Despite starting from sixth place again, Martin Kadlečík in his Audi RS3 fought his way through the field in the second race at Automotodrom Grobnik and secured a double victory for himself and Aditis Racing in the opening round of the TCR Eastern Europe championship.
Local drivers Niko Pulič, Fraňo Dubreta and Žarko Knego started from the first three positions to the delight of the home spectators, while Jiří Zbožínek lined up fourth. Petr Čížek and yesterday’s winner Martin Kadlečík occupied the third row, while the fourth row belonged to Bojan Miljkovič and Luka Fabijančič.
Knego and Čížek made by far the best starts, moving into first and second place already in Turn 1 and creating a gap over Pulič and Dubreta behind them. However Čižek received 10 second penalty for the jump start.
Kadlečík also moved forward, while defending against Adam Kout, who had started from the back of the grid. There was plenty of action and overtaking during the opening lap as drivers from the rear positions pushed toward the front.
After two laps, Knego led with more than a two second advantage over Čížek, while Kadlečík had already climbed to third place, three seconds behind Čížek. Kout was fourth, Zbožínek fifth, while Dubreta and Pulič occupied sixth and seventh positions.
By lap five, Kadlečík was right behind Čížek, searching for a way past the grey Cupra. Their battle benefited leader Knego, who was able to extend his advantage slightly, but Kadlečík soon managed to overtake Čížek and immediately began chasing local leader Knego.
Behind them, Čížek and Kout fought for third place, while a few seconds further back Zbožínek and Dubreta battled over fifth. Dubreta overtook Zbožínek in the final corner on lap nine to move into the top five.
Meanwhile, with ten minutes remaining, Kadlečík had closed onto the rear of Knego. He wasted no time launching an attack and chose the popular final hairpin for his overtaking move, taking the lead in Race 2.
With five minutes to go, Dubreta headed to the pits with technical problems and Zbožínek inherited fifth, while his teammate Adam Kout continued pressuring third placed Čížek. However, a penalty for a jump start was hanging over Čížek, so Kout avoided taking unnecessary risks and remained close behind Čížek without attempting a decisive move.
Martin Kadlečík therefore completed a clean sweep at Grobnik by winning both races, while local hero Žarko Knego finished second. Although Čížek crossed the finish line in third place, a ten second penalty dropped him to fifth overall, promoting Kout to third and Zbožínek to fourth.
Niko Pulič finished sixth, just three seconds ahead of Robert Pravdič and Bojan Miljkovič. Radim Adámek finished ninth, while Fraňo Dubreta rounded out the top 10 after eventually returning to the race, albeit one lap behind the winner.
