Title contenders Makeš and Pekař will share the front row
TCR Eastern Europe title contenders Michal Makeš and Tomáš Pekař will share the front row for today’s Race 1 at the Slovakia Ring, with the challenger taking the pole ahead of the points leader.
Makeš, at the wheel of the CUPRA of Mičánek Motorsport, beat his Czech countryman Pekař, in the Carpek Service CUPRA by a comfortable 0.515-second margin. With the pair split by only five points in the standings, all ingredients are there for an exciting Race 1 this afternoon.
Makeš topped the rankings early in the session with the time of 2:12.271 that he later improved to 2:11.791, securing the pole; Pekař seemed to adopt a completely different strategy, completing only two flying laps and settling for P2.
The session was relatively quiet, with only Giacomo Ghermandi for the first time in the new LEMA Racing Cupra Leon Competición reshuffling the cards by posting the third-fastest lap in the second part of the session; the Italian beat newcomer Jonas Karklys (Nordpass Jutaracing, Hyundai i30 N) and Sebastian Steibel, currently placed third in the standings.
Thirteen cars took the track, with the notable absences of 2019 champion Milovan Vesnić and Łukasz Stolarczyk, whose cars were not repaired after the accidents in Grobnik; the Unicorse Alfa Romeo Giulietta of Csaba Gáspár was also missing after suffering from a transmission problem.
The first race is scheduled to take place at 14:10 CEST today, with live streaming on www.tcr-series.tv.
Slovakia Ring - Qualifying
1:11.791 Michal Makeš (Mičánek Motorsport, CUPRA)
1:12.306 Tomáš Pekař (Carpek Service, CUPRA)
1:12.492 Giacomo Ghermandi (LEMA Racing, CUPRA Leon Competición)
1:12.878 Jonas Karklys (Nordpass Jutaracing, Hyundai i30 N)
1:12.903 Sebastian Steibel (Steibel Motorsport, CUPRA)
Championship points
1. T. Pekař 151 pts.; 2. M. Makeš 146; 3. S. Steibel 83
Picture: TCR Eastern Europe/Petr Frýba
