Blog

BTC Maszyny Racing team is having its debut season in TCR Eastern Europe series this year, with team owner Lukasz Stolarczyk being also the racing driver. However, the Polish team aims to have two cars on the grid in 2021. The team owner has revealed that and much more in our interview.

Lukasz, in Grobnik you had your TCR Eastern Europe debut, in which you managed to take one point after finishing 10th in the first race. How did you enjoy the opening round?

Before the event, we set our minimum goal to finish in the TOP 10 and I’ve managed that. But I’m not that happy with our performance, to be honest. It was our first time at Grobnik and we lacked the experience. I had a good feeling about the car and the track after the first run, but then we made some changes to the set up to keep up with the others and it went wrong. For the final race, we reverted to the original setup, but then I got into a collision in the first lap while running 9th and I wasn’t able to drive that well after that collision.

Last year, you were racing in the WSMP Polish championship, where you finished 2nd in the DN4 category. How would you compare those races to the TCR Eastern Europe series?

It’s different in the number of entrants. While there are 6 to 7 cars per class in the WSMP, there are 18 cars in the TCR Easter Europe. But there were some familiar faces at Grobnik, like last year’s WSMP champion Bartlomiej Mirecki, who won the TCR ESET Cup Endurance race. Or last year’s 3rd best driver overall Szymon Jablonski, who ran with Mirecki and also raced in the TCR Eastern Europe. Obviously, this series gives you a much better opportunity for better racing and to learn, and that applies to both, the drivers and the team. And that’s why we’re here.

What do you think of the TCR Eastern Europe? And what do you expect from it in the future?

I really like the idea behind TCR, because the BoP makes it competitive and racing more exciting. The TCR Eastern Europe gives drivers from our region a chance for competitive racing and to learn. The level of organisation is great, and the costs are reasonable. It’s tough to predict the future, but the series should only grow.

What are your goals for the rest of the season? Especially for the Slovakia Ring?

I hope that I’ll be faster than at Grobnik and that I’ll avoid as many incidents as possible. Slovakia Ring is also a new circuit to us, but I’m sure we’ll do a better job on the set up and show some speed.

We could also see your BTC Maszyny Racing team in the virtual series by the TCR Eastern Europe. And it was a successful entry as Bartosz Groszek won the championship. What about giving him a chance in a real racing car as well? This year or in the future?

Yes, we want to be that successful in real racing as well (laughter). Bartosz Groszek is fast on the simulator and in the real car as well. In Croatia, he drove our Golf TCR in the ESET Cup Endurance race and he did a good job. Bartosz needs to gain experience this year, but for 2021 we hope to enter two cars.

What are your plans for the future? Do you want to remain in the TCR Eastern Europe for a long time or is there any other racing series that is interesting to you?

This craziness around the coronavirus situation doesn’t allow us to do any planning. We’re not even too sure about the rest of 2020. However, if there won’t be any new lockdown, we want to continue in the TCR Eastern Europe next year as well. Right now, I’m focused on our job here.