Serbian driver Mihajlo Mladenović finished his second season in Twingo Cup with third place in the final standings and win at Monza. This young racer likes this competitive series, but he also would like to see himself in a faster touring car.
How satisfied are you with the year 2022? Season before you finished fourth in the standings and in 2022 you finished third. But unlike year before, you didn´t win.
Honestly, I´m satisfied, last year I wasn’t so lucky to finish all the races, this year I managed to finish every race and that was my prior goal. I got a car from LEMA Racing team again and thanks to them and also with a little help from Eset, I was able to race again. But of course, none of that would be possible without my father and godfather, who cover all financial expenses. Huge thank to them! Also to LEMA Racing and ESET. Anyway, I think last year’s car suited me better than this year’s, however I did win this year – at Monza, which was counted to Twingo Eurocup.
Congratulations for win with Twingo than! Monza is high speed track, which offers a lot of opportunities for slipstreaming and Twingo Cup racing is very competitive. The margin between winning and losing is very close. What the driver should do to gain the victory in the last moment of the race?
The competition is really strong, there are a lot of us, this year we even had 38 cars on the track. There are not many calculations, it is important not to make mistakes and to concentrate as much as possible on driving, whoever remains concentrated until the end, wins.
In terms of racing in Twingo, which tracks suits you more? Fast circuits or more twisted track?
I honestly like a challenge, so I prefer tracks with more curves. I enjoy driving through the corners as much as possible and I think those tracks are better for me in terms of my driving progress.
Let´s talk about your racing history? How did you begin and where did you participate?
Since four, I accompanied my father, who was racing in the national championship of Serbia in class 1 Yugo 55. I had a desire for karting, but we didn’t have enough finances. A couple years later, when I was 14-15 years old, I started driving the rental karting cup, where I finished 2nd in the first season and then first. At the age of 16, I sat in my dad’s racing Yugo for the first time and literally learned how to shift gears and all the basic in racing car. That year I also drove car slalom competitions and at the age of 17 I started to race at circuits and hillclimbs. My first circuit race was on Mišeluk in Novi Sad and I set a track record in my class. I ended 5th in the overall standings in circuit racing and 2nd on the hillclimb, where I deliberately skipped one race so I wouldn’t be 1st because of the rule, that if you won, you cannot race in that class anymore.
I continue in the same class in 2020, winning nation title in hillclimb racing with numerous records, while on the circuit I fight for the championship title, but due to bad luck, the car breaks down in the last lap and I don’t finish the race, so I finished in 2nd place. Last year I started driving in Twingo Cup (winning two races and finishing fourth in the standings) and at the same time I stayed in national championship, where I won the title.
How important in your career is support from ESET RaceStar project?
It’s important to me and it really excites me that I have some support from the organizers, because I plan to move to a higher classes in the future – like Clio Cup or TCR and I hope the organizes will support me again.
And what about next season? Do you have any plans?
I don’t have any plans at the moment, I’m looking for sponsors, who could help me move to one of the higher classes I’ve already mentioned.
