The Clio Cup delivered a fantastic opening race to kick off the 2025 season at Red Bull Ring. A thrilling, non-stop battle between Tomáš Pekař, Bartłomiej Mirecki and Oskar Marszałkowski lasted the entire race, with Mirecki ultimately emerging as the winner.
Tomáš Pekař started from pole position alongside Oskar Marszałkowski, with Bartłomiej Mirecki and Filip Bartoš right behind them. The start and the first corner were surprisingly clean, with the top three drivers Pekař, Marszałkowski, and Mirecki lining up smoothly. In Turn 4, however, Nikodem Szobczyk outbraked himself and went off track, followed by three other cars. A large cloud of dust hung over the corner, but all drivers managed to continue, albeit further down the order. On the second lap, Luka Glazer made the same mistake at Turn 4 and also lost several positions.
At the front, Pekař was under constant pressure from Mirecki, with the gap between them less than half a second. Mirecki launched an attack on lap three in Turn 6 and made it stick, taking the lead.
But Pekař didn’t let Mirecki get away, and the two put on an exciting show for the spectators. The battle was intense but fair, and as they fought, Marszałkowski managed to close in on them.
All three drivers were locked in a corner-by-corner battle for the remainder of the race, with Mirecki successfully defending his position. Despite Pekař’s many attempts, he couldn’t find a way through. There were numerous close contacts, typical for touring car racing.
With eight minutes to go, Pekař finally found a way past Mirecki, but the fight continued. Three minutes later, Mirecki reclaimed the lead—although only briefly, as Pekař retook the position in the final corner, only to lose it again in the first turn of the following lap.
With two minutes left on the clock, Marszałkowski capitalized on their duel and took the lead for the first time in the race. Meanwhile, a group of four more drivers joined the fight for victory, turning it into a seven-car battle.
Marszałkowski then went off track and lost positions, but his teammate Julian Smiechowski took advantage of the situation. As Pekař and Mirecki continued their battle down the straight, Smiechowski dived into the lead at Turn 3 on the final lap.
What followed was a spectacular three-way fight for the win in the final corner. Pekař crossed the finish line just 0.044 seconds ahead of Mirecki and narrowly behind Smiechowski.
However, post-race penalties for track limits changed the final result. Pekař received a four-second penalty, that meant Mirecki was declared the official winner, with Jakub Smiechowski promoted to second and Nikodem Sobczyk finishing third. Marszałkowski took fourth, Alexander Spetz was fifth, Nico Wüest sixth, and Pekař fell to seventh. Reto Wuest finished eight and will be starting from pole position alongside Tomáše Pekař thanks to the reverse order on the grid for the second race.
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