Right at the start of the new TCR Eastern Europe season, we secured two victories and, after the first race weekend, we lead both the drivers’ and teams’ standings.
Last weekend, the new TCR Eastern Europe season kicked off in Grobnik, Croatia. Despite the long uncertainty surrounding our schedule for this year, spectators at the 2026 Grand Prix of Croatia were able to admire our gray-and-green livery. We entered both of our Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 cars into the race, driven by team boss Radim Adámek and his regular driver Martin Kadlečík. And as usual, our colors played a major role.
In mid-May, the Czechs’ favorite vacation destination welcomed us with heavy rain rather than sunshine, so racing conditions were far from ideal. All practice sessions, including qualifying, took place in the wet. Qualifying, in particular, did not go well for our drivers. Radim finished eleventh due to technical problems with the gearbox, and Martin, after taking a risk by choosing dry tires on a track that was still quite wet, set the sixth-fastest time.
In the first race, however, it was Radim who took a risk; he was sure that it would start raining during the race and put wet tires on the track, which was almost dry by then. However, the rain didn’t arrive until after the race, so driving the car was more of a struggle for our boss, resulting in a tenth-place finish. After a great start from sixth position, Martin fought his way up to second place behind last year’s champion, Adam Kout. Later on, Kout was forced to retire from the race due to a technical failure, and we could celebrate our first victory of the season.
On Sunday, the sun finally shone down on the circuit near Rijeka and this time there wasn’t the slightest doubt about the tire choice. On the reverse grid, Martin started from sixth place again. This time, his start wasn’t as good as the first one. But that only opened the door to more exciting battles. He patiently worked his way up through the field, and with just under ten minutes left on the clock, he was already passing the pit wall in first place. He thus won the second Croatian race as well and comfortably secured the top spot in the championship standings. Radim spun out in the very first lap. But he didn’t give up, and by the end of the race, he had fought his way back to ninth place.
We’re leaving Croatia very satisfied and looking forward to the next race weekend, which will take place at the end of May at the Salzburgring in Austria.