Guest driver Karklys wins a crazy Race 1 at Slovakia Ring
Guest driver Jonas Karklys made a stunning maiden appearance in TCR Eastern Europe by taking victory at the Slovakiaring in a first race that provided some “coup de theatre” even before the start.
Championship leader Tomas Pekař, second in Qualifying, could not even make the grid, as his Carpek Service CUPRA had suffered from a gearbox issue before the end of the session that had resulted in a broken suspension. His main rival and pole sitter, Michal Makeš though, was not able to take advantage from being alone on the front row, as he stalled his Mičánek Motorsport CUPRA at the start.
It was Karklys who led the field at the end of lap 1, from Bartosz Groszek, Giacomo Ghermandi and the Fullinrace Academy pair of Petr Čižek and Carol Wittke.
There were contacts during the opening lap, with Sebastian Steibel being sent off track in turn 3 after contact with Groszek; the German rejoined in 11th position. In lap 2, it was Ghermandi wo went into the gravel twice and dropped down the field; the Italian would go off again in lap 3 and got stuck for good.
By lap 6, Karklys had built a comfortable 3.5-second gap over Groszek, while Čižek was trying to defend the third place from Makeš who had recovered after his bad start. With Karklys and Groszek comfortably running in first and second, focus shifted on the battle for third, with Čižek, Makeš and Wittke running very close to each other.
In the last lap, Makeš succeeded in passing Čižek who was later dropped from fourth to eighth by a penalty for jump start. Makeš too was given a 5-second penalty for causing a collision, then demoted him from third to fourth, between Wittke and Sanel Ćehić.
In the championship, Makeš has retaken the lead, seven points ahead of Pekař.
The second race is due to start at 12:35 CEST on Sunday, with Sebastian Steibel on pole position; live streaming at www.tcr-series.tv.
Slovakia Ring – Race 1
1. Jonas Karklys (Nordpass Jutaracing, Hyundai i30 N), 12 laps
2. Bartosz Groszek (Horňák-Aditis, Audi RS 3 LMS), 6.013
3. Carol Wittke (Fullinrace Academy, CUPRA Leon Competición), 15.698
4. Michal Makeš (Mičánek Motorsport, CUPRA), 19.497
5. Sanel Ćehić (CS-Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 24.901
Championship points
1. M. Makeš 158 pts; 2. T. Pekař 151; 3. C. Wittke 91
Picture: TCR Eastern Europe/Petr Frýba
