The second Clio Cup race at the Slovakia Ring delivered high drama right from the start, as a crash involving three front-running cars in the second corner cleared the way for Tomáš Pekař to claim his third consecutive victory of the season.
Following rain during the night and early morning, the track remained damp before the start. However, all drivers opted for slick tires, with no further rain expected and the tarmac slowly drying under the cloudy skies above the Slovakia Ring.
Miha Primožič and Filip Dziwok lined up on the front row, followed by Nikodem Sobczyk and Oskar Marszalkowski on row two. Behind them were Julian Śmiechowski and Bartlomiej Mirecki, while Saturday’s race winner Tomáš Pekař started from the fourth row alongside teammate Filip Bartoš.
Mirecki had a phenomenal start and went side-by-side with Dziwok and Marszalkowski into the first corner. The trio remained locked in a three-wide battle into turn two, but contact was made as all three crashed at high speed, with Dziwok and Marszalkowski ending up in the gravel trap and Mirecki was able to continue with damaged car. The safety car was immediately deployed.
After the incident, the running order behind the safety car was Pekař, Smiechowski, Sobczyk, Spetz, Primožič, Bartoš, Marinšek, Preša and others.
Once the race resumed, Pekař led the way but couldn’t shake off the pressure from Smiechowski and Spetz, who had climbed into third. The trio stayed closely packed and Spetz managed to overtake the Polish driver for second. However, Smiechowski quickly retook the position and their fight gave Pekař the opportunity to build a comfortable gap at the front.
Further back, Sobczyk defended fourth from a charging group including Preša, Primožič, and Marinšek. Preša eventually passed Sobczyk and began pulling away, leaving the remaining trio to fight over fifth.
In the final lap, Smiechowski managed to close the gap to Pekař and attempted a move in turn two. There was slight contact and Smiechowski couldn’t find a way past. Pekař held on to take his third consecutive win, finishing just ahead of Śmiechowski.
Spetz completed the podium in third, followed by Preša, Sobczyk, Marinšek, Petrushevski, Primožič, Ossoliński-Nierodka and Bartoš, who rounded out the top ten.
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