Maťo Homola is back, Petr Semerád will start with Hyundai Elantra

The Hyundai / Janík Motorsport team has made a few changes in its line-up of drivers for the fifth event of the season at Slovakia Ring. Local racer Maťo Homola is going to start in front of his home crowd and Petr Semerád will be exchanging his Hyundai i30N for a newer Hyundai Elantra model.

“Petr has convinced us that he is a really great driver, so we are giving him the opportunity to start with an Elantra. For Maťo, this home race is important and it will also be a chance to test the car before the TCR Europe race at Nürburgring the following weekend. Our second driver, Jáchym Galáš, will be testing at Slovakia Ring on Friday, but he will not take part in the races,” said team owner Václav Janík, who will also start at Slovakia Ring with a Hyundai i30N.

The strategy for the weekend isn’t set just yet. Janík knows it’s an important race for Homola and he’ll be going for the best possible results. On the other hand, he is a TCR Europe competitor and the Nürburgring event is also important for him and for the team. Another question comes in the form of race positioning. What if Homola ends up leading the race and Semerád is in second – will there be any change in position?

“We haven’t discussed it yet. Although Petr is fighting for the title, Maťo will be racing at home, so, to be honest, we don’t really want to influence the result,” comments Janík on the strategy question.

Semerád is 13 points behind championship leader Bartosz Groszek, so the fight for the title is very close. Semerád is going to have the advantage with a newer and slightly faster car, although he hasn’t tested it yet.

“I’m sure Petr will do great behind the wheel of the Elantra. It’s a better car than the i30N and he can adapt really fast to the new car. Also, Maťo and Jáchym will be available to give him any help [he needs],” added Janík, whose team leads the team classification.

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