Both crews finished on the podium in both races. That was the result for Mičánek Motorsport powered by Buggyra at the fourth round of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe season at the Nürburgring. The team came away with a valuable haul of championship points, although there is already a sense that this season’s best result could have been even better.
One win and three second-place finishes. The Nürburgring once again showed both its more welcoming and its more dramatic side. A circuit where Jiří Mičánek’s drivers have traditionally performed strongly delivered the team’s best result of the season so far. And yet, somewhat paradoxically, both crews left Germany with mixed feelings. “We’ve come away from the first weekend with trophies for both crews. At the same time, we all know we were very close to winning all four races,” said team manager Jiří Mičánek after the German round.
As the second half of the season gets underway, there is also a greater emphasis on caution and championship points. Both crews are in contention for the title, with Bronislav Formánek and Anthony Pretorius fighting in Pro-AM and Jakub Knoll and Renaud Kuppens competing in AM. The entire team is now aware that the desire to win cannot come at the expense of taking unnecessary risks.
From that perspective, the Nürburgring weekend was a complete success. With two rounds remaining, the Pro-AM pairing maintains a healthy lead at the top of the standings, while Knoll and Kuppens moved into the outright lead of the AM class after taking one win and one second place, opening up an important gap to their rivals. “From that point of view, we’re absolutely delighted and can head to Barcelona in five weeks’ time with a clear mind,” said Jiří Mičánek.
Saturday’s opening race was made more challenging by light rain, which came and went several times during the 50-minute contest. Bronislav Formánek made an excellent start and successfully defended his position against the professional drivers. Anthony Pretorius then took over and launched a determined charge, eventually finishing second. He missed out on catching the race leader by just one lap. In the AM class, meanwhile, Renaud Kuppens completed his mission and, after a run of race weekends disrupted by incidents beyond his control, the Belgian driver finally had reason to celebrate. Together with Jakub Knoll, he secured his first victory.
Sunday’s race was brought to an early end for the entire field following a very heavy accident on the main straight. The crash involving Umar Basalamah’s ASR Huracán scattered debris across the circuit, meaning the final few minutes of the race were not run. Those closing laps could potentially have had a major impact on the final order. Both Mičánek Motorsport crews started with their faster drivers behind the wheel, Pretorius and Kuppens. South African Pretorius made an impressive launch and moved up to third overall, but subsequently slipped back several positions. “The start of the race was a nightmare for me. I was struggling with the front tyres. I’m really sorry, this shouldn’t happen,” the 19-year-old talent told Bronislav Formánek after the race. Despite his difficulties, Pretorius handed the car over in second place, with a comfortable margin over the third-placed crew. Formánek then began steadily closing the gap to the leader. With ten minutes remaining, however, the safety car was deployed, bunching the field back together. After the restart, Formánek had an opportunity to fight for the lead, but he also had two other Pro-AM drivers applying pressure behind him. “I wanted to fight for the win, but I didn’t want to take a risk that could put the whole championship in jeopardy. In the end, the red flag helped us keep second place, and now we can focus on the title fight,” said Formánek.
The same situation unfolded for the Kuppens-Knoll pairing. “I had a good rhythm after the start, I was fighting with the professional drivers and leading our class. From my perspective, we could have made the pit stop a little later and would have been in contention for the win,” explained Kuppens. Knoll took over for the second half of the race and had to manage heavily worn tyres. While full of praise for Kuppens’ performance, he was far more critical of his own. “I was almost shocked by how well Renaud was driving. My pace was worse and I couldn’t deal with our class rival in a direct fight. The red flag ultimately put us back in contention for second place,” admitted Knoll.
Thanks to their victory and second-place finish, Kuppens and Knoll have built an important lead at the top of the AM standings. The team’s next outing will be a home event in the Central European circuit racing championship. The action gets underway at Creditas Automotodrom Brno on Friday 11 September.
