Jakub Knoll and Josef Záruba are the new Czech Republic champions in the endurance circuit racing series. They secured the title on home soil in Brno with a second-place finish. The only drivers able to challenge the newly crowned champions were their teammates, Bronislav Formánek and guest driver Filip Sládečka. Formánek and Záruba also engaged in two thrilling duels in the sprint category.
„After a year, we celebrate another title in Brno, this time in endurance racing. Congratulations to Kuba and Pepa – they delivered excellent results throughout the season and fully deserve the championship. Broněk and Filip also put in an outstanding performance,” praised team manager Jiří Mičánek Jr., highlighting the quartet of his drivers. He also commended the performances of other drivers representing Mičánek Motorsport powered by Buggyra at the final round of the Central European circuit championship.
Knoll and Záruba arrived in Brno as championship leaders and decisively confirmed their position. Their toughest competition came from Broněk Formánek, who was racing in Brno as preparation for the upcoming fifth round of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe. Behind the wheel of the Huracán, he shared driving duties with Slovak Filip Sládečka. The duo, formed solely for the Brno race weekend, ultimately proved to be the dark horse of the event. Formánek drove impressively, building a twenty-second lead for Sládečka at the start, which the experienced Slovak, who had raced in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe five years earlier with the Huracán, maintained without difficulty. Nevertheless, second place was comfortably enough for Knoll and Záruba to secure the title.
„Of course, we were joking and pushing each other before the race, but Kuba and I knew we had to focus on our own pace and concentrate on securing the title,” explained newly crowned Czech champion Josef Záruba, who took over the car from Jakub Knoll. “I’m naturally thrilled with the championship and proud that we managed to win it. I’m not entirely satisfied with my own performance, though – I had hoped to hand the car over to Pepa in a better position,” added the other new Czech champion representing Mičánek Motorsport powered by Buggyra, Jakub Knoll.
One of the drivers he certainly didn’t want behind him was Bronislav Formánek. The seasoned Mičánek Motorsport driver, however, showcased incredible form in Brno. At the start of the race, he even contemplated challenging LMP3 endurance specialist Mira Konopka, only to be thwarted by a safety car intervention. Filip Sládečka, returning to racing in the Lamborghini Huracán after several years, was tasked with “just” maintaining the brilliantly set-up race. The quotation marks around “just” are well deserved. “On the old surface at Brno, the tyres suffer massively, and the heat this weekend only made it worse. Broněk drove aggressively and left me very few tyres to work with,” laughed Sládečka after the race. In the end, he comfortably defended the comfortable lead over pursuing Josef Záruba.
Who would come out on top? Formánek finally triumphs over his mentor
Formánek showcased his exceptional form in a pair of sprint races, going head-to-head with Josef Záruba. In the first race, Formánek executed a brilliant move into the opening corner to get ahead of his friend and mentor, while Antal Zsigo, driving a theoretically much faster GT3-spec BMW, raced between the two Mičánek Motorsport powered by Buggyra Huracáns. Formánek maintained his lead over Zsigo all the way to the final lap, ultimately losing to Záruba by just a tenth of a second at the finish.
„In the first corner, I went all in and managed to get ahead on the outside,” Formánek described the key moment of the opening race. Josef Záruba, who had spent the next 25 minutes chasing his teammate, admitted he felt a sense of relief at finally being overtaken. “If it hadn’t worked, I’d have been hearing about it for years,” laughed the newly crowned Czech endurance champion.
His laughter lasted only until Sunday, when Saturday’s duel was repeated, but with the opposite result. The crowd at the Masaryk Circuit witnessed a breathtaking battle between the two Huracáns, this time with Formánek emerging victorious. “Broněk put in an incredible performance that genuinely shocked us in the best possible way. I hope he can maintain this form all the way to Barcelona,” remarked team manager Jiří Mičánek, referring to the upcoming penultimate round of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe. In that event, Formánek and Štefan Rosina currently lead the Pro-AM category, eyeing the first title for Mičánek Motorsport powered by Buggyra in the world’s fastest single-make cup series.
Several thousand spectators watched Mičánek Motorsport powered by Buggyra celebrate their triumph in Brno, including hundreds of partners and supporters of the “home” team. The successful finale of the title battle in Brno was marked by the presence of notable personalities such as TV presenter Lucie Borhyová and this year’s ice hockey world champion, Jakub Flek. “We wanted to turn the Brno race into a true celebration of motorsport and showcase our team in the best possible light. In its modern era, our team has already claimed more than 20 Czech championship titles,” recalls Jiří Mičánek, who personally contributed four championship trophies between 2004 and 2010.
