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The fourth round of the TCR Eastern Europe championship got underway at the Slovakia Ring on Saturday with Race 1, where Adam Kout produced a dominant performance. Starting from pole position, he led every lap, set the fastest lap of the race and eventually took a commanding victory.

Kout started from pole position for the fourth consecutive round, lining up alongside championship leader Martin Kadlečík. Jiří Zbožínek and Žarko Knego shared the second row, while Petr Čížek and Radim Adámek started from row three.

Kout made a strong start and retained the lead ahead of Kadlečík, Zbožínek, Knego, Čížek and Adámek. Unfortunately, the championship battle took an early twist as Kadlečík from Aditis Racing retired on the opening lap with a technical issue on his Audi RS 3.

That promoted Hyundai Janík Motorsport into the top two positions, with Kout leading Zbožínek, while Knego moved up to third to make it three Hyundai Elantras in the top three.

Following a careful opening-lap, Zbožínek began pushing to close the gap to Kout. He eventually reduced the deficit to less than a second and, during the middle stages of the race, was even lapping slightly faster than his teammate.

Kout, however, remained firmly in control and led Zbožínek to the chequered flag to claim his third victory of the season. It was also an important result in the championship fight, allowing him to reduce the points deficit to Martin Kadlečík.

Knego held on to third place to complete an all-Hyundai podium, crossing the finish line two and a half seconds ahead of Čížek, with Radim Adámek finishing fifth.

Race 1 Results

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