A Czech driver in a Czech team triumphs at a home race – that’s how you could sum up the fourth round of the F4 CEZ Championship at the Autodrom Most, where Miroslav Mikeš from the JMT Racing team secured his first victory.
The Racing Journal SpeedFest weekend in Most began with high expectations. The JMT Racing team knows the circuit like the back of their hand, and Mikeš is right at home here. In the previous race at the Slovakia Ring, they celebrated their first podium with a second-place finish, and they entered Most event with ambitions to improve on that result.
„If I said no, I’d be lying. We know the track well and how to set up the car for it. We gave it our all and knew that a win was within our reach,“ explained Tomáš Peleška, one of the three heads of JMT Racing, alongside Jiří Koldinský and Martin Vojík.
Mikeš, under the guidance of race engineer and coach Jan Rieger, showed his speed in the practice sessions, and when it came to qualifying, no one could come close to him. He secured pole position with a lead of eight-tenths of a second.
„We won the last practice session, and everyone was looking forward to qualifying. It went absolutely brilliantly, and we were all thrilled,“ Peleška continued.
Miroslav Mikeš started from the front row alongside another Czech driver, Max Karhan. The tension before the start, with two local drivers at the front, was evident. The first chicane at Most is the most dangerous spot after the start, often leading to collisions.
„The tension was really high. When you start from the front, there are certain expectations, and you don’t want to fall back, but at the same time, you don’t want to throw it away in the first corner. So we were all on edge, but as soon as Míra got through the first corner, we were relieved,“ Peleška described the immediate emotions as he watched Mikeš drive towards his first victory in F4 CEZ.
„This is the first win for a Czech team in the championship, so I value it immensely. I’m overjoyed that we’ve shown ourselves and others that we can compete with the foreign teams.“
In the second race, Mikeš finished in second place, despite taking a hefty hit from behind by Oscar Wurz. While the Austrian retired, Mikeš continued on. „We were surprised that Míra was able to keep going. We were even more amazed that the car wasn’t damaged. We put it on the scales and checked the geometry, and everything was fine.“
Miroslav Mikeš came away from the fourth round of the F4 CEZ with a first, second, and fifth place. The next races will take place in September at Brno. „The Masaryk Circuit is another home track for us. We’ll do some more testing and, of course, aim to replicate our success there. It’s encouraging that our results are on an upward trend,“ Peleška concluded.
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