René Kircher wins final TCR Eastern Europe race of 2023
Mertel Motorsport driver René Kircher won the second race of Brno season finale ahead of Adam Kout and Žarko Knego.
Petr Fulín Jr started from pole position ahead of the Elantra N TCR of Knego.
Fulín Jr had a slow getaway and fell down to ninth place as Knego inherited the lead, only to lose it by the end of lap one to Kircher.
The German driver had pulled away by four seconds by the end of lap three. Giacomo Ghermandi meanwhile lost fourth to Adam Kout and got his mirrors full of Mat’o Homola’s Hyundai Elantra N TCR.
The winner of Race 1, Attila Bucsi, made progress from ninth on the grid up to seventh early on in the race. The Hungarian driver was demoted to eight on lap four, overtaken by the newly crowned champion Bartosz Groszek.
Groszek didn’t stop there and overtook Homola on lap seven for sixth.
Kout got by Czepiel for third as Homola lost another place, with Bucsi overtaking him into Kevin Schwantz corner on the same lap.
Davit Kajaia parked his Mertel Motorsport Honda in the pit lane in lap eight.
The penultimate lap saw Kout overtaking Knego for second at the same time as Bucsi was attacking Groszek for sixth, managing to get past as well.
Kircher won the race by close to eight seconds, thus securing the runner-up spot in the championship.
