The reigning Czech champions, Jakub Knoll and Josef Záruba, have taken their first steps towards defending their title. At the opening round of the GT Cup Series, the Central European circuit championship, they claimed victory in the GTC class endurance race at the Red Bull Ring.
„Jakub and Pepa delivered exactly what we came to the Red Bull Ring for to be flawless in our class. They’ve taken the first step towards defending the title,” said Jiří Mičánek Jr., team manager of Mičánek Motorsport powered by Buggyra.
The opening GT Cup Series race marked Jakub Knoll’s return behind the wheel after seven months. From the very first practice session, the experienced driver showed he was quickly finding his pace. The race itself offered several exciting battles across a highly competitive grid spanning all categories. “In the starting field, we found rivals across every class. The car performed brilliantly, thanks to the team for preparing it so well,” praised Knoll, though he added in the same breath that he sees areas in his race performance that can still be improved.
Midway through the race, Knoll handed over to Josef Záruba, but technical issues complicated his path to victory.
“We were dealing with a problem we’d encountered a few years ago in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo – the fuel pump wasn’t delivering fuel to the injectors. Fortunately, I knew what was happening, so I managed to get the car to the finish. At first, I could still race and even made it to first in the category, but after that it turned into a fight for survival,” Záruba reflected on the season opener.
At the same time, he sent his congratulations to Zandvoort, where the second part of the team is battling in the GT2 European Series to strengthen their championship lead. On Saturday, Bronislav Formánek and Štefan Rosina took victory, with their second race scheduled for Sunday morning.
