IMO - TTM 2026 - R4: Imola 1992

A first victory with immediate consequence

Jaroslav Cerny chose a useful moment to open his winning account. Starting from pole position in the Nissan Skyline R32, he led at the end of every one of the 33 laps and beat Jayden HW's Holden VL Commodore by 3.540 seconds. He also set the fastest lap, in 1:50.478. Taken together, these were the credentials of a thoroughly earned victory, though the Holden's presence prevented the result from becoming a solitary Nissan affair.

The first two places retained the same occupants throughout the race. Jayden started second and held that position at every lap's end, his notably regular pace giving the pursuit a steady character. Their contest included contact in the Tosa section, but the eventual order remained Cerny ahead of the Australian.

For Cerny, the significance extended well beyond the day's result. He had arrived fifth in the Championship, sharing that place on points. He left as its leader. Behind the two front-runners, meanwhile, the remaining podium position required a rather less orderly settlement.

Masse earns the third place

Florian Masse's Ford Sierra RS500, Attila Diner's Audi V8 quattro and Adam Celárek's Holden VL Commodore supplied the race's most persistent contest. From the third lap through the penultimate circuit, the three remained covered by less than five seconds. Their proximity gave third place a continuing importance quite apart from the Championship interests involved.

Diner made the strongest initial progress, rising from sixth on the grid to third by the end of the opening lap. Celárek occupied fourth, with Masse advancing from seventh to fifth during the first two laps. The Frenchman moved ahead of Celárek on lap eight and then confronted Diner for the podium place.

The ninth lap brought a particularly brisk exchange. Masse passed the Audi in the Tosa section; Diner immediately reclaimed third there, only for Masse to move ahead again shortly afterwards. The Sierra held the advantage at the end of the lap, with Celárek now fourth and Diner fifth.

That settled the identity of the third-placed man, but not the character of his afternoon. Masse and Celárek ran within two seconds of one another over a 23-lap spell, and the wider three-car contest continued deep into the race. Diner moved back ahead of Celárek on lap 27. Masse finished third, Diner fourth and Celárek fifth, the Sierra's climb from the fourth row rewarded with a podium and valuable Championship ground.

Places briefly won

Further back, Kuba Palubicki twice found that gaining a place was only the beginning of the business. His Nissan Skyline R32 had risen from twelfth on the grid to fifth at the end of the opening lap, but the later exchanges proved less profitable.

On lap 22 he passed Valentin Knechtel's Audi V8 quattro for seventh in the Villeneuve section. The advantage was short-lived. Palubicki went off the road in the Tosa section, and Knechtel moved back ahead there moments later. Knechtel retained seventh in the final result.

Palubicki subsequently disputed ninth with NeckR888's Holden VL Commodore. On lap 27 the Nissan moved ahead in the Variante Bassa section; an excursion by Palubicki in that same section followed, and NeckR888 then recovered the place. The Holden finished ninth and the Nissan tenth. These were brief, distinct exchanges rather than one uninterrupted duel, but they gave the lower reaches of the top ten some pointed action.

Wu's steady advance

Nick Wu's Holden VL Commodore made one of the more substantial advances through the field. From 29th on the grid, Wu was already 21st after the opening lap and had reached seventeenth by the end of the fourth. By lap seven he was fifteenth, with the greater part of the race still to run.

Thereafter his progress was more measured. He spent much of the middle distance around fourteenth and fifteenth before moving into thirteenth in the latter part of the race. Twelfth followed on lap 29, and there he finished after completing all 33 laps. The overall gain of seventeen places made this a worthwhile result well outside the podium contest.

One point at the head

With the Championship's discarded result taken into account, Cerny now has 105 points. Celárek and Masse share second place on 104. Thus the winner's first success has displaced Celárek from the lead, while Masse's hard-earned third place has brought him level with the former leader.

The narrowness of that position gives proper weight to the contest behind the winning Nissan. Masse gained more than a podium by keeping the Sierra ahead, and Celárek's late loss of fourth to Diner formed part of an afternoon in which his Championship advantage disappeared. Four of the six rounds are now complete.