Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Final: Formánek and Záruba reached for the podium despite bad luck
The crew of Formánek - Záruba took the podium from the World Super Final of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series. Fourth place from Sunday's race is still a success. The Mičánek Motorsport powered by Buggyra team achieved it despite a lot of unlucky moments.
"It was the toughest week of the whole season for us. We are all tired and we are glad to get it over with. On the other hand, it was an incredible experience to race against the best drivers from two continents and prove that we can fight with them," said team manager Jiří Mičánek Jr.
The bitter taste in the team's mouth was left mainly by a series of technical problems and unfortunate moments that complicated the World Superfinal, which took place right after the last round of the European Super Trofeo series at the Misano circuit.
On Saturday, the Bronislav Formánek - Josef Záruba crew finished seventh in their class in the world competition, the drivers struggling with a faulty alternator throughout the race. "The car was in emergency mode, the most important thing for us was to finish," says Jiří Mičánek.
On the one hand, this is unlucky, on the other hand lucky - the fault manifested itself only a day after the end of the European Championship, in which the team was focused on the overall position and fighting for the podium. "We can be glad that the alternator kept it until the superfinal, where - theoretically speaking - it wasn't that big a deal. If we were unlucky enough to have had to eat it somewhere, it's a good thing it was here," says Josef Záruba.
Problems did not escape the crew in Sunday's second race either. Záruba started the race and tried to secure the best possible position for Bronislav Formanek, who was taking over. "We knew that slower drivers would be taking turns with the competing cars, so we had a chance to go ahead in the second stint. I gave it my all, unfortunately the safety car exit didn't help me much and also the battles with other drivers, which made me slower than if I had driven a clean lap," says Záruba.
Nevertheless, he handed over the team's Huracán to Bronislav Formanek with a real chance of a podium finish. But then came another unlucky moment. "Unfortunately, my right lower belt came loose. That's when you lose contact with the car. During braking and in fast corners I had to brace myself, on the contrary, during acceleration I went down," lamented Formánek. The team also considered the option of pulling the car into the pits, but in the end Formánek fought back and narrowly missed out on third place. "If it wasn't for this little thing, we probably would have reached the podium," Formánek shrugged.
Libor Dvořáček, the pilot of the second team car, was also unlucky. On Saturday he scored seventh place in the competition of other LC class crews, and on Sunday he withdrew shortly before the end of the race due to health problems.
"We had a good race on Saturday, even though I didn't have a good start. Unfortunately, I then got stuck behind the German Oliver Freymuth, who blocked me and other riders, even though he was slower. On Sunday, the team pulled me into the pits early, which allowed me to get past Hans Fabri. Unfortunately, towards the end, the extreme stress of the previous days and the connection with the injury from the spring were already showing. My hip was extremely painful and it was limiting me a lot, especially when braking. Normally I would have finished the race, but in this case the result didn't matter, so I preferred to pit," described Dvořáček.
The Mičánek Motorsport powered by Buggyra team is now returning to the Czech Republic. "We'll have a lot of work to do on the cars, which have been extremely busy in recent weeks. We are also going to evaluate this year and start planning for the 2022 season," concludes team manager Jiří Mičánek jr.
