Finnish driver Jesse Krohn with BMW M4 GT3 from the Racing Trevor team emerged victorious in the one-hour endurance race at the Slovakia Ring. The unchallenged Daytona 24h winner built such a lead that a later twenty-second penalty did not shake his victory.
Starting from pole position, Dan Skočdopole maintained the lead with his LMP3 prototype, while Finnish driver Jesse Krohn attempted to attack Filip Salaquarda in the first corner. Both very fast drivers completed the first lap in a tight formation, setting the stage for their battle. Unfortunately, current championship leader Salaquarda suddenly slowed down in the second lap at the start-finish line, struggling with fatal technical issues in his previously flawless Audi.
Jesse Krohn took over the first place in the GT3 category, with Nicolas Leutwiler closely behind in his Porsche 911, while Libor Milota, the second-place driver in the GT3 standings, fiercely pursued him. Milota quickly overtook the Swiss driver and settled into second position. Piotr Wira drove in fourth place within the GT3 category, followed by Stanislaw Jedlinski and Dan Skalický in fifth and sixth place, respectively.
Several technical issues forced Petr Lisa-Tomáš Miniberger crew to retire KTM GTX, indicating that the high evening temperatures were causing difficulties for the race cars.
In the GTC category, Petr Brecka led in his Porsche, followed by Jakub Klobása in the Lamborghini. Kurt Wagner circled behind them with a gap, but he went off the track and got stuck in a gravel trap before the halfway point of the race.
Although Dan Skočdopole built a significant lead in the first half of the race, Miro Konopka caught up to the Czech leader after a pit stop, during which he also refueled. Konopka attempted to overtake Skočdopole in the backstrech of the circuit in a sharp right turn, resulting in contact between the two drivers. Skočdopole spun, while Konopka continued in the first position. Konopka later received 10 seconds penalty. Unfortunately, Skočdopole’s problems didn’t end there. He went off the track once again and suffered a punctured tire towards the end of the race. Determined to reach the mechanics for a tire change, he tore the tire tread and severely damaged the front part of the bodywork. However, he eventually made it to the pit lane and was able to continue at second place in front of Adam Zenter.
The situation at the front of the GT3 category became interesting towards the end of the race. Jesse Krohn built a solid lead, but after the pitstop it was revealed that Krohn crossed the white line when exiting the pit lane and received a twenty-second penalty to be added to his overall result.
Krohn maintained a 25-second lead over Daan Arrow in the Mercedes AMG. With over thirty cars on the track, Arrow found it challenging to make up the required five seconds in heavy traffic. In the end, Krohn could relax before the checkered flag when Arrow went off the track, and Libor Milota moved up to second place. Arrow and Piotr Wira were classified in third place, followed by Nicolas Leutwiler, and the duo of Stanislaw Jedlinski-Kriystian Korzeniowski, with Dan Skalický in sixth place.
In the GTC category, Jakub Klobása claimed victory ahead of Max Lahmer, with crew Petr Brecka-Karel Neff, Richard Woschitz, and Mariusz Nierychlewski following behind. Antal Zsigo took the GT4 class win with his BMW, while Artur Rowinski emerged as the winner in the touring cars over 3500ccm.