The main day of the racing weekend in Most was Saturday, on which the organisers planed not only D4 but also D5 and D2 races together with some others.
It all began at 8:30 with D2 qualifying race but shortly after nine o’clock the programme went on with CEZ D5 plus SSC race and then, one hour later, it was time for the first D4 sprint. These cars were going to race also in the afternoon after half past three and then again in the evening at “endurance” one-hour race.
Even though the starting grid was filled with solid competitors among the most powerful racing specials, the whole starting list was a bit sparse. Sadly, a large number of frequent participants of FIA CEZ tournaments were missing.
D4 Sprint and traditional duel of BMWs Z4
The first line of the first sprint was taken up by two BMWs Z4 but surprisingly, Denis Waszek with his yellow Ferrari 430 had the best starting manoeuvre. He perfectly caught everyone off guard. This fast driver of FIA CEZ does not compete regularly anymore so probably he just needed to do some testing and to drive some regular racing kilometres. However, after his excellent start he began losing and he was gradually overtaken by Knoll, Kubas, Konopka and Malchárek who are, in other words, the drivers from the top of the overall rankings. Later, it became obvious that a tyre defect on his Ferrari was to blame for this loss.
Knoll and Kubas with their Z4s were closely following each other for whole 16 laps while Malchárek was waiting for Konopka’s mistake.
This time, Kubas’s attempt to make Knoll nervous by constant light-flashing and close-pursuing didn’t work. Jakub Knoll remained calm and he was flawlessly maintaining his lead. On the contrary, Jakub Kubas, when trying to overtake at the beginning of the chicane didn’t drive slowly enough and performed an impressive spin out. Fortunately, there was not contact with other racers of crash barrier so he stayed on the second position and soon, he was in tight pursuit of his opponent.
Eventually, the final difference between winning Knoll and silver Kubas was only 377 thousandths of second. Miro Konopka, who got bronze, was 10 seconds behind while Malchárek arrived 19 seconds later.
Finally, the race didn’t turn out well for Denis Waszek despite his perfect start. During the race he had been fairly close to the best ones, however, after finishing 11th lap he had to pull over at the finishing straight owing to a tyre defect. What a pity! This fast-driving youngster competes in FIA CEZ very rarely and his aggressive driving style is always a spectator magnet.
Also, from visitors’ point of view, there was a great spectacular duel among Marcel Kusín and Dan Skalický with their BMWs M3 GTR. There had been 7 overtakes but unfortunately for Skalický, a technical problem at the end of the race slowed him down. Thus, Marcel Kusín won this duel and ended up on the overall fifth position.
In competition of 2-litres, Peter Mandelík with Lotus Exige GT-R beat Rudolf Pešovič from Serbia who was racing with BMW 320 S2000. Bronze was won by Mandelík’s team-mate Petr Krejčí with Lotus Exige S1.
Second D4 Sprint
What a surprise! Waszek’s Ferrari was missing and Malchárek did not start from the second line which he’d won in the previous race. Owing to his absence in the qualification, he had to begin the race from the last position. However, he make use of his vehicle’s power and he quickly achieved 4th position. Soon, he even overtook his countryman Miro Konopka with Lamborghini. Then, there were only the two BMWs Z4 in front of him. This time Kubas had better starting position so he made use of it and he took the lead.
The situation from the first race changed – it was the other way round. Kubas had the lead and Knoll was in close pursuit of him.
It seemed that the final positions would remain like that but a few laps before the end, both Jakubs came near Petr Mandelík’s 2-litre Lotus who was actually one lap behind them. Kubas had to wait until the end of the curve before he could overtake him but Knoll, who got closely behind him quickly took advantage of the situation and thanks to his speed, he masterfully overtook both of them and got the lead. Again, it seemed that the race was decided.
Surprisingly, just before the chequered flag waved, a plume of dust had appeared at the fast right curve at the back part of the track. It was caused by Knoll’s “trip” off-course, owing to some technical flaw. So, Knoll’s BMW 4 didn’t get to see the finish line and gold was won by Jakub Kubas who was 10 seconds ahead of all.
Thus, two Slovaks, Konopka and Malchárek, who had finished all the laps, got to the medal positions. The difference between them was just two and a half seconds.
The duel in 3.5-litter category did not take place. Skalický’s BMW was working perfectly this time so during the race and also at the finish, he was seven seconds ahead of Kusín without any problems.
Petr Mandelík with his Lotus was again dominating in the 2-litter category but he lost his almost-obvious winning position due to technical problem which had occurred during the next-to-last lap. Therefore, Rudolf Pešovič from Serbia with his BMW 320 S2000 won before Petr Krejčí from KT Motorsport Team who raced with their second green Lotus Exige.
It is also worth mentioning that this time, the pack of 2-litre turbocharged Seats did not make it to Most. These cars, which are able to beat even 3.5 litters, evidently do not belong to 2-litre category. Thanks to their absence, there was no controversy over this issue which had accompanied the previous races in Hungary and Austria.
D4 one-hour race topped off Saturday’s programme
The Saturday’s programme was concluded by traditional one-hour-race with a mandatory pit-stop when it was allowed to switch the drivers. However, only two of eleven cars made use of it.
At the head of the starting grid, there were lined lots of “old friends”. Watchful fans couldn’t fail to notice that the second BMW Z4 GT3 was added to the starting list. It was driven by David Palmi who is Kubas’s teammate. This time, these races did not substitute each other in one car but rather, they each raced with their own vehicle.
Jakub Knoll was substituted behind the steering wheel by Robert Šenkýř, the boss of Šenkýř Motorsport Team.
Marcel Kusín, as usually, switched his BMW for Ferrari F430 and again, he was later substituted by Petr Kačírek. We should also mention Daniel Skalický who remained loyal to BMW but, similarly to the races at Hungaroring and Redbull Ring, he started with BMW B6 Alpina.
He did not make use of the opportunity to start from position gained in the qualification and, he came last to the parade lap. However, he and Malchárek who also started from the tail of the pack, went through the other competitors and, while being still at the starting straight, the got behind the best trio. The leading group then lined as follows: Kubas, Konopka, Šenkýř and Palmi.
After a few laps, David Palmi, who was driving with the second of Appstores team’s BMSs Z4 GT3 tackled Robert Šenkýř and his Z4. Sadly for him, this wasn’t successful as Palmi couldn’t slow down sufficiently at the chicane. Nonetheless, two laps later, he had more luck at exactly the same place and so Šenkýř went down to the forth position while Palmi maintained his third place.
Dan Skalický was keeping up at the sixth position and behind him, Martin Kusín was circling on 4212 metres long track with his Ferrari which was actually the only one of a kind in the starting list.
After 16 laps, or in other words, at the half of the race, Appstores Team, which had had its cars on the first and third position, got some bad news. When David Palmi was overtaking slower Renault Clio at right bend called the “dolíček” (little hollow), the vehicles collided and went off-course. The racing was over for both of the drivers since their cars got some significant damages. It became obvious that “dolíček” is a bad place for overtaking – even vehicles of slower category
Meanwhile, Jakub Kubas and Miro Konopka with BMW Z4 GT3 and Lamborghini Huracan GT3 were competing hard to get the lead. Slovak racer, who had previously won the premiere 24-hour race at Slovakiaring, did not give his opponent from Brno even one second for resting. He also tried to use his breaks in order to tackle him, but he failed and continued through the tyre chicane. However, he kept in touch with Kubas even after this minor mistake with only a very little loss.
Robert Šenkýř also experienced a dramatic moment just before the end of the race while he was overtaking Petr Levíček in his 2-litre Lotus. He left the ideal trail and got to unclean edge of the track which caused him to skid. He hit the Lotus slightly and then, he did a wild spin-out which ended in the grass. Nonetheless, he could continue in his struggle to get bronze with undamaged vehicle. Meanwhile the leading duo were almost one minute ahead. Even Petr Levíček was able to continue and had chance to finish the race successfully.
Finally, Jakub Kubas could celebrate his second gold and third medal of the day. Another silver was won by Miro Konopka who really showed some serious racing skills after he had collided with Petr Levíček and lost third position. Soon after that, he returned to the circuit and started an incredible pursuit. At the entry to the last bend, he overtook Jiří Malchárek with BMW M6 and got third position back. The remaining rank was taken by Daniel Skalický. Marcel Kusín with Petr Kačírek came sixth.
Sebastian Daum from Austria won in the category up to 3.5-litres while Petr Levíček with Lotus Exige S1 from KT Motorsport Team won the category up to 2-litres.
The last day of racing weekend in Most was Sunday when there was just one FIA CEZ race – D2 formulas.
Written by: Pavel Jelínek
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