Nine junior drivers under the age of 23 competed in the opening round of the ESET Cup at Oschersleben. Many of them celebrated victories in their categories and races.
The emerging generation of drivers is achieving success, with almost half of the nine drivers achieving victory. In the ESET GT category, three drivers lifted the winner’s cup above their heads.
Jáchym Galáš and Matěj Pavlíček joined the Mičánek Motorsport team for this season and started the sprints in the GTC category with a Lamborghini. Both experienced almost identical fates during the weekend at Oschersleben. While Galáš won the first sprint, Pavlíček encountered problems during the start. “I didn’t manage to warm up the tires, the start was quite dramatic, the opponents squeezed me there, and I spun,” Pavlíček described. He eventually finished second, right behind his teammate.
In the second race, both drivers experienced unfortunate moments. This time, Galáš was hit by Libor Milota and finished third in the GTC category. “We analyzed the onboard footage, and we agreed that I couldn’t do anything,” said Galáš. Pavlíček won the race.
Another newcomer to the ESET Cup Sprint was Hungarian pilot Zénó Kovács. Last year’s Formula 4 champion switched to the BMW M4 GT4 car of Racing Trevor and battled closely with Bastian Heine in an identical car. While Kovács lost to the local driver in the first sprint, he celebrated his first victory in GT4 in the second race. Kovács also finished on the podium in the endurance race, coming in second behind Heine.
The remaining six juniors started in the Clio Cup. The most successful of them was Martin Kadlečík, who was the fastest in the Clio IV category. He not only won the qualification but also fearlessly drove in first place from start to finish in both races. Adam Konopka and Jiří Zbožínek also drove Clio IV cars at Oschersleben.
In the Clio V category, with the latest generation of the French car, junior Nik Štefančič achieved two second places. The former Twingo Cup champion continues the trend of previous years and maintains his position at the top. In the second race, another junior, Szabolcs Lantos, joined Štefančič on the winner’s podium, coming in third. Henrik Seibel did not make it to the podium this time.
