“I am absolutely thrilled with how quickly Dan adapted to the car. He got into form very quickly, and we raced really well,” praised his teammate Tomáš Miniberger, who alternated driving the GT2 with Skalický.
The first podium result of the weekend was achieved by the duo together. They secured it on Saturday in the one-hour endurance race. “Tomáš and I complemented each other well. He gave me many valuable tips on how to handle the car,” commented Daniel Skalický on their joint performance, also highlighting Tomáš Miniberger’s performance at the end of the race. “Thanks to his great driving on worn-out tires, we managed to secure third place. Václav Janík was closing in on us, and there was a risk of a direct battle. But Tomáš held his ground in very difficult conditions. It was very hot during the race,” he added.
The second bronze success came with the X-Bow GT2 in Sunday’s sprint. Miniberger brought it to the finish in third place, while Skalický finished fifth on Saturday.
Skalický, who has extensive experience in the GT3 class and was the overall ESET Cup champion in 2020 driving an Audi R8 LMS Ultra, was thrilled with the new car after the weekend. “I had a great time. I have to say it exceeded my expectations. I didn’t know what to expect; I hadn’t driven the car before. But I was pleasantly surprised. You can really feel the engine’s performance. The car worked great in terms of suspension as well. After several practice sessions, I got to know it and began to trust it. We improved throughout the weekend,” he couldn’t hide his joy.
This wasn’t Skalický’s first start with the RTR projects team. He had previously competed in endurance races with the Brno-based team in the 24H Series. The most significant moment of this collaboration came in 2019 at the 24-hour race in Barcelona, where the team achieved victory in the SP3 class with the KTM X-Bow GT4, and Skalický was part of the winning crew. After his appearance at Slovakia Ring, it’s possible that the collaboration will continue in the future.
“We’ve already arranged further testing, and we’re likely going to discuss the 2025 season. We also mentioned the possibility of participating in some endurance race, but we still need to finalize it,” Skalický outlines.
In the endurance race, the RTR projects team was also represented by Ondřej Rokos and Petr Lisa. They finished an excellent fifth with the KTM X-Bow GTX, especially considering it was only Rokos’s second ever car race.
“I’m satisfied. This time, I wanted to learn how to navigate well in heavy traffic and continue gaining experience for next season. Personally, I feel a lot of progress, and the team guys can see it too. I’m really grateful to them, as the car was perfectly prepared. Petr Lisa helped me both mentally and physically. We even managed to beat the lap time that we set as a goal for the weekend,” Rokos praised.
Rokos’s words are confirmed by Petr Lisa. He was primarily available as a coach to the rookie driver at the Slovakia Ring. “I think we did a great job. You could see it already in the first practice sessions when Ondra was setting great lap times. In the race, we tried to stay consistent, and we succeeded. This track is tough, but Ondra has again improved tremendously. That applies to both lap times and consistency. I take my hat off to him,” he praises his pupil.
A title for RTR customers
The KTM X-Bow was also visible at the Slovakia Ring thanks to the local Carin Racing team. In their colors, Maťo Homola and Viktor Mráz raced the GTX model. They brought home second place from the endurance race, which secured Mráz the title in the GTX class already in the penultimate event of the season. Homola excelled in the first sprint with the car, winning his class and even finishing third overall.
“We’re thrilled with the success of Carin Racing. It’s clear that our cars work well, and it’s a joy to race with them. Especially Maťo demonstrated the performance of the car in the sprint. He raced with a standard specification car and still managed to beat a Lamborghini Huracán that raced without restrictors. That clearly shows how fast the GTX is,” says Tomáš Miniberger.
The ESET Cup season culminates on the weekend of 7-8. September. It will be raced in Brno as part of the traditional Masaryk Racing Days event.
Foto: ESET Cup/Petr Frýba, RTR projects
