After winning the 2016 Scoda Octavia Cup championship title the doors to the world of track racing were closed for Gábor Tim. Over the past three-four years he has competed in Rally3 and Rally2, but last weekend he has had the opportunity to return. He competed in the races of the Swift Cup Europe at the Salzburgring.
Although the pilot from Vanyarc has never sat in the new 1,4 turbocharged Swift, he quickly got used to the extremely strong and agile car, he was already the fastest on the Austrian track on the first free practice session.
Although his qualifying session during the pouring rain on Saturday didn’t go well, he came in fifth, it didn’t break his zest. On his first race after four years – also in the rain – he came in first in an international field of 19 drivers.
I went with different settings than the others, so essentially, I kept crossing the corners all the time. I basically rallied. But it seems it was the faster way. – said Tim after the first round.
The second race on Sunday was held on dry field. Tim clambered up by the last laps to the first place and he led confidently. However, his car switched to emergency program and slowed down, several contenders overtook him. In the end he was flagged at fourth place.
One of the circling turned out bad, the car has pulled up and didn’t want to come to it’s senses through a whole lap. Four drivers went past me in the straight. I thought that I was goning to fall out, but the car came to it’s senses and I crossed the finish line. It’s a shame, because two laps before the end I was leading smoothly. – Tim summed up the second round
The third round was even more dramatic, although Tim quickly started to lead, his car slowed down again. After one lap it strengthened again, and the Hungarian racer got forward, but the electronics switched to emergency program again. By the end of the race Tim knew how to drive the car without this happening repeatedly. With lots of overtaking, after a remarkable battle, he won the third race.
I’m sure nothing like this has ever happened to me, I had to win a race three times, so I can finally win one time. It was insane! But by the end I started to realize what the problem might be, I used the car on a lower engine speed, so it allowed me to race. – said Tim happily, winner of the race
After the first weekend Tim is leading the championship, with two victories next to his name. The championship will continue August 21-23 at Slovakiaringen.
I hope we will be there. It was a smaller miracle that I could race, still I’m in need of sponsors. But this is an ”old record”, a permanent problem. I hope it will come together and I will be able to race for the championship title. I am thankful for everybody who helped me show that I didn’t forget how to drive. – Tim concluded.
The commentaries of the races:
Race 1.:
Race 2.:
Race 3.: