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Adam Kout didn’t put a foot wrong in the opening race of the TCR Eastern Europe at Slovakia Ring. The Czech driver from Janík Motorsport led every lap on his way to victory and extended his lead in the championship.

Kout started from pole position alongside Žarko Knego, making it a Hyundai Elantra front row. Behind them were the Audis of teammates Martin Kadlečík and Bartosz Groszek, with Petr Čížek and Jiří Zbožínek sharing the third row.

Kout got away a little slowly and it looked like he might lose the lead at the first corner to Kadlečík, but he managed to hold on through Turn 2. Knego initially stayed second but was soon overtaken by Kadlečík and had to defend from Groszek. Unfortunately, Knego carried too much speed through the infield section, ran wide into the gravel, and rejoined at the back of the field.

Out front, Kout controlled the pace, with Kadlečík second, Groszek third, followed by Čížek, Ivars Vallers, Zbožínek, Nemanja Milovanović and in eighth Vít Smejkal.

Kout was the fastest driver on track, setting the quickest lap and building a comfortable gap to Kadlečík while managing his tyres.

The main action came from Knego, who was clearly faster than the cars ahead. He began carving his way through the field, moving up one position at a time. By the second half of the race, he had climbed to seventh, chasing Milovanović in sixth, while Vallers dropped pace and slipped to eighth.

In the end, it was a relatively calm race. Kout controlled the lead all the way to the chequered flag, with Kadlečík and Groszek joining him on the podium. Čížek finished fourth, just ahead of Zbožínek. Knego recovered to sixth, followed by Milovanović in seventh. Vallers was defefending his place from Smejkal and unfortunately, they both colided and retired from the race, so Luka Fabijančič moved up to eight and Peter Szilagy finished ninth.

TCR Eastern Europe – Race 1 – Official

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