuković, who had another great start in his Renault. Václav Janík pursued Vuković at the beginning, but as the race moved into the second half, Sebastian Steibel began to attack Janík’s Hyundai, albeit unsuccessfully.
A satisfying performance was given by Milan Vuković, who debuted not only in TCR Eastern Europe, but also in a TCR car. Son of team owner Milenko Vuković, he has driven a couple of Twingo Cup races and he now sits behind the wheel of a very powerful Renault. He finished seventh, just three places behind his father.
Tomasz Rzepecki was classified eighth with his VW Golf TCR. In ninth was Radim Adámek in an Audi and, making it into the Top 10, Žarko Knego finished with a Cupra.
In addition to winning the race, Petr Semerád won the Junior category, in front of Milan Vuković and Tomasz Rzepecki. Semerád is also the winner of the Trophy category, with Bartosz Groszek coming in second and Václav Janík coming in third.
After the prize-giving ceremony, Semerád drew the number six from a hat, which means that sixth-place driver Sebastian Steibel will be starting from pole position in tomorrow’s race.
