Slovakian driver completes dominant season for Hyundai Motorsport customers
Hyundai Motorsport customer Maťo Homola is a TCR Eastern Europe title winner again after he came out on top of a thrilling showdown in Austria on Sunday (September 23).
Powered by an Elantra N TCR, the Hyundai Janík Motorsport driver beat team-mate Adam Kout by just five points for back-to-back outright honours.
And the performances of Homola, from Slovakia, and Czech Kout ensured a third consecutive TCR Eastern Europe Teams’ title for the Hyundai Janík Motorsport outfit.
“It’s great to be a double TCR Eastern Europe champion,” said Homola. “I started with the Hyundai i30 N TCR in 2019 and now I am a double champion as a Hyundai Motorsport customer in my third season with the Hyundai Elantra N TCR. The car was reliable and fastest – I was really enjoying driving it. Thanks to everyone for the support.”
Tense finale at Salzburgring
Homola arrived at the high-speed Salzburgring in Austria leading team-mate Kout by 34 points. But when Kout took a dominant victory in Race 1 from pole position and Homola could only manage sixth after a 10-second jump-start penalty, the gap between the Hyundai Janík Motorsport team-mates was cut to 16 points ahead of the final race of the weekend.
Starting in the middle of the pack from the partially-reversed Race 2 grid, Homola was forced to be more cautious, while Kout, with nothing to lose, charged from ninth on the grid, passing Homola and taking the lead with a few minutes of the race remaining.
Kout’s second victory of the weekend earned another 25 points, but Homola came through to complete the podium in third and take the title by five points.
All 12 TCR Eastern Europe races held in 2024 were won by Hyundai Motorsport customers. Homola won five times, Kout triumphed on four occasions with Attila Bucsi winning three races in a M1RA Motorsport Hyundai i30 N TCR in his first full season of TCR action to take the Junior title.
Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing Manager Benoit Nogier said: “Congratulations to our customers Maťo Homola, Hyundai Janík Motorsport and Attila Bucsi, who clinched all three TCR Eastern Europe titles. To win all 12 races in the season the drivers needed to be fast, the teams strong and their cars quick and reliable. The results show the undoubted performance of the Hyundai Elantra N TCR, but Bucsi’s three wins prove the i30 N TCR continues to be an excellent car in the TCR category.”
Jiří Zbožínek, from Czech Republic, and Croatian Žarko Knego, also competed with Hyundai power in TCR Eastern Europe in 2024. They both scored a best finish of third during the year.
