TCR Eastern Europe begins with victory for Borkovič
Dušan Borkovič and M1RA Motorsport successfully began their campaign in TCR Eastern Europe with an authoritative victory at Grobnik in Croatia. In a largely processional race, the Serbian driver and his Hyundai i30 N took the win by nearly eight seconds from the series’ reigning champion Milovan Vesnić in the ASK Vesnić CUPRA, with the ARC Bratislava Hyundai of Mat’o Konopka completing the podium.
At the start, pole-sitter Borkovič got away cleanly, but Vesnić quickly passed Konopka for second place and the trio then completed the remainder of the 25-minute race in those positions. Behind the leading trio, Petr Čižek dropped two places to eighth when he was passed by both Igor Stefanovski and Dušan Kouril on the opening lap, while Bence Boldizs and Jáchym Galaš spent the race battling for fourth and fifth.
The safety car was deployed on Lap 3 after what appeared to be a contact between Szymon Jabłonski and Gábor Kismarty-Lechner. When racing resumed on Lap 6, Michal Makeš and Nemanja Milovanović both passed Čižek to claim eighth and ninth places. On the following lap, Čižek dropped out of the top ten when he was passed by Lukasz Stolarczyk and Čižek’s first race in the new CUPRA Leon Competición ultimately ended on Lap 11 when he went off into the gravel at Turn 14.
With Sebastian Kołakowski limping back to the pits on the penultimate lap, fourteen of the eighteen cars took the chequered flag. Borkovič steadily pulled away from the pair in pursuit and took a well-deserved win ahead of Vesnić and Konopka, although several of the drivers reported that they hadn’t been able to test ahead of the opening weekend and so practice and Qualifying were their first chances to get some track time in 2020.
Race 2 is scheduled to begin at 15:15 CEST, with Borkovič again on pole; live streaming at www.tcr-series.com.
Race 1 result
1. Dušan Borkovič (M1RA Motorsport, Hyundai i30 N), 15 laps
2. Milovan Vesnić (ASK Vesnić, CUPRA), 7.894
3. Mat’o Konopka (ARC Bratislava, Hyundai i30 N), 10.564
4. Bence Boldizs (Zengő Motorsport CUPRA), 12.219
5. Jáchym Galáš (GT2 Motorsport, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 13.868
Championship points
1. Dušan Borkovič 25 pts; 2. Milovan Vesnić 18; 3. Mat’o Konopka 15
Picture: TCR Eastern Europe
