Palubicki Leads Every Lap at Horsma Raceway
Kuba Palubicki took his first Championship victory with an unbroken run at the head of the 29-lap race, beating Attila Diner and Ayrton Titos to the podium and moving into the Championship lead.
A race commanded from the front
Kuba Palubicki gave the second Championship race at Horsma Raceway - Full layout a clear centre of gravity. From the opening lap to the 29th, the Dutchman was the man in front, his BMW M3 E30 Sport Evolution setting the pace for the entire distance and never surrendering the advantage.
It was not a race decided by a last-lap exchange or a fortunate turn in traffic. Palubicki was credited as leader at every passage, and his authority was underlined by the fastest lap of 2:05.832. Over a field of 37 starters, he kept the BMW at the head through the changing pressures behind him and reached the flag for a first victory in this Championship.
Diner and Titos on the podium
Attila Diner's Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo Evoluzione S1 was Palubicki's nearest official pursuer, the German taking second place after completing the full 29 laps. Ayrton Titos brought the Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evolution II home third, giving the Spanish driver a deserved place on a varied touring-car podium.
Marc Orós made it two Mercedes in the first four, while Valentin Knechtel's Alfa Romeo finished fifth. DJMD19 was sixth in another Mercedes, ahead of Jaroslav Cerny's BMW. The leading group therefore reflected the broad character of the field: BMW, Alfa Romeo and Mercedes all represented at the sharp end, but none able to dislodge Palubicki once the race had settled into its rhythm.
The battle beyond the podium
There was rather more movement further down the order. Adam Keefe's Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV, SDH-M ~ HappyKojot's Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth, Jordi Sumoy's BMW and DJMD19 were closely gathered through the earlier part of the race, with places changing among a group that remained compressed for several laps.
The most durable thread involved Keefe and Sumoy. They ran in close company from the early stages through to the later middle portion of the race. Sumoy moved ahead late on, only for Keefe to reclaim the advantage on the final lap. Keefe accordingly finished eighth, while Sumoy was classified 11th after completing the full distance. HappyKojot completed the leading ten in the Sierra.
This was a race in which a settled leader did not make for a settled field. Behind the first three, the contest retained its touring-car character, with the smaller BMWs, the large Holden and the Sierra all finding their separate arguments across the 29 laps.
A new Championship summit
The consequence of Palubicki's victory was immediate. He took over the Championship lead from Adam Celárek and stands on 40 points after this race. Knechtel shares that total at the head of the table, with Diner and HappyKojot next on 37.
The points position carries the qualification imposed by the Championship's dropped-score rule, but its immediate meaning is plain enough: Palubicki's measured drive at Horsma Raceway - Full layout has put him at the front of the reckoning. Diner's second place keeps him within three points, while Titos's third has lifted him to 34, level with Celárek.
The value of control
There was no need for Palubicki to seek drama where none was required. His fastest lap showed the speed was present; his 29 successive laps at the front showed the greater virtue of preserving it. At a meeting where the order behind him was repeatedly reshaped, that combination made the difference.
Diner and Titos leave with substantial podium results, and the leading points positions remain closely packed. Yet the lasting image of this round is the BMW at the head of the field, there from the first circuit to the last.
For Palubicki, the win was more than a successful afternoon's work. It established a reference for the Championship's leading contenders: speed enough to take the lap record, and composure enough to turn it into a race led without interruption.