Blog
It’s not an exaggeration when we say that this season finale was the best in the history of the TCR Eastern Europe championship. The title fight went down to the wire and two young guns, Bartosz Groszek and Petr Semerád, fought for every inch of the Autodrom Most asphalt.
The tension between Groszek and Semerád was high. There had already been some contacts made between the two of them at Slovakia Ring and their once-friendly relationship somewhat changed. Needless to say, it’s completely understandable, the championship title was at stake and there is no room for kind behaviour, only for really hard, but fair-play fights.
During the first race at Most, another contact occurred. Semerád used it as an advantage and overtook Groszek, which moved him into the lead of the championship by one point. The race stewards said that it was a racing incident and didn’t take any action. Both drivers and their teams ADITIS Racing and Hyundai / Janík Motorsport had their own views on the matter.
So the final race of the season was all about their fight and how it would end up. Would they be unyielding to each other? Could we expect an accident? How will the race will develop? But Groszek and Semerád are professionals; they fought really hard without making contact. It was a marvellous racing spectacle. Groszek was defending his position, Semerád was trying to find a gap anywhere on the Most track that would allow him to overtake him. Sadly, their duel ended prematurely because of Semerád’s technical issues. From that moment on, Groszek’s only goal was to finish the race. He did that without any problem and became the fourth TCR Eastern Europe champion.
The weekend was all about the two of them, although they didn’t race in top positions. The fastest driver of the starting field was Petr Fulín, who sat behind the wheel of a Cupra after almost an entire year. He drove the fastest in the free practices, he scored pole position, and he won the first race without any problem. The situation in the second race was much more complicated for him. He had to start from tenth position and, to make matters worse, he got hit in the eye by a small stone through an open window on the way to the grid. The medic who was called didn’t want to let him race, but Fulín didn’t listen. He started anyway, soon took the lead, and won by another big margin. He then sought medical care right after the race. Afterwards, Fulín said with a smile on his face and a bandage over his left eye: “I always have to have something special…” And the final race of the fourth TCR Eastern Europe season was certainly something special as well. Glory to the victor, honour to the vanquished!
