“This has been an incredibly successful weekend for us, capped with an excellent result. We demonstrated our speed and managed to handle the increased competition, which made for a race with more contact than usual. It was stressful but in the best possible way,” reflected the team’s executive director, Tomáš Fanta.
RTR Projects brought in seasoned driver Maťo Homola, who had already claimed first and third place in the season opener at Paul Ricard. He was joined by Petr Lisa, who competes for the team in the ESET Cup with the KTM X-BOW GTX. For Lisa, the challenge was significant—he had to adapt to an unfamiliar car and circuit. Securing third place marks one of the greatest achievements of his career.
“This was one of the most incredible races of my life. On an extraordinary and extremely demanding track, with an immense crowd of spectators,” said Lisa.
The team made waves during qualifying. Despite limited practice time, Petr Lisa initially clocked the sixth-fastest time in the field. Maťo Homola followed up with a second-place finish and a lap time of 2:17.275, the fastest ever recorded by a KTM car on the iconic Belgian circuit.
Their second-place qualifying position proved crucial for Saturday’s podium finish. Even so, Maťo Homola faced a tough challenge at the start, battling several aggressive rivals.
“I had a great start, with very quick reactions, but I ended up sandwiched between two cars, resulting in some contact. That slowed us down, and I spent the entire stint stuck behind a Mercedes,” Homola recounted. The Mercedes-Benz AMG cars had an advantage at Spa in terms of top speed.
“We were a second faster per lap, but we had no chance on the straights,” Homola added. He handed the car over to Petr Lisa in sixth position. After capitalizing on opponents’ mistakes, Lisa fought his way to an impressive third-place finish in the Pro-AM category.
“It’s a pity we couldn’t capitalize on the first race as well. We clearly had podium potential,” remarked Tomáš Fanta. Their hopes in the earlier race were crushed by a faulty axle shortly after the driver change, forcing them to forfeit.
For the team, returning to the podium at Spa-Francorchamps reaffirms their place among the elite in the GT2 European Series. This marks the third podium finish for RTR Projects this season.
