Blog
Adam Kout guided his Hyundai Elantra to victory in Race 2 of the TCR Eastern Europe weekend at Salzburgring, keeping behind Aditis Racing team mates Bartosz Groszek and Martin Kadlečík behind. The race was briefly interrupted by a safety car following a crash of Giacomo Ghermandi.
Kout started from pole position alongside his Janík Motorsport teammate Jiří Zbožínek, with Giacomo Ghermandi and Petr Semerád behind them on the second row.
The field got away cleanly and the Janík Motorsport duo maintained their 1–2 formation early on. Ghermandi slotted into third in his Honda Civic from MM Motorsport, followed by Žarko Knego (Hyundai Elantra), Ivars Vallers (Audi RS3) and Aditis Racing teammates Martin Kadlečík and Bartosz Groszek in sixth and seventh after the opening lap.
Zbožínek initially kept pressure on Kout, who had his car repaired after Saturday´s left front puncture. Zbožínek was then under pressure by Ghermandi and the Italian attempted a move around the outside at the first chicane but cut the corner and had to give the position back.
Meanwhile Knego came under heavy pressure from Kadlečík and Groszek, forming a tightly packed group battling for the podiums places. Zbožínek then ran into trouble with a loose front hood and was forced to pit for repairs.
Kout remained comfortably in the lead as Kadlečík pushed Ghermandi hard. Eventually, Ghermandi made a mistake under pressure and crashed at Turn 10, bringing out the safety car.
The running order behind the safety car was: Kout, Kadlečík, Groszek, Knego, Vallers, Čížek, Semerád, and Zbožínek—who was able to catch up to the pack thanks to the yellow flags.
When the race resumed with five minutes to go, Kadlečík launched an immediate attack on Kout, but the leader held his ground. Kadlečík lost second place to teammate Groszek, while also having to defend from Knego.
In the end, Adam Kout crossed the finish line just under a second ahead of Bartosz Groszek to secure the win. Martin Kadlečík completed the podium in third, earning the most points of any driver over the weekend thanks to a win and a third place.
Žarko Knego finished fourth, followed by Ivars Vallers in fifth and Petr Čížek in sixth. Jiří Zbožínek and Petr Semerád rounded out the top eight.
