Fight for the TCR Eastern Europe championship continues in Poland
The circuit Tor Poznań in Poland will host the third round of the TCR Eastern Europe championship and all eyes are going to be on the leading trio Bartosz Groszek, Milenko Vuković, and Petr Semerád.
Those three drivers are in the top three positions in the current driver classification and are always favourites for race wins. Bartosz Groszek scored his maiden win in Hungary, and Milenko Vuković dominated at Red Bull Ring and won one race. Although Petr Semerád is still waiting for his premiere victory, he managed to score enough points to be close to the leading Groszek and second-place Vuković.
Bartosz Groszek is racing with an Audi RS3 LMS TCR for the ADITIS Racing team. He has had one win and has come in fourth place three times so far. Thanks to a points-finish streak, he sits on top of the standings with 64 points and has a six point lead over Milenko Vuković, who has returned to driving after a six year break and has shown that he hasn’t lost speed during his long absence. His Renault Mégane RS TCR was fast at Hungaroring and Red Bull Ring, so, at Tor Poznań, it’s expected that his Besagroup Vuković Motorsport team will be celebrating another fine result.
Petr Semerád drives a Hyundai i30N TCR for the Hyundai / Janík Motorsport team, which had a really successful weekend at Red Bull Ring. Team owner Václav Janík scored third place twice, and Semerád came in second in the second race. That means he is only six points behind Vuković and 12 points behind Groszek.
It’s pretty clear that the fan favourites will be local drivers. Bartosz Groszek debuted at Tor Poznań last year and won the second race there. Another Pole, Tomasz Rzepecki, with a VW Golf TCR would like to improve his position in the standings, but, as he mentioned in the past, the Tor Poznań circuit doesn’t suit him, so it will be interesting to see how he will do there with his team Basenhurt A&T Racing.
The heaviest car in the race will be driven by Vuković. Based on TCR Eastern Europe’s balance of performance regulations, he will have to carry an extra 40 kilos in his car. Semerád is going to add 30 kilos to his car. The good news for Bartosz Groszek is that he is going to get rid of a 40-kilo ballast before the race in Poland.