Tamas Pal Kiss missed another podium for Zele Racing in race one of the AutoGP season closer due to a slow spinning wheel gun – teammate Josef Kral suffered from a clutch problem
The Brno event, less than 50 kms away from the Austrian border, is Zele Racing’s “foster home race” and especially Tamas Kiss showed incredible speed in Saturday’s event. The Hungarian got quicker and quicker, the longer the race went on for and recorded the fastest timed lap.
However, he would certainly have preferred to also pocket “third place, which was possible. But at his pitstop the wheel gun didn’t work properly, so we lost a lot of time”, team boss Michael Zele said.
Kiss finished 5th in the end, but was content with both the car and his pace. “It was one of the best races in my life. I really enjoyed chasing the pack out there today. The car was brilliant and I was very fast. Without the pitstop problem, I would have been on the podium.”
Czech Josef Kral, who gave his debut in the AutoGP World Series, finished an unlucky 15th after his clutch refused to work at the pitstop. The 23-year-old, who is a previous race winner in the GP2 Series, was catching up quickly in the race and on his way to an 8th place finish, before the clutch mishap.
“It’s a pity for Josef, because he has been gradually improving over the weekend. His lap times were good and finishing eighth, he would have started from Pole on Sunday. Looks like there was an air-lock in the clutch System, that´s why the engine stalled when he pitted”, Zele showed his disappointment.
