It was a perfect day for Richard’s Rikli Motorsport team, with his fellow Swiss Peter Rikli finishing second on both occasions in his identical TCN2-specification Honda Civic and now leading the Super 2000 standings by a single point over opening-round double victor Petr Fulín with 21-year-old Richard five points further back. Fábio Mota and Mladen Lalušić were podium visitors while Ulrike Krafft and Nicklas Mackschin shared the class wins in an action-packed day for the Super 1600 field.

RACE 1 REPORT: RICHARD WINS IN RIKLI ETCC ONE-TWO, WOE FOR KŘENEK
Kris Richard claimed his maiden FIA European Touring Car Cup win in the first FIA ETCC Race of Slovakia Ring, with Rikli Motorsport picking up a one-two finish after both Křenek Motorsport cars were black-flagged. The rolling start was twice waved off because cars were not in the correct formation, and when the race did eventually begin, Richard made a great start from fourth on the grid to pass both Křenek SEATs into Turn 1. Polesitter Christjohannes Schreiber and team-mate Petr Fulín soon demoted Richard and were on course for a one-two, but their races turned sour when they were black-flagged for technical infringements. Richard therefore took the win on just his third start in the ETCC while team-mate Peter Rikli won a battle with Fábio Mota over third place that went all the way to the finish line. Mota had overtaken Rikli as they worked past S1600 runners on the final lap, but Rikli swept around the outside of the final kink to get his Honda Civic to the line just 0.016 seconds ahead. Norbert Nagy took fourth ahead of Mladen Lalušić, who survived a mid-race excursion into a gravel trap. Wolfgang Kriegel finished sixth on his ETCC debut ahead of Igor Stefanovski, who was forced to serve a drive-through after tagging Lalušić sideways on the opening lap. Ulrike Krafft won a thrilling battle for victory in S1600. Krafft led the early stages from pole before Nicklas Mackshin and Tomáš Korený took brief turns out front, only for Krafft to regain the advantage. She was soon knocked sideways, however, by Korený, allowing Andrii Yevtuschenko and Kevin Hilgenhövel past, but their races ended in the gravel trap almost immediately after they made contact. Mackshin therefore inherited the lead again but Krafft managed to find a way back past on the last lap for the S1600 runners.

RACE 2 FLASH: ANOTHER ETCC ONE-TWO FOR RICHARD AND RIKLI
Rikli Motorsport completed a perfect day at the FIA ETCC Race of Slovakia Ring with drivers Kris Richard and Peter Rikli finishing first and second again in race two. Rikli and Richard made flying starts in their TCN2-specification Honda Civics from the fourth row of the grid to lead the pack through the first corner, and Race 1 winner Richard moved ahead at the same point one lap later before sealing a double victory. Mladen Lalušić scored his maiden ETCC podium in third after winning an early battle with Norbert Nagy. Fábio Mota also worked his way past the Hungarian but for the second race in a row, the Portuguese driver lost a position at the finish line, this time by just six thousandths of a second, with Petr Fulín, who had started from the pitlane together with Křenek Motorsport team-mate Christjohannes Schreiber after their disqualification in Race 1, getting ahead. Fulín was on the grass on the final lap trying to get past the S1600 leaders while pursuing Mota. Schreiber finished sixth ahead of Nagy and Wolfgang Kriegl. Ulrike Krafft had started the race from the very front of the field after her eighth-place and class win in Race 1, but after being passed by the S2000 field into Turn 1 she was quickly under pressure from Nicklas Mackschin, who eventually got past on lap six. Ninth overall, Mackschin held on through an intense final lap to win the class ahead of fellow Ford Fiesta driver Krafft and Peugeot 207 racer Kevin Hilgenhövel, with the other 207 driver Andreas Rinke beating Tomas Koreny to fourth.

RACE WINNER QUOTES
Kris Richard (Super 2000 winner, Race 1 and Race 2): “It’s amazing for me. In the first race I just thought don’t crash like in Paul Ricard and the start was amazing. Then I felt more and more understeer and Schreiber was absolutely fast so I tried to keep my speed as high as possible. [In race two] the car was perfect at the start and then I felt I was a little bit faster than Peter. We spoke together before the race that we shouldn’t lose time with big fights and as I came past him at the end it was special for me.”

Ulrike Krafft (Super 1600 winner, Race 1): “Race 1 was one of the hardest races I’ve ever had in ETCC. It was very special because I lost positions and then I gained them again. I think I had a collision with my team-mate and I also had a collision with Kevin Hilgenhövel. Not every situation was very fair driving, that’s what I think, but in the end I won in the last corner so this was very special to have this situation together with Nicklas.”

Nicklas Mackschin (Super 1600 winner, Race 2): “The first race was really difficult and exciting. In the first part I was on the front and then after five laps I was fifth. I don’t know how. The second race was very good for me and Ulrike helped me a little bit. So the dream weekend it wasn’t but it was a good weekend for me.”

RESULTS: https://www.fiaetcc.com/event/slovakia-ring/