The opening race weekend of the new Clio Cup season at Red Bull Ring began with Saturday qualifying, which was won by reigning champion Tomáš Pekař from Carpek Racing. The second fastest was Oskar Marszałkowski from the Janík Motorsport team.
The fast Red Bull Ring provided an exciting qualifying session for the Clio Cup races, which will take place on Sunday at 10:15 and 14:50. Pekař was clearly the fastest driver in the 24-car Clio V field. He completed only six laps, but it was enough to secure pole position for the first race of the season. He beat second-placed Marszałkowski by 0.366 seconds. Behind the young Polish driver, the gaps were extremely tight — just 0.042 seconds back was Bartłomiej Mirecki, and another 0.093 seconds behind him was Filip Bartoš in fourth. Nikodem Szobczyk was only 0.018 seconds further back in fifth.
These close margins highlight how competitive the Clio Cup will be. Although Pekař won qualifying, the Red Bull Ring heavily rewards slipstreaming, and the drivers behind will be ready to take any opportunity to challenge the reigning champion in his orange car.
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