Confirmation of dominance: Mičánek Motorsport powered by Buggyra dominates sprints and endurance in Austria
All the races in which the drivers of the Mičánek Motorsport powered by Buggyra team competed at the Red Bull Ring were dominated by them. Jáchym Galáš and Matěj Pavlíček took points for 1st and 2nd place in the GTC class, while Kurt Wagner and Josef Záruba has won the endurance race.
The numbers are impressive. Mičánek Motorsport powered by Buggyra team sent three cars with five drivers to the Red Bull Ring for the third round of the FIA CEZ Central European Championship. And back to the Czech Republic they go with five podiums and an exceptional result in the overall standings among all GT cars. In addition to their dominance in the GTC category, Jáchym Galáš and Matěj Pavlíček left behind the entire starting field of the more powerful GT3 cars. The only one who resisted the junior duo with Huracáns was the sovereign winner of the whole weekend, Filip Salaquarda.
"This result shows that the path we are taking is the right one. I have to thank the mechanics and the whole team because it's not easy to coordinate three cars and five drivers. But we did it perfectly," said the team and drivers manager Jiří Mičánek Jr.
The team had already earned a great result in qualifying, which they dominated in all cases. Matěj Pavlíček, who showed great form all weekend, came out on top in the sprint qualifying.
Kurt Wagner and Josef Záruba brought the first trophies to the team box for Saturday's endurance race. The race was started by Wagner, who showed great driving and handed the team's Huracán to Záruba in first place. "Kurt drove great and made it a lot easier for me. I only passed a few GT3s from other categories, and it was enough to maintain the result," Záruba praised Wagner. He also confirmed that after their second win in a row, the pair will also compete in other FIA CEZ events with the aim of winning the Czech Championship title.
Sunday's sprints offered dramatic moments. And the Huracáns in the colors of Mičánek Motorsport powered by Buggyra played the main roles in them. The two junior pilots "met" in a duel in the first corner in both cases. In the first case, the contact was literal. Matěj Pavlíček ended up on the clock in the first race after a minor collision with Galáš and then spent the whole race with a great pursuit run.
Although both cars collided, neither Galáš nor the team boss was angry with Pavlíček. "After the start, I drove on the outside track, which was drier, Matěj drove on the inside. When he tried to close it up so he wouldn't crash, he hit a high yellow kerb which sent him into me. I made it, he didn't," Galáš described. Pavlíček's mistake cost him a drop to the very back of the grid, but from there the rider worked his way back to second place behind Galáš. "After that contact, I concentrated on not making any more mistakes. I managed to do that, and I had the fastest car on the track," said Pavlíček, who actually set the fastest lap of the race.
He then went into the second race with a cooler head. He let Jáchym Galáš get ahead of him again in the first corner, but a few corners later he got the pass back and step by step built up a lead which he maintained to the finish. There he was just 5.6 seconds behind the overall winner, Filip Salaquarda in the Audi R8 LMS GT3. Just 1.2 seconds later, Jáchym Galáš also saw the chequered flag. The Huracán pair left the rest of the GT3 class field behind.
Libor Dvořáček also had the podium in his sights. He went into the morning race on wet tires and quickly worked his way into the top five in the overall standings and could think about a podium in the GTC class. But then he lost the lead he had built up due to the safety car exit. On the drying track at the end of the race, he couldn't compete with the slicks cars and finished seventh. In the second race, Dvořáček was aiming for fourth place, but an uncaused collision with Petr Brecka sent him into the clock and into eighth place. Brecka received a 30-second penalty for contact with Dvořáček.
"I got hit on the wheel, so then somehow I finished the race with the steering wheel turned 90 degrees. It's a shame, but I'm mainly treating this weekend as preparation for the Lamborghini Super Trofeo in two weeks' time," said the driver, who will make his traditional appearance in the first round of the Lamborghini European Cup Series in a crew with Kurt Wagner.
Juniors at half-time, Super Trofeo gets underway
The race at the Red Bull Ring concluded the first half of the FIA CEZ Central European Circuit Championship season. The Mičánek Motorsport powered by Buggyra drivers will spend the ten-week break at the top of the standings. In sprints, Jáchym Galáš leads the GTC category ahead of Matěj Pavlíček, while in endurance, Kurt Wagner and Josef Záruba are in first place after two events.
Jiří Mičánek is satisfied with the performance of his team after the half of the season. Apart from the result, he also appreciates the visibility of the junior duo. "They are currently doing the races. The way they are fighting, either with each other or with other opponents, is one of the best things you can watch in the whole championship." Josef Záruba, in his role as coach of the junior pair, thinks the same. "After Oschersleben, I said that we will go for the title, and it will be just a question of whether Matěj or Jáchym will win it. It turns out that I was right," Záruba recalls.
For the Mičánek Motorsport powered by Buggyra team, the break in the FIA CEZ season does not mean a day off. Next weekend, Jiří Mičánek will take part in the legendary "twenty-one" summit race in Ústí nad Orlicí, while a week later, the team of Bronislav Formánek-Karol Basz and Libor Dvořáček-Kurt Wagner will take part in the first round of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe season at the Paul Ricard circuit in Le Castellet, France.
