Blog

The Slovakia Ring hosted the penultimate round of this year’s TCR Eastern Europe season, with Aditis Racing’s Martin Kadlečík and Hyundai Janík Motorsport driver Adam Kout locked in a battle for the championship. The pair shared the two race wins in Slovakia, although neither victory came without drama.

Adam Kout has been the man to beat in qualifying. Driving the Hyundai Elantra, he claimed his fourth consecutive pole position and remains unbeaten in qualifying in 2026. While he has generally topped the sessions by several tenths of a second, the margins have been far tighter in the races.

Fans were eagerly anticipating another showdown between the two title contenders in the opening race of the weekend, but before the field had even completed the first lap it was clear there would be no further instalment of Kadlečík versus Kout this time. The championship leader retired on the opening lap with technical problems, and Kout made the most of the opportunity. He crossed the line in first place, narrowly ahead of his team-mate, taking a sizeable chunk out of Kadlečík’s championship lead.

Žarko Knego finished third, returning to the top three for the first time since the Salzburgring and completing a Hyundai clean sweep of the podium. Petr Čížek brought his Cupra home in fourth, with Kadlečík’s team-mate Radim Adámek fifth.

Adámek then played a crucial role in keeping Kadlečík in the fight for Sunday’s race, with his car providing the spare part needed to repair the championship leader’s machine. As a result, Adámek did not start race two, while Kout’s team-mate Jiří Zbožínek also failed to get far. Sprinting towards the first corner, he found himself squeezed between Petr Čížek and Žarko Knego, lost control and hit the barriers hard. Čížek was handed a five-second penalty for the incident, but still retained third place at the finish.

Kout, meanwhile, controlled the second race from the front. Kadlečík followed him like a shadow but remained too far back to mount a serious attack. That all changed towards the end of the 25-minute sprint, when the pair began working their way past slower touring cars from the Croatian championship.

Kout lost momentum while passing one of the slower cars on corner exit, allowing Kadlečík to draw alongside. Under braking for a tight left-hander, Kadlečík seized the lead on the final lap. What had looked set to be another commanding Kout victory was transformed in the final minute into a triumphant finish for championship leader Kadlečík.

The penultimate round at the Slovakia Ring has therefore set up a dramatic October finale at the Hungaroring, with just seven points separating Kadlečík and Kout.

TCR Eastern Europe – Qualifying

TCR Eastern Europe – Race 1

TCR Eastern Europe – Race 2

• Share: