Blog
The message from the fourth round of the TCR Eastern Europe championship is clear: local driver Maťo Homola from Hyundai Janík Motorsport won both races. However, this does not convey how spectacular the races were, particularly the second one.
As each qualifying session provides insight into the drivers and their cars‘ performance capabilities, usually the opening race of the weekend lacks excitement, but at Slovakia Ring, there was a battle for the win. René Kircher, with 40 kilos of weight ballast in his Honda Civic, surprisingly claimed pole position over Homola, who had only 10 kilos of weight ballast.
However, the race had a different story, and Homola soon took the lead from Kircher and drove to victory in front of his cheering fans. It was mission accomplished for Homola, as he secured win and extended his points lead over Kircher. A few hours later, Kircher was disqualified from second place for breaching the Balance of Performance regulations. This meant that Kircher’s teammate, Davit Kajaia, moved up to second place, and Homola’s teammate, Carlo Czepiel, took third.
The change in the race results promoted young Philipp Dietrich to pole position for the second race. He had taken part in races in Hungary and Austria and the Slovakia round was Dietrich’s last weekend before committing to a full season in TCR Eastern Europe 2024. So, his pole position was a great „see you soon“ message for him. However, there was more to come from him in the second race!
Thanks to the reversed eight grid positions at the start, there were dramatic opening laps in race 2. Tobias Poschik began to leak oil from his Audi, complicating the situation for the drivers behind him, especially Kajaia, whose windshield was covered in oil and dust.
Giacomo Ghermandi took the lead after a couple of corners, but the race director soon announced a ten-second penalty for him for a jump start. Ghermandi was unaware of his penalty and held onto first place until the end. On the other hand, Homola was informed of the leader’s ten-second penalty and did not attack Ghermandi, he instead followed him closely. Mixed emotions of joy and then disappointment were seen on Ghermandi’s face as Homola walked to the podiums, followed by a delighted Dietrich, who finished second. Third-place Kajaia was also very happy, considering he drove the race almost blind because of his dirty windshield.
Overall, it was an exciting weekend at Slovakia Ring, with Homola extending his lead in the driver’s championship. Hyundai Janík Motorsport reclaimed the top spot in the teams‘ standings from Mertel Motorsport, with only two rounds remaining at Most and Brno. However, nothing is decided yet, and fans can expect more dramatic moments and spectacular racing.
RACE RESULTS
TCR – Qualifying
TCR – Race 1
TCR – Race 2
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STANDINGS
Standings Drivers
Standings Junior/Team
Standings Trophy
