Adam Kout first loses the lead and then retakes it in Most

Hyundai Janík Motorsport driver Adam Kout lost the lead of TCR Eastern Europe’s standings after the first race at Most but then retook it after the second race.
In Saturday’s Race 1, Kout was deprived of the second place behind title rival Martin Kadklečik because of a penalty for an incident with Giacomo Ghermandi that dropped him to fourth, which gave Kadklečik a provisional six-point lead. On Sunday, Kout took an authoritative win in Race 2 that had been red-flagged after a pile-up that eliminated thirty percent of the field. Kadklečik finished second, but the two points for the fastest laps in both races propelled Kout back on top, two points ahead.
Race 1 – Kout had outpaced Kadklečik and Bartosz Grosezk in Qualifying by four and six tenths. On a rainy afternoon, Kout made a slow start, dropping behind the Aditis Racing Audi cars of Kadklečik and Grosezk. In lap 2, Ghermandi overtook Kout at T1 and closed in on Groszek. In lap 3, Ghermandi took to the inside of Groszek, they made contact and the Polish driver half spun and dropped to fourth. Afterwards, Groszek lost pace and places until he limped to the pits at the end of lap 7 and retired.
Up front, Kadklečik had built a comfortable gap over Ghermandi and Kout who were joined by Petr Čížek during the final part of the race, as the tarmac began to dry. Then, in lap 13, another contact between Ghermandi and Kout resulted in the Italian driver’s Honda spinning onto the gravel. Kout and Čížek took the chequered flag behind Kadklečik, but Kout was dropped to fourth by a ten-second penalty for the collision with Ghermandi, which promoted Čížek and Jiři Zbožínek to second and third.
Race 2 – The draw for the grid reversed the first six of Race 1, placing Žarko Knego and Ivars Vallers on the front row. Kout from P3 made a great start and took the lead from Knego into T1. Behind him, Kadklečik overtook Knego for second with Ghermandi up to P4. At the beginning of lap 3, Ghermandi tried to pass Knego but they clashed blocking the track. Čížek crashed into Ghermandi’s car, while Groszek had to stop in avoidance and was the only one able to rejoin. The safety car was deployed in lap 4, but then the red flag was waved to remove the wrecked cars.
Racing resumed behind the safety car, with only seven cars left and 17 minutes to go. Kout was able to pull away from Kadklečik and went on to score his third victory of the season; behind them Groszek recovered from seventh and passed Zbožínek in lap 5, Vít Smejkal in lap 8 and finally Vallers in lap 13, moving up to third.
The series will resume in one month time at the Slovakiaring.
 
Race 1
1. Martin Kadklečik (Aditis Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 15 laps
2. Petr Čížek (Expres Auto Racing, CUPRA Leon VZ), 7.429
3. Jiři Zbožínek (Janík Motorsport, Hyundai Elantra N), 13.393
 
Race 2
1. Adam Kout (Janík Motorsport, Hyundai Elantra N), 13 laps
2. Martin Kadklečik (Aditis Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 5.382
3. Bartosz Groszek (Aditis Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 10.595
 
Championship points
1. A. Kout, 120 pts; 2. M. Kadklečik, 118; 3. B. Groszek, 83
 
Picture: TCR Eastern Europe