Round five of the Moravia Cup, the Slovak Championship and the Rotax MAX Challenge CZ/SK was hosted on the weekend of August 7–9 by the Steel Ring in Třinec. This time the racing ran on the TECHNICAL layout, whose very character places high demands on both the drivers and getting the setup right.
Friday’s programme was also heavily affected by rain, while Saturday and Sunday brought a completely different challenge – sunny skies and high summer temperatures. The conditions were far from easy on any day of the race weekend. The MS KART Racing Team was represented by our drivers in four categories, and there was certainly plenty to watch.
Benedek Vida produced an exceptional performance in Rotax DD2, in the MP classification. He was looking forward to the Třinec weekend all the more because he had not sat in a kart for almost a month and a half. On one of his favourite tracks, though, he showed from the very first laps that he had lost none of his speed. Across the weekend he found virtually no one able to beat him. He won the practices, qualifying, the warm-up and all three heats, completing a true Grand Slam.
Even more impressive than the run of wins was the way he achieved them – in each of the three races he crossed the line with a lead of more than seven seconds over the second-placed driver. On the technically demanding Steel Ring layout and in the hot summer conditions, it was a remarkably convincing display. After the race, Beni made no secret of his delight, not only with the result but also with how the MS KART kart performed. As he put it, he had long wanted to put together a perfect race weekend in MS KART colours – and in Třinec he did exactly that, without a single blemish.
Samuel Novák’s performance in Micro MAX MP also deserves plenty of attention. In this series Sam races with a Rotax engine, while in other events this year he has been utterly dominant in the BABY 60 class. Switching between two different categories, engines and tyres is no easy task, especially for such a young driver.
Sam handles that change very well every time, and in Třinec his gradual progress across the whole weekend was again clear to see. From Friday’s practice he moved forward with every run, gaining confidence and speed, and on Sunday he turned that progress into an excellent result. After fourth in qualifying and P5 in the opening race he stepped up his pace significantly and finished both remaining heats in second place. In the overall Micro MAX classification he took a well-deserved silver and another valuable haul of points for the standings. That ability to adapt quickly to different equipment and to keep getting faster over a race weekend is a very positive sign for Sam’s future.
Alongside Benedek, Adam Leffler and Filip Valenta also lined up in Rotax DD2. Adam was remarkably consistent in the MP classification – he held sixth place in qualifying and in all three races, and the same position was his in the overall standings.
Filip represented the team in the MSR classification. He managed P4 in qualifying, added P5, P3 and P5 in the individual heats and closed the weekend fifth in the overall MSR standings.
In KZ2 Masters, Josef Barilla continued his run of steady performances. From second in qualifying he stayed at the front of the field all weekend. He finished the first heat second and added two third places in the next two. Overall he claimed second place and another podium for a very consistent showing across the whole weekend.
Lucie Zimmelová, on the other hand, had a real dose of bad luck this time in KZ2. After seventh in qualifying, she was taken out of both opening races by collisions that were not her fault. In the first, a rival hit her from behind and sent her into the barrier; in the second she ended up off track after another contact shortly after the start.
Two retirements did nothing to dent her fighting spirit, though. She started the third heat from the back of the grid and produced an excellent recovery drive, working her way up to ninth. The two unfinished races left her eleventh in the overall standings, but her speed and commitment were far better than the final result suggests.
From a demanding, hot weekend in Třinec, the MS KART Racing Team takes away a dominant win for Benedek Vida, a superb silver and further clear progress from Samuel Novák, a podium for Josef Barilla and a series of quality, hard-fought performances across the categories.
Results matter, but just as valuable to us are the performances that show the drivers’ speed and development and the ability of the team and the equipment to work in different and demanding conditions – and the Třinec weekend offered plenty of exactly that.
Thank you to all the drivers, mechanics, partners and families for their excellent work and support!
Our next race takes us back to the Steel Ring in Třinec, this time as part of the Czech Kart Open. We look forward to seeing you trackside!
FOTO: Race.SK
More photos in the GALLERY.
