VIDEO: First win for Yasmeen, Vršecký 2nd in GT3
The 2020 season is finally underway and that includes also Buggyra Racing team and its drivers taking part in Carbonia Cup series. The Buggyra Racing team had joined with four cars – two Lamborghini Huracan SuperTrofeo Evo specials driven by Bronislav Formánek and Ladislav Dvořáček, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo with David Vršecký and Renault Clio Cup with Yasmeen Koloc behind the wheel.
“Usually, we don’t take part in the Carbonia Cup, but right now it’s the only option to get our race season underway and to stay in shape,” said the Mičánek Motorsport powered by Buggyra ACCR team manager Jiří Mičánek.
While for David Vršecký, the 2-time European Truck Racing champion, it was his debut in a 600bhp machine, for a 15-year-old Yasmeen Koloc it was the first-ever race. “It’s pretty much the first race of the 2020 season, so of course we can’t miss it. It’s my GT race debut, so I’m a bit worried. But I think that we’re ready, with our super team and super car, so I’m looking forward to it,” said the GT3 category rookie Vršecký.
“It’s a huge experience for me, being on the track also with much slower cars and the need to avoid each other. Already in the first practice session, I had to cut the track through the grass, because I was caught out by surprise with one such car. If I hadn’t done that, I would be without the front. But that’s a great experience for the endurance racing,” described Vršecký his first race kilometres with Mercedes-AMG GT3.
The first qualifying of the season was also affected by the weather. Both practice sessions were in wet conditions, but just before the qualifying, the asphalt started to dry out at some parts of the Most circuit. But David Vršecký dealt with that perfectly and managed to take his first pole position with the GT3 car. As for others who also raced in the Group A+, Libor Dvořáček qualified in 6th place, while Bronislav Formánek had to retire from the race weekend following technical problems in the practice session. Also, Yasmeen Koloc had a solid start as she took the 7th place in the challenging conditions in Group A.
But the race did not start well for the Buggyra chief designer. “I didn’t have the best start. The Lamborghini in the 2nd place got ahead of me and just when I was trying to get the position back in the Turn 1, I lost even more time and dropped to the 3rd place,” said David Vršecký. “In the end, we finished in 2nd place, but I have mixed feelings. Coming here, we had no expectations, but after such a dominating performance in qualifying, we really wanted to win here. However, I’ll take the podium and it’s a great practice for the real race,” he added.
The race had started in a much better way for Libor Dvořáček, who quickly gained 2 places. But then he lost one position following a small mistake. Despite him trying to catch up for the rest of the race, it just was not enough for him to get on the podium and he had to settle for only the 5th position.
While the Group A+ quickly split into several smaller packs and nothing really changed throughout the race, Group A, on the other hand, offered lots of battles and overtaking. “It was great fun, I really enjoyed it. The start was a bit more stressful, with so many cars around me and I couldn’t see the start lights, so I was slightly slower. Then I managed to get some places back. In the last lap of the race, I tried to fight for the 7th position, but it didn’t work out and I dropped to the 10th place. Yet, I had a lot of fun and I can’t wait for the next race,” said a 15-year-old Yasmeen Koloc, who finished in the 10th place but took a victory in the Junior category of Group A. “I completely forgot about it and I didn’t even expect anything like that, as I was the only one in that category. But I’m happy about it and it’s a nice motivation. But I can’t wait to really fight for the podium,” celebrated Yasmeen her first-ever race trophy.
Buggyra did well in the Carbonia Cup event and it has helped the team to shorten its long waiting for the real start of the 2020 season.
