Slovakia Ring was a mere formality when it came to the title battle in the Clio V and Clio IV categories. Tomáš Pekař and Martin Kadlečík have been dominating these categories this year to such an extent that they were already crowned champions before the final event.
The entire season of the Clio Cup has often looked very similar. Martin Kadlečík, driving the white Clio IV, which is simply more powerful than the current fifth generation, frequently starts from the pole-position and crosses the finish line as the winner under the checkered flag. Behind him, sometimes alongside him, starts the orange Clio V driven by the experienced Tomáš Pekař. Pekař has sometimes a great start and manages to take the overall lead, but Kadlečík, with more horsepower under the hood, overtakes him. Nevertheless, both become winners in their respective categories. Pekař has converted ten starts into eight victories, while Kadlečík remains undefeated so far.
It is challenging for competitors to compete with these two drivers. Michael Hulm, currently second in the Clio IV standings, has not yet found a way to defeat Kadlečík. However, he was not far from it at Slovakia Ring. He confirmed that the circuit suits him well and chased Kadlečík in the opening laps. In the first race, he even set a time four-tenths of a second faster than Kadlečík and earned a point for the fastest lap. The difference between them at the finish was only 2.7 seconds. Even local driver Adam Konopka had a slightly faster time than Kadlečík by a few hundredths of a second. However, Kadlečík’s consistent and flawless driving led him to victory. And how did it turn out in the second race? He was clearly the fastest once again.
Tomáš Pekař finished fourth overall in both cases and first in the Clio V category. The fast Slovakia Ring favors the older generation of cars, but Pekař demonstrated his years of experience, and in the first race, he had a fantastic battle with Adam Konopka. The difference between them at the finish line was 0.073 seconds. Of course, each driver belongs into a different category, so it did not affect their respective results, but every driver enjoys competing with their rivals, regardless of the car they drive.
The summary of this year’s Clio Cup season is clear – the dominance of two drivers and titles secured in advance. There is one final event left at the Autodrom Brno, and we can now ask ourselves, will Pekař reach the milestone of ten victories? Will Kadlečík manage to win all the races? We will find out on the second weekend of September in Brno.