Target Competition’s Mat’o Homola had a challenging start to the fifth round of TCR Europe at Oschersleben, Germany. After moving in a wrong direction in terms of set-up, a challenging race start made it difficult for Homola to recover. After the post-race penalties were handed out, Homola secured sixth place.
After the free practice session, the team made several changes in the chassis setup which failed to pay dividends in qualifying. Homola failed to make it through to Q2, ending up 13th in the final standings, defining his grid position for both races.
Things got worse for the Slovakian when six cars passed him at the end of the first straight in race one. With many incidents in front of him, the 25-year-old stayed sharp and was slowly going forward.
However, his Hyundai i30 was hit during the last overtaking manoeuvre with the geometry on his right rear wheel affected. Despite that, he managed to finish the race.
Following the post-race penalties of Nelson Panciatici, who received a 30-second time penalty for hitting Jessica Bäckman, and race winner Andreas Bäckman’s car not conforming with the TCR Technical regulations which lead to his disqualification, Homola moved up in the final race one results, to sixth place. Additionally, he is moving up to third in the championship ranking.
“It was really a strong hit,” summarised Homola. “My wheel was twisted outside and driving on the straight was really tough. But the left corners were pretty good though. I am really happy to finish secure some good points.”