The opening round of ESET V4 Cup at Hungaroring saw 12 drivers eligible for the junior championship, which is strictly for youngsters under 23 years of age. And the future generation of racing drivers immediately showed its strength.
Most of the young drivers drove in the Twingo Cup series, which is an ideal starting point for a career in competitive motorsport. Four drivers have entered the series as rookies – Mark Škulj, Nik Štefančič, Matěj Korený and Mark Mramor. And the first two were stars at Hungaroring.
Škulj qualified on the front row for the first race and took a pole position for the second one, in which he dominated from start to finish. He managed to beat his competition by nine seconds, which is a lot in the highly competitive Twingo Cup. Even Nik Štefančič showed his talent. On Saturday, he was amongst the best drivers and fought for a win until the finish line. In the end, he had to settle for only 2nd place, but the pace is there.
Michal Makeš did spectacularly by taking two dominant wins at Hungaroring, showing his ambitions for 2019 season. And keep in mind that it was last year when he switched from karts to Renault Clio and then won the 2018 Clio Cup championship. There is one other junior in Clio Cup – Szymon Jablonski, who had also a successful debut by finishing 2nd.
Five rookies across three different categories joined Formula racing at Hungaroring. The most visible ones were Tom Beckhäuser with Dallara 308 Opel F3 and Václav Šafář with Tatuus T014 Abarth F4. Beckhäuser was really unbeatable in his F3 category with Šafář doing similarly well in F4 category by winning both races ahead of Marius Morosan and Stefan Fürtbauer.
But there was also one unlucky junior in a Formula Renault category. Felix Grosse-Aschhoff could not even participate following technical problems. A similar fate was shared by Jáchym Galáš in TC category. Galáš, who finished 2nd in the Clio Cup series last year, had great pace in practice sessions, but he had to withdraw due to gearbox issues. His Volkswagen Golf has to wait for the next round.
Ten out of twelve junior drivers managed to score points at Hungaroring. Despite they all drive different cars across different categories, their goal is to succeed. None of them is afraid to go wheel to wheel with more experienced competitors. The new generation of racing drivers has everything it takes to be successful and it deserves special attention. And that is why there is a dedicated ESET V4 Cup Junior Trophy championship.
Current standings
ESET V4 CUP – JUNIOR TROPHY