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Maťo Homola and Attila Bucsi continue to battle for victory. These two title contenders in TCR Eastern Europe have not allowed anyone else to step onto the top podium, extending their winning streak at Slovakia Ring.
Maťo Homola arrived at his home track, Slovakia Ring, as the hot favorite. The Hyundai Janík Motorsport driver dominated last season and won both races on home soil. In the 2022 season, he also won both sprints, maintaining a perfect record at Slovakia Ring. No one has beaten him there yet.
Homola started the first race on the right foot. Behind the wheel of his Hyundai Elantra, he dominated the opening sprint, maintaining a safe lead over his teammate Adam Kout and third-placed Attila Bucsi in a Hyundai i30 N. For the top three, it was a smooth race, ending in misfortune only for Kout. Two laps before the finish, he suffered a right front tire puncture just as he was braking into the first corner. With an uncontrollable car, he went off the track and had to retire. Coincidentally, René Kircher from Mertel Motorsport experienced the same issue with his Honda Civic and retired with puncture.
Homola’s other teammate, Jiří Zbožínek, finished third in the first sprint. The young driver shows improvement every time he gets behind the wheel, and the bronze position was his best result in TCR Eastern Europe so far. Martin Kadlečík from Aditis Racing might have contested for the podium, but his Audi RS3 stalled at the start, and by the time he got going, everyone else was gone. He managed to climb up to fourth place, a small consolation for his return to TCR Eastern Europe.
The starting grid for the second race saw the top nine drivers reversed. Homola started from ninth place, with Kadlečík’s teammate Radim Adámek and Davit Kajaia from Mertel Motorsport on the front row. Kajaia took the lead but received a ten-second penalty for a false start. The time was added to his final result.
Kajaia held the lead with Bucsi, Homola, Kout, and soon Kadlečík forming a train behind him. Bucsi pressured Kajaia and after two laps, took the lead. Homola couldn’t find a way past Kajaia and remained behind him until the finish, ahead of Kout and Kadlečík. Thus, Homola’s winning streak that began in 2022 came to an end.
The unluckiest driver at Slovakia Ring was Italian Giacomo Ghermandi. His Honda Civic failed to finish either race due to technical issues, dropping him from fourth to sixth in the standings, behind Kadlečík and Petr Čížek, who finished sixth in both races. René Kircher also left Slovakia without points, with Mertel Motorsport’s points being collected only by Davit Kajaia.
TCR Eastern Europe – Qualifying
