When the time came for the opening race of Renault Twingo Cup cars, the track temperature was just reaching an enormous 50°C. But a Slovenian driver Jaka Marinšek dealt with those challenging conditions perfectly and won the first race of the weekend at Slovakia Ring.
Marinšek started the weekend well in qualifying already, by taking pole position ahead of Niko Štefančič in a black Twingo. Marko Coza and Luka Glazer then qualified in the second row.
Slovakia Ring is known for its long straights and corners, which is just perfect for competitive racing in Twingo Cup cars. And that is exactly what the fans had a chance to enjoy. Twingos, with their typical box-shaped body and small-sized engines, usually rely on slipstreaming to achieve good results. And that is exactly what happened here, as right after the start, all 16 cars split into several groups that were using slipstreaming literally everywhere on the track.
At the beginning, the lead group of cars consisted of 5 cars, but halfway through the race, there were already 7 Twingos in front and it was clear that the final laps were going to be very intense. And indeed, it was not until the final minutes, when Marinšek and Nik Prunk, who originally started from 10th place, managed to pull away a bit from the others and the final battle for the win could begin.
Marinšek, who lost the lead several times during the race, managed to hold on to 1st place in the most crucial moment and took a win ahead of Prunk. Coza followed one second later in 3rd place, ahead of Luka Glazer and Sandi Jeram. The only two Czech drivers in the Twingo Cup series – Václav Bumbálek and Jakub Rejlek – finished in 11th and 13th places, respectively.