Sergej Pavlovec believes that GT4 has the potential to become the strongest class of the ESET Cup series. More about that and even more in our interview.
Sergej, you left the opening round of the ESET Cup series at Grobnik with 3 trophies. In the GT4 Sprint, where you drove with KTM X-Bow GT4 of RTR Projects team, you won the Saturday’s race, before finishing 2nd on Sunday. Then, you and Libor Milota managed to win the Endurance race with a Mercedes-AMG GT3 of GT2 Motorsport. How did you enjoy the weekend in Croatia?
Last year, we were together with RTR Projects looking for opportunities and racing series, where we could use our GT4 experience. We considered GT4 European Series, ADAC GT4 Germany and the ESET Cup. In the end, it was decided that my teammates Jan Krabec and Lenny Marioneck are going to race in the ADAC series, I will race for RTR in GT4 Sprint in the ESET Cup and the Endurance series is going to belong to Filip and Gabriela Sajler. We were glad that despite this year’s problems, there were several GT4 cars in the fields, including BMW, Mercedes and Porsche. But there was a slight disappointment on the side of technical delegates because some of the competitors had a wrong BoP, which affected the second sprint race. However, I’m happy with my own performances. In both sprints, I was racing from start to finish and enjoyed the great track at Grobnik. In the Endurance race, it was much easier. We showed our advantage already in the wet qualifying. After the start, I just managed my pace and kept pulling away from our competition. Libor then drove the final part to the victory.
In Grobnik, you debuted with a GT3 car. How was your adaptation to the new vehicle? How would you compare GT4 and GT3 cars?
I think that my car was perfectly prepared. The GT Sports Technology team, led by Karel Neffe, did a fantastic work and gave me a car with setup, that just took me a few laps to feel comfortable with. Then it was just about finding the limit. It’s actually easy to compare the GT3 and GT4 cars. Both are race cars that have similar handling, but the GT3 does everything slightly better – accelerating, braking, turning. As a driver, you just need to adjust to the pace and trust the car. Then it’s fine.
How is it working with Libor Milota?
Really great. Libor is a total petrolhead, a fair racing driver, and a sincere and open person, which is a great combination. It’s amazing to have such a colleague, and not just for racing.
How do you rate the ESET Cup series and its GT4 category? What future do you expect from the ESET Cup and the GT4 category?
I think there’s big potential. The GT4 category is gaining popularity all around the world, especially thanks to low entry and operational costs. If the ESET organisers can keep up the technical level of it, and to attract more drivers, it could become the strongest class of the ESET Cup series.
What are your plans for the rest of the ESET Cup season? Do you plan to race in more events? If so, are you going to continue with X-Bow or are you planning more starts with Libor Milota in the GT3? Or possibly even endurance races with the RTR Projects team?
My plan is to continue in the same way we started. To race in GT4 Sprint with KTM X-BOW, and the endurance events together with Libor in AMG GT3.
What goals do you have for the season? Do you think you can fight for the GT4 championship title? And what about the GT3 category?
Yes. In both cases, I believe that we can do it. But what makes racing beautiful is that anything can happen until the last seconds. There are so many variables. But we’ll do our best.
Are you going to race also anywhere else than in the ESET Cup?
This year’s season is very short and heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, so I don’t have any other plans confirmed yet. However, I’m open to any interesting offer.
Do you have any long-term goals? Any dreams? Is there a championship that you would like to try in the future? And would that be in the GT races, or are there any other categories?
My big racing dream is to race together with my son in a big 24-hour race, like at Nürburgring or Spa-Francorchamps. But that will take some time. My son is only 14 and apart from kart racing, he has so many other hobbies.
title photography: RTR Projects