Homola and Bucsi encore victories in TCR Eastern Europe
In the second event of TCR Eastern Europe at the Red Bull Ring, Mat’o Homola and Attila Bucsi shared race wins once again just like they had done in the season opener at Balaton Ring. Homola and his Hyundai Elantra were victorious in Saturday’s Race 1, with Adam Kout completing another 1-2 finish for Janík Motorsport. Sunday, Bucsi drove his M1RA Motorsport Hyundai i30 to steal the lead from Kout during the last lap of a thrilling second race.
The three drivers are now on top of the standings, with Homola leading Bucsi by two points, while Kout lies third, seven further points adrift.
Race 1 – Bucsi was on pole with Homola alongside; Giacomo Ghermandi and Kout filled row 2, all of them covered by 88 thousandths in Qualifying. Bucsi led at the start, resisting an attack from Ghermandi; at the end on lap 2, Ghermandi went wide and Homola tried an overtaking move, they made contact into T1 which resulted in Ghermandi spinning and dropping to seventh. Kout passed René Kircher for P3 and the pair joined Busci and Homola in the battle for the lead. In lap 7, Petr Čižek and Ghermandi closed in on the leading train, but then they clashed and lost contact; his car damaged, Čižek retired. In lap 8, Homola and Kout attacked Bucsi, they both passed him into T3 and pulled away. Homola controlled his teammate until the, with Bucsi completing the podium.
Race 2 – The draw reversed nine positions on the grid, which meant that Jiří Zbožínek was on pole with Ivars Vallers alongside him. The Latvian driver and his Audi sprinted at the start and led from Zbožínek and Davit Kajaia, while Ghermandi passed Žarko Knego for P4. During the first lap, Kajaia overtook Zbožínek, while Kout, Homola and Bucsi were elbowing their way through the field. There was a thrilling battle for second, with Ghermandi moving ahead of Zbožínek and Kajaia in one move. However, he then made a mistake at the end of lap 3, going very wide and dropping from second to ninth. Zbožínek too lost several places to avoid hitting Ghermandi. The commotion helped Kout and Bucsi to advance to second and third, three seconds behind the leader Vallers, while Homola and Čižek, who had started last, passed Kircher and Kajaia moving up to fourth and fifth.
In the final part of the race, Kout and Bucsi closed the gap to Vallers and they both passed him at the end of lap 12. Bucsi put the pressure on Kout; they ran abreast in the final lap, with Bucsi being able to steal the lead from Kout to take his second win of the season, while Vallers rejected a late attack from Homola to finish third.
TCR Eastern Europe will hit the track again at the Slovakiaring on June 7/9.
Red Bull Ring – Race 1
- Mat’o Homola (Janík Motorsport, Hyundai Elantra N), 16 laps
- Adam Kout (Janík Motorsport, Hyundai Elantra N), 1.176
- Attila Bucsi (M1RA Motorsport, Hyundai i30 N), 5.207
Red Bull Ring – Race 2
- Attila Bucsi (M1RA Motorsport, Hyundai i30 N), 16 laps
- Adam Kout (Janík Motorsport, Hyundai Elantra N), 0.702
- Ivars Vallers (LV Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS II), 2.423
Championship points
- M. Homola, 80 pts; 2. A. Bucsi, 78; 3. A. Kout, 71.
Picture: TCR Eastern Europe
