Tomáš Pekař secured another Clio Cup title with second place in the final race at Balaton Park. Victory went to Bartłomiej Mirecki, who won both races of the weekend, but it wasn’t enough to keep his championship hopes.
Nico Wuest started from pole alongside Pekař, with Smiechowski and Saturday’s winner Mirecki on the second row and Filip Dziwok and Nikodem Sobczyk on the third.
Pekař immediately shot into the lead at Turn 1, with Wuest holding second, followed by Smiechowski, Mirecki, Sobczyk and Oskar Marszałkowski.
Wuest dropped to fourth during the opening lap, fending off Marszałkowski while the leading trio of Pekař, Smiechowski and Mirecki moving forward. Mirecki then managed to overtake Smiechowski and began chasing down Pekař for the lead.
Marszałkowski also passed Wuest to lead the chasing pack, which included Dziwok, Reto Wuest, Sobczyk, Alxander Spetz, Xawery Ossoliński-Nieródka, Filip Bartoš and Matis Preša.
As on Saturday, the fight for victory developed between Pekař, Mirecki and Smiechowski. The three ran nose-to-tail within half a second, producing a spectacular battle for the final win of the season.
With eight minutes to go, Nico Wuest crashed into the guardrail and came to a stop beside the track, bringing out the safety car, followed by a red flag.
The race was restarted behind the safety car with three minutes remaining. Pekař held the lead, but Mirecki attacked on the back straight and took over at the front. Smiechowski tried to follow him through, but contact with Pekař dropped Smiechowski to fifth, while Pekař held onto second.
Mirecki won the race, his seventh victory of the season, with Pekař finishing second to seal the championship. Marszałkowski completed the podium ahead of his teammate Smiechowski. Fifth went to Nico Wuest, with Dziwok sixth, Spetz seventh, Bartoš eighth, Sobczyk ninth, and Ossoliński-Nieródka rounding out the top ten.
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