The FRL's TCR Cup series rolled into eastern Europe and the mean, grey streets of Prague. These cobblestone streets would prove to be meaner for some than others. The grid was set and the lights went out on a mad scramble for position in the first heat. Travis Billingsley in the #18 RS 3 started slightly farther back than in previous races, and as such, was trying to take care of his car and pick his way forward. However, in Turn 1, Paul Maestri in the #7 put his fender against the #18's rear quarter and sent Travis into a looping spin. As the field of 9 cars cleared the stricken driver, Travis got underway again and started the process all over again.
Up front, Ethan Maestri led the grid from the line, but by Turn 1, the #001 of Andrew Steppat made his move around the #3 car and set sail for another stage win. Behind them, the middle of the field was full of drivers making moves both forward and backwards. Ghabe Stouffer's race started gingerly, but he demonstrated that he had a knowledge of the track that would allow him to move up the grid, which he looked like he was going to do. But then the connection bug bit the #2 driver once again and forced a DNF for the stage. Seth Jensen had a clean start and parked his #6 car squarely in P3. He would run there unchallenged until Travis Billingsley caught up to him on lap four. Travis patiently worked to find a line around the #6 until the end of lap 5 when Seth careened off the inside wall in the final turn, allowing the #18 to squeeze past and into third. The race would be tight for P2 & P3 as Travis closed the gap to the #3's rear bumper, but time ran out before he could make the pass.
With the reverse grid set, Heat #2 started off toward Turn 1. But just before the first turn, Nicholas Hargrove, Seth Jensen, Tony Tyree and Paul Maestri would all four lock fenders and turn into the outside wall. Paul would end up with the worst of it by far. The sheer energy of the folding metal would force his Audi to bounce off the wall and into the air. Behind him, his MBR teammate Ethan would have nowhere to go and the #7 car spun headlong into the #3 car, damaging both badly. In Paul's case, the damage was catastrophic and he would be forced to withdraw from the race. Ethan and Nick Hargrove would both limp their damaged Audi's all the way around the 3 mile track to the pits.
For Travis and Andrew, they would manage to clear the tangle at the start cleanly and began moving up on the drastically reduced field of cars before them. Ghabe Stouffer started from the front and looked to open some space on the rest of the field, that was until Travis and Andrew caught him, relegating him to P3. Andrew would give a good chase, but in the end, Travis' #18 would not be denied a win.
On the night, Andrew takes the overall victory and another 50 point haul, extending his series lead to 15 over Travis. Several drivers tied their average positions, Ghabe Stouffer coming out the better with the fastest lap time of the group, followed by Seth Jensen, then Tony Tyree and Nicholas Hargrove. Blake Wild ran mid-filed at times in the event, but too often found the rock walls around the circuit did not agree with the sheet metal of the #9 Audi and pit stops would drop him back.
Series Points
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