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Mat’o Homola delighted after his first win with Opel at Spa

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Mat’o Homola took his first win since joining the DG Sport Compétition squad at Spa-Francorchamps in Sprint Race 3, in a one-off appearance in the TCR Benelux series, holding off the Audi of Sheldon van der Linde and the WRT Volkswagen of Rob Huff.

The Slovakian looked set to dominate the weekend, after taking pole position by more than half a second on Saturday, but an electrical problem at the start saw him return to the pits in the qualifying long race.

When the issue was resolved, both he and team-mate Frédéric Caprasse set times fast enough to score pole for each of their respective sprint races.

While Caprasse would finish fourth in both races, in part due to a jump start penalty in his first race, Homola would romp to victory in Race 3, while contact with Rob Huff’s Golf GTI on the first lap would see him retire.

“I did a really good start and had an advantage over the guys behind me, so I wanted to get a good gap and then control it as I knew the second race would be hard on the tyres,” said Homola to TouringCarTimes.

“I tried to manage my tyres and not destroy them in the first race, so I didn’t push so hard in the middle of the race, but when I saw that Sheldon had passed Rob, I knew he would be fast so I tried to push as well. At the end, it was a really nice fight for the spectators and for us.”

In the second race, Homola lasted less than a lap after a close fight with Huff throughout the first lap, holding off the Volkswagen through Eau Rouge.

“I had a good start, but I think Rob had a much better start. I managed to go through La Source and Eau Rouge in first place, but then everyone caught up to me at the Kennel Straight. I went wide in the Esses, and when I came back on the track I hit Rob, and then there was something broken after the contact, so that was a pity, but that’s motorsport.

“Overall, I really enjoyed the whole race weekend,” he added. “I have to say thanks to DG Sport and Opel Motorsport that we managed not to only win qualifying but win the race. We have some things we have to solve for when we’re here next (for TCR International), but it’s been good preparation here in TCR Benelux.”