TCR World and life

24 EASTERN EUROPE The battle for the TCR Eastern Europe title between Michal Makeš (above) and Tomáš Pekař went down to the wire and was decided by the very last race at Brno. During the season, Pekař (centre right) scored four wins against Makeš’ three, but despite that he had to drop two results – 18 points – so the latter edged out his rival by four. The turning point of the fight was the Slovakia Ring’s Qualifying when a broken gearbox prevented Pekař from starting in Race 1 after he had qualified second behind Makeš. The season’s finale at Brno was dominated by Carol Wittke in the Fullinrace Academy CUPRA Leon Competición. The German driver took pole position and won both races ahead of Bartosz Groszek (right); these results meant that Wittke finished third in the championship. Pekař led the second race in the early stages, but his dreams of becoming champion vanished when he was passed by Wittke and Groszek. From that moment on, Makeš relaxed and focused on finishing the race in fifth position which was all he needed to secure the title. Lithuania’s Jonas Karklys – a regular in the ADAC TCR Germany – crowned his maiden appearance in TCR Eastern Europe with an unexpected victory in the first race at the Slovakia Ring (top right). When pole-sitter Makeš stalled the engine at the start, Karklys took the lead and won from Groszek and Wittke. AFTERTHE LASTRACETHECZECHDRIVEREDGEDOUT HISCOUNTRYMANTOMÁŠPEKAŘBYONLYFOURPOINTS MichalMakeš secures thetitleatBrno