The ESET Cup this year featured seven events across Central Europe. Both drivers and spectators had plenty to enjoy, as the calendar included two new venues, and in some categories, the fight for the titles continued right up until the final race.
The new ESET Cup season kicked off in April at the newly added Balaton Park circuit, followed by the traditional event at the Red Bull Ring. The competition then moved to Slovakia Ring, Lausitzring for the first time, Most, and then returned to Slovakia Ring. The season concluded with the traditional September finale at Brno. With seven events on the schedule, each competitor’s worst result was dropped, which ultimately decided the title in the GTX category.
Racers competed across five categories with their high-performance cars (plus Miro Konôpka with his yellow Ligier LMP3 prototype). The highlight was, of course, the GT3 class, which saw cars like Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Mercedes throughout the season. Some of these did not participate in every event, including Antal Zsiga, who started the season at Balaton Park in a GT4-spec BMW but switched to the BMW M4 GT3 of Racing Trevor from the next event. His consistent podium finishes, including six victories, secured him the GT3 title before the final round.
A major return with new equipment was seen from Petr Fulín’s team, as he swapped his touring car for an Audi LMS GT3 and turned all four of his starts into victories. He finished third overall behind Martin Hudec of Duck Racing, who drove an older generation Audi R8 GT3.
The GTC class for cup cars had a clear favourite from the start. The experienced and fast Dennis Waszek once again fielded his Lamborghini SuperTrofeo for the GT2 Motorsport team and dominated race after race. At the Balaton Park circuit, he was so dominant that in the second race, he crossed the finish line in first place overall, even ahead of the GT3 cars.
Since the Porsche 911 cup cars cannot match the speed of the faster Lamborghini SuperTrofeo, a special GTC1 class was created this year just for Porsche 911s. In this category, the lead changed hands several times between Petr Brecka of GT Sports Technology and Hubert Darmetko of PTT Racing. The decisive factor for the Czech driver was an extra start and, most importantly, a crucial fourth victory in the penultimate round at Slovakia Ring. Veteran driver Bob Bau of Kogelbauer Motorsport secured third place.
The GTX category offered a diverse lineup of racing machines. Petr Koukola, driving the KTM GTX for Orlen Janík Motorsport, led the standings from the first race. However, Adam Konôpka entered the category with the Lamborghini Huracán from ARC Bratislava and steadily closed the gap on Koukola, eventually becoming champion thanks to the rule that allowed dropping the worst result. Gábor Tim finished third, driving a Lotus Exige for GFS Racing.
Last but not least, the GT4 category also provided exciting action. Slovak driver Rudolf Beňo regularly competed with the BMW M4 GT4 for Aries Racing and claimed six wins throughout the year, which secured him the title at the penultimate event on home soil at Slovakia Ring. Teammates from Lema Racing, Andrej Makarovič and Mark Kastelič, driving a Mercedes AMG GT4, finished second and third, trailing by more than thirty points.
Final Standings