Fifteen junior drivers took part in the ESET V4 Cup race weekend at Red Bull Ring. And they showed why is the upcoming generation of racing drivers considered so strong.
It might not be exactly right to say about Michal Makeš that he is rising star, because this young driver already proved his talent last year. Makeš dominated in Clio Cup series in 2018 and he continues in this trend in 2019. At Red Bull Ring he celebrated two wins and he is so ahead of his competition, that he can already think about a championship title. But he is not the only junior driver in the Clio Cup. A Hungarian driver, Levente Losonczy, also showed some potential after finishing 4th in the first race and it will be interesting to watch if he can improve.
Jáchym Galáš is another junior with a year of experience under his belt. In 2019, he is racing with Volkswagen Golf TCR and one of his biggest competitors is another junior Dušan Kouřil, who is driving Hyundai i30 TCR. Both drivers are part of ESET TCR series and they were very close to getting their first win of the season. But they still have got plenty of races to do so. However Galáš has already scored first win, in endurance race at Red Bull Ring.
Most of the juniors race in single-seaters. The race weekend in Austria offered more than 30 Formula cars on the grid and 7 juniors. Once again, it was Tom Beckhäuser on the top winning the second race in F3 category and he is still leading the championship. Andrea Cola, another junior driver in F3, did not make it to the podium this time, but his drive in changeable conditions was impressive.
Robert Hefler and Nikolas Szabo hold the first two positions in the championship after a successful weekend in Formula Renault category. Red Bull Ring also saw junior drivers dominating in F4, where Stefan Fürtbauer now leads ahead of Marius Morosan.
A double win puts junior Mark Škulj one step closer towards winning the Twingo Cup championship. The Slovenian driver is dominating in every race and proves that young age brings great speed and ferocity. Matěj Korený also showed some potential after finishing 4th and 5th in both races at Red Bull Ring. Mark Mramor, another junior on the grid, took 6th place in the second race.
And finally, in Cruze Cup, it was all down to Patrick Tiefenbacher to show what juniors can do. And he did well – he finished 3rd and made it to the podium in the first race already.
After Red Bull Ring, it is Mark Škulj leading the Juniors‘ championship standings ahead of Michal Makeš and Andrea Cola.