Sandström took victory in first race

Sandström took victory in first race

The first Clio Cup Bohemia race of the weekend at Grobnik, Croatia, went perfectly well for Filip Sandström. The Carpek Service team driver took his 5th win of the season, after beating Miha Primožič and Rajmond Terčić.

Filip Sandström has returned to the top step of the podium after the Swedish driver could not win in the previous round at Poznan in Poland. The Carpek Service driver started from 3rd place on the grid, as he could not beat ZSP Motorsport Kft drivers. While Balint Hatvani took pole position, Levente Losonczy set the 2nd fastest time in the qualifying session. But the race was all about Sandström. He took the lead in Lap 2 already and then did not let anyone even challenge him.

While Sandström managed to build a gap, there was a big battle of three drivers fighting for 2nd place with Miha Primožič, Rajmond Terčić and Juuso Panttila. In the end, it was Primožič, who crossed the finish line in 2nd place, ahead of Terčić, who completed the podium. Panttila was unlucky, as it all looked like he is going to finish in 2nd place, but he got into a spin and had to settle for only 4th place in the results.

Yasmeen Koloc from Buggyra finished in 5th place ahead of Predrag Šainović, who had unspecified issues and even ended the race by heading into the pits. Valter Nežić was classified in 7th place ahead of Ivan Gustin, Sandi Jeram and Erik Bertilsson, who had a horrible race. Bertilsson holds 2nd place in the championship standings, but his first race was affected by a puncture, and he had to go into the pits. He finished one lap behind the race winner Sandström.

But probably the biggest disaster happened to the ZSP Motorsport Kft. team, that took the complete first row on the grid. Both Hatvani and Losonczy were forced to retire from the race, and Hatvani also got a drive-through penalty following a jumped start.

Opening photo: Petr Frýba