Blog
Italian driver Giacomo Ghermandi achieved his long-awaited goal by taking home the winning trophy in Sunday’s TCR Eastern Europe race at the Red Bull Ring. Ghermandi from MM Motorsport team took the lead with his Honda Civic on the first lap and never looked back on his way to a dominant victory.
The front row featured Viktor Andersson in Lynk & Co car and Giacomo Ghermandi, with Petr Čížek in Cupra and Ivars Vallers in Audi RS3 starting just behind. Saturday’s winner, Adam Kout in Hyundai Elantra, began the race from ninth position, directly behind Bartosz Groszek with Audi RS3.
Both Andersson and Ghermandi had a strong start, with Čížek lining up behind them, followed by Vallers and the two Aditis Racing drivers—Martin Kadlečík and Bartosz Groszek. On the back straight, Ghermandi launched an attack on Andersson, as did Čížek. This created an opportunity for Groszek and Kadlečík to make their move, and Andersson dropped from first to fifth in just the opening lap.
Kadlečík overtook Čížek for second on the following lap. Meanwhile, Kout moved up to fifth, passing Andersson, while Ivan Knego was forced to retire due to a technical issue.
Kout then passed Groszek for fourth place, while Čížek fell to fifth after running off track in Turn 4. Kout began closing in on second-placed Kadlečík, who was closely shadowing leader Ghermandi and searching for a way to get past. Despite Kadlečík’s efforts, he couldn’t find a way through, and soon Kout appeared in his mirrors. On lap nine, Kout successfully overtook Kadlečík for second place.
Although Kout closed the gap to under a second, Ghermandi remained focused and defended his lead to the finish, securing his first-ever win in the TCR Eastern Europe Championship. Kout crossed the line in second, with Martin Kadlečík completing the podium in third. Bartosz Groszek finished fourth, Viktor Andersson was fifth and Jiří Zbožínek rounded out the top six.
