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The Czech Fullinrace Academy team of the three-time European champion Petr Fulín celebrated the victory in team standings for the first time in 2021 season. It´s driver were German Carol Wittke and Czech Petr Čížek. The number one driver was Carol Wittke, who scored points in every race and stood on the podium six times. His two wins at the Masaryk Circuit in Brno significantly contributed to team success. Team owner Petr Fulín remembers the best season in TCR so far.
What made such a significant improvement in 2021 season?
I think this is a logical outcome of several factors. The cornerstone of this positive mosaic was the fact that both boys had been driving new Cupra since the first race weekend. Despite the conceptual problems on the differential from the beginning of the season, we finally managed to catch up. During several tests, we were able to work with the new technology more easily, so that in October we managed to be equal with even the best teams in the WTCR championship. In this context, it is necessary to pay tribute to the whole team, especially to our engineer, Pavel Gellner. I personally tested various settings countless times during the season, the cooperation with Pavel was excellent. We found the right setting together very quickly. The boys then slightly adjusted car setup to their style and then it was just a matter of being focused, not making mistakes and showing their speed during the race weekends. It was very nice to watch boys, improving from weekend to weekend…
You had the best race weekend at the end of the season in Brno, where Carol Wittke started from pole-position, won both races and Petr Čížek added third place. Were you surprised by such a significant success on this track?
Yes, I agree, Brno was great for us. There are actually several reasons. We added a kind of „Brno know-how“, and then a we were lucky with favourable constellation in the form of BOP and CW. However, a specific car setup is definitely a fundamental prerequisite for success in Brno. I personally have been watching this for several seasons. There are mostly motorbikes races in Brno, the asphalt is already „old“ and so it is very difficult to find a setup that will „give“ the car at least some grip. There is nothing worse than when at the slightest acceleration, your car loses traction. Whoever can cleverly minimize such car behaviour, wins. And I’m very proud of my team, because we were the smart ones.
Both of your drivers started with the new Cupra Leon Competicion TCR cars in 2021. Year before, Petr Čížek had problems with the car. However you speed up significantly in 2021, so what has changed in the preparation?
As I mentioned at the beginning. Our technical issues were largely affected by the manufacturer’s problems, ie. conceptual defects, specifically on the differential. There were times when we doubted we would ever see the light at the end of the tunnel. But we found a solution in Cupra racing so we could start testing and working on the settings.
What are your plans for next season preparation?
I would like to logically follow up on the end of the 2021 season. At the moment, it looks like we will continue with same drivers in the TCR Eeastern Europe Championship. There might be also separate starts somewhere else, but we have not finally agreed on that yet.
