Mat’o Homola admitted he “was hoping for a wet race” in the build up to the second TCR Europe race at Monza before he inherited the victory following a penalty for Franco Girolami.
Homola, driving the older specification Hyundai i30 N TCR at the Italian circuit, was handed the victory following a 30-second time penalty being given to Girolami after the Argentine had been found guilty of overtaking Mikel Azcona under yellow flags on lap three of the race.
The Slovakian driver, who couldn’t match the pace of the two drivers ahead of him on the road before both Azcona and Girolami were given penalties for incidents during the race, took his first win of the season after holding off a number of drivers including Tom Coronel and Brutal Fish Racing’s Jack Young.
“I was hoping for a wet race, because with the i30 N we struggle on the straight lines,” explained Homola at the end of race two.
“My start was not very good; it wasn’t so bad, but too much wheelspin meant that Azcona and someone else, maybe Girolami, jumped ahead of me.
“After that all I had to do was trying to benefit from slipstreams. When I overtook (Nicolas) Baert following his mistake into the Parabolica I found myself leading a pack of cars.”
Homola’s victory means that a total of seven drivers have now won a race in the championship this season, although he admitted that holding off his rivals behind was anything but simple.
“I couldn’t close the gap from the leaders, and so I focused on defending the position which was not easy,” explained Homola.
“I didn’t make mistakes and that was the most important thing. I’m happy with my driving and I’m really happy for the team.”
The final round of the 2021 TCR Europe season is set to take place in Barcelona in Spain in two weekends time.