Chaos in first turn sets stage for Milan Vukovic’s victory

Milan Vukovic from the Vukovic Motorsport team became the third winner of the third TCR Eastern Europe race this season. The young driver with the green and white Renault Megane had a superb start and was unstoppable in the red-flag-shortened race. The Mertel Motorsport duo of Rene Kircher and Davit Kajaia with Honda Civics took second and third place, respectively.

The first three positions on the grid were locked by the Hyundai Janík Motorsport team, with Maťo Homola taking pole position and his teammates Carlo Czepiel and Adam Kout behind him. Another two positions belonged to Rene Kircher and Davit Kajaia.

However, the start went completely differently for the Hyundai Janík Motorsport drivers. Chaos in the first turn and some contacts resulted in the way for Rene Kircher, who had the best start and was already in first place during braking into the first corner.

Behind Kircher, Milan Vukovic had contact with Kajaia but managed to keep second place. Kajaia stayed third in front of Milenko Vukovic and then Adam Kout and pole position man Maťo Homola.

Milan Vukovic passed Rene Kircher in the second lap and immediately set the fastest lap of the race. In the third lap, Homola passed Kout and moved up to fifth place, ready to challenge Milenko Vukovic. Just before the half of the race, the fight between Vukovic and Homola was shaping up. For a couple of moments, Vukovic drove sideways in the corners, which wasn’t really the fastest way through the corner, but he was wide enough to keep Homola behind his back, and the close fight continued.

But with eight minutes to go, Adam Rzepecki ended up in the tire barriers, and the safety car went out to the track, wiping out all the gaps between drivers. Soon it was clear that the race would be finished behind the safety car, and then the red flags were shown. So Milan Vukovic became the third winner of the season. Behind him finished Rene Kircher and his teammate Davit Kajaija.

Vukovic stayed in fourth place in the finish, but was later penalised with two seconds because of track limits, so Homola was moved up to fourth place. Later after the race, Milenko Vukovic was disqualified, because the car didn´t comply with technical regulations. Kout was classifield fifth then, Petr Čížek sixth, while Sebastian Steibel was seventh and Giacomo Ghermandi brought home the first points of the season for eight place. Philipp Dietrich took ninth place in his TCR Eastern Europe debut and Carlo Czepiel was tenth.

The winner of the Junior category was Kircher, followed by Dietrich and Czepiel. Tobias Poschik was the best in the Trophy class, with Sebastian Kolakowski and Adam Rzepecki finishing second and third, respectively.

Sebastian Steibel would start from pole position for Race 2, as the grid would be reversed from the seventh place.