TCR World and life

34 INTERVIEW Last year you left M1RA halfway through the season. What was the reason for that separation? “We worked hard together, but this didn’t bring the results we were expecting and eventually my sponsors and partners decided to stop funding the programme. So we decided, together with my management, to leave the team after the first half of the season.” Did you manage to regain your confidence afterwards? “I’m young and I always need positive feedback. Last year was so tough for me but, thanks to that, I also got a lot stronger. Being part of a great team like BRC, well… it means a lot for my self-confidence. I had a similar experience when I joined M1RA after a year-and-a-half of an unsuccessful campaign in the WTCC. At the time, I constantly wanted to show what I was capable of. Now I feel more like I want to pay more attention to myself. I think I’ve already proven that I can fight with the best drivers, so now it’s time to prove to myself that I can do well over the full season. I’m here because I believe that I have the potential to fight for the title. Otherwise I would be looking for another sport.” What do you think of your new teammate, Mat’o Homola? “We have known each other for a long time. I remember when I entered my first race. I was only 13 and saw him and his Alfa Romeo in the paddock. I thought ‘wow, what a cool guy he is!’ I was a little envious of him and now we are teammates. We have always had a good relationship; we talked a lot in the test at the beginning of the year so, I think we will get along together well. Working together with an internationally recognized and successful driver like him is a good challenge and will provide me with some additional motivation.” But according to a motorsport famous saying: your teammate is your first opponent… “Well, yes. It isn’t easy to handle the situation, especially when you feel fine with your colleague, maybe you are even friends with him, but eventually you have to try and beat him. However, in the meantime, you have to think about being good together and helping each other in preparing the strategy and sharing the data, so that you can both achieve better results and work in the interest of the team.”