Adam Kout makes a clean sweep at the Slovakiaring

Hyundai Janík Motorsport’s Adam Kout has dominated the TCR Eastern Europe and TCR Croatia joint event at the Slovakiaring.

Kout, who had scored one race win in each of the season’s three previous events, plundered all the points on offer, claiming pole position and two authoritative victories ahead of his rivals in the title fight, Aditis Racing teammates Martin Kadklečik and Bartosz Groszek.

Thanks to these results, Kout has extended his leadership in the standings to twenty points over Kadklečik, while Groszek has now a 62-point gap.

Žarko Knego was the best TCR Croatia competitor in both races, building a lead of 58 points in the series’ standings ahead of Bojan Miljković.

Race 1 – For the third time in four events, Kout had topped qualifying, snatching the pole ahead of Knego and Kadklečik who had been outpaced by 1.2 and 1.4 seconds. Kout hesitated at the start but recovered the lead when Knego made a mistake at the end of the first lap and dropped at the back of the field. Kout pulled away, with Kadklečik and Groszek unable to catch him. Positions froze at the front, with Petr Čížek and Jiři Zbožínek following in fourth and fifth places. Knego recovered up to sixth when he overtook Nemanja Milovanović for the lead in TCR Croatia. During the penultimate lap, Ivars Vallers and Vít Smejkal crashed while fighting for P8.

Race 2 – Following the draw for the reversed grid, TCR Croatia’s Fabijančić and Milovanović shared the front row, while Kout was on P8. Knego sprinted from P3 at the start, but Kadklečik from P7 was even faster and took the lead into T1, while Groszek and Fabijančić clashed, with the Croatian spinning on the gravel. Kout benefitted from the commotion and advanced to third, then both him and Groszek overtook Knego for second and third. Kout closed the gap to Kadklečik and passed him for the lead in lap 3. The pair ran away, and Kout built a comfortable margin. Behind them, Groszek made a mistake and lost the fourth position to Knego but he managed to retake it in lap 8. Kout took his second win of the day, with Kadklečik and Grosek second and third, replicating the podium of the first race. Knego kept Čížek at bay to finish fourth and win again in TCR Croatia.

TCR Eastern Europe will resume in two weeks at Brno; TCR Croatia will rejoin the Eastern European series at Balaton Park on September 26/28.

Race 1

1. Adam Kout (Janík Motorsport, Hyundai Elantra N), 12 laps
2. Martin Kadklečik (Aditis Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 4.508
3. Bartosz Groszek (Aditis Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 5.976

Race 2

1. Adam Kout (Janík Motorsport, Hyundai Elantra N), 12 laps
2. Martin Kadklečik (Aditis Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 5.959
3. Bartosz Groszek (Aditis Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 15.757

Championship points – TCR Eastern Europe

1. A. Kout, 175 pts; 2. M. Kadklečik, 155; 3. B. Groszek, 113

Championship points – TCR Croatia

1. Z. Knego, 128 pts; 2. B. Miljković, 70; 3. L. Fabijančić, 69

Picture: TCR Eastern Europe/Petr Frýba