Homola beats Kout to TCR Eastern Europe title by five points
Mat’o Homola retained the TCR Eastern Europe crown beating his Hyundai Janík Motorsport teammate Adam Kout by only five points at the end of the season’s last race at the Salzburgring.
Kout did his very best to overturn a situation that saw him 34 points behind before the Austrian weekend. He set pole position and ate two points, then halved the gap by converting the pole into a dominant victory in Race 1 and finally recovered from P9 on the grid to a last gasp win in the second race, when Homola was able to finish third and grab the title.
Race 1 – Kout sat on pole with René Kircher and Homola in P2 and P3 respectively after a qualifying session that had been red-flagged twice. At the start, both Kout and Homola were slow, with Kircher leading from Kout, while Homola dropped to fifth. By the end of the first lap, Homola had regained one place, passing Ivars Vallers who had ran wide at the last chicane. Homola then overtook Davit Kajaia for third at the start of the second lap, while up front, Kout was hounding Kircher. On lap 4, Kout made a dive on Kircher at the Fahrerlagerkurve and while Kircher was able to hold on, he then went too deep at the next chicane and dropped behind both Kout and Homola. Just behind them, Kajaia crashed out heavily at Fahrerlager and caused a red flag. During the clean-up process, it was confirmed that both Kircher and Homola would be given ten second time penalties for false starts, while Kircher was moved ahead of Homola on the road for the restart. The race resumed on lap 8 and Kout controlled the pace, while Homola briefly applied pressure to Kircher but then was under attack from Giacomo Ghermandi who had fired through the field from 11th to fourth. The two made contact on lap 11 at T3, before Homola allowed Ghermandi through at T9. Kout went on to win, while Ghermandi was elevated to second after Kircher’s penalty was applied, with the German driver demoted to third. Homola fell from fourth to sixth, with his gap ahead of Kout reduced to just 16 points.
Race 2 – Following the drawing, the top nine drivers in Race 1 were reversed on the grid, which put Jiří Zbožínek and Jorden Dolischka on the front row, with title contenders Homola and Kout in P4 and P9. Žarko Knego was the best starter from P3, but Zbožínek stole the lead from him in lap 1, however he went wide at the last turn and dropped to fourth. Knego was back in the lead ahead of Ghermandi, Homola, Vallers and Kircher, but it didn’t last for long, as Ghermandi overtook Knego at the beginning of lap 2. Vallers was on a charge and passed Zbožínek, Homola and Knego, moving into second, while Kout was also climbing. The Czech driver overtook Kircher for P5 and then Homola for P4; Kircher benefitted from the fight and passed Homola as well. A thrilling battle ensued between Knego and Kout with the latter moving up into third in lap 8; Knego lost momentum and was also passed by Kircher and Homola. Kout’s next target was Vallers who conceded the second position in lap 15 after a dogged defence. With three laps to go, Kout was not close enough to threaten Ghermandi’s lead, but at the end of lap 16, the front left tyre of Ghermandi’s Honda blew up and he went off at the first chicane, leaving Kout to take the win from Vallers and Homola.
Salzburgring – Race 1
- Adam Kout (Janík Motorsport, Hyundai Elantra N), 16 laps
- Giacomo Ghermandi (MM Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 2.462
- René Kircher (Mertel Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 10.920
Salzburgring – Race 2
- Adam Kout (Janík Motorsport, Hyundai Elantra N), 18 laps
- Ivars Vallers (LV Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 1.463
- Mat’o Homola (Janík Motorsport, Hyundai Elantra N), 3.940
Championship points
- M. Homola, 236 pts; 2. A. Kout, 231; 3. A. Bucsi, 141
Picture: TCR Eastern Europe/Martin Straka
