Montenegrin team led by Cetinje Matija Marković triumphed at the recently held FIA South East Europe 6h of Hungaroring. In the competition of 22 crews from 11 European countries, the team of the Union of Electronic Sports of Montenegro (SESCG), consisting of Matija Marković (captain), Florian Safarowsky i Nils Matich, won first place after an exciting six hours of driving on the Assetto Corsa Competizione platform. This race was held under the auspices of the FIA and the Croatian Auto and Karting Association, and was held in the PISMO Powered by A1 Business Incubator building in Novska, Croatia.
"I received the invitation to the race the Sunday before it and I invited my colleagues from Germany to drive with me, which they gladly accepted. We had little time to prepare for this venture, only five days before the race we were actively preparing, working on the car setup for the qualifications and the race, they were preparing for the rainy conditions that were announced and preparing the strategy," reveals Marković in an interview with "Vijesti".
The race was organized on the Hungaroring track, with the top production of SIMmark, while the qualifications already hinted at the success of the Montenegrin team. Marković excelled by setting the fastest time (1:42.312), thus securing pole position ahead of the Hungarian driver Adam Pinczes. In a strategically perfectly executed race, our team maintained its dominance thanks to carefully designed pit strategies, which enabled a continuous increase in the advantage over the competition.
"Our strategy was, as we are not active in the Assetto Corsa Competizione simulation, to have a clean race without incidents, because we thought we did not have the speed to compete for Top3, which was our goal. However, as the race approached we made a very balanced setup and we felt that we could threaten the fastest", Marković recalls how the preparations went and how they devised a strategy for a good result.
After 205 laps, the Montenegrin crew crossed the finish line with an impressive 30-second advantage over the Croatian national champions. Matija Skuljaka i Sanel Tadić, while the third place was taken by Adam Pinczes, Gabor Sarosi i Milos Stamenkovic.
Our team immediately agreed on the driving schedule, as well as the time that each person should spend on the virtual track. Although the race lasted six hours, there was no rest for those who were not behind the wheel. Namely, they functioned as a team all the time and encouraged and helped each other.
"I drove the qualifying as the fastest of the three of us and I managed to qualify on pole position in very serious competition and I felt I had the speed to get away at the start and I chose a more aggressive strategy with less fuel. While I was driving Florian and Nils Namely, in these kinds of races, the driver needs the help of a spotter during the race in order to be as familiar as possible with the situation on the track around it, the weather conditions, the strategy, the drivers that we are arriving for circle, which are under blue flags, and thus we make it easier for each other," explains Marković.
The organization at the world level, under the auspices of FIA, HAKS and SIMmark, additionally contributed to the success of this race, which will be remembered as a great moment for Montenegrin electronic sports. However, even though it is a simulation and everything takes place on a virtual track, our drivers at a certain point had difficulties which they successfully dealt with.
"When I handed over the car to Florian, he drove two stints in a row. I handed over the car to him with a 14-second gap, and it was important that our crew in his departure maintained that gap without incident and that we exited that part of the race calmly without problems, which Florian did it with superb driving, and even increased the lead and handed over the car to Nils by a huge margin Nils loses feedback on the steering wheel and is left without any feeling and the stint that lasted over an hour is literally driven by heart. In that unfortunate situation, we lost over 30 seconds behind the competition, but Nils managed to stay on the track in those problems and even in position number one. I had a big gap that we gained and without pressure I kept the first place and brought us a victory that we did not expect. In the end it turned out that we had an incredible speed that we would constantly maintain without pressure won," Marković proudly points out and does not hide that it was not easy to be at the level for six hours and maintain mental and physical condition during the entire competition.
"In terms of physical and mental fitness, sitting in a racing simulator and racing seat for so long is difficult. As time goes by, you feel discomfort. However, the bigger challenge is to be mentally present and focused 100 percent on the driving and the events on the track, and that requires a lot preparation, because one moment out of focus can bring the end of the race for which we have been preparing for a long time," emphasizes Marković.
The first three teams were awarded a trip to the spring, where they will have the opportunity to test racing cars at the Grobnik track near Rijeka. When asked how this test drive will differ compared to the simulation on the Assetto Corsa Competizione platform and whether it will bring them more adrenaline, Marković says:
"As a reward, we got the opportunity to test real racing cars on a top track like Grobnik. Personally, I have never driven a real car with racing specifications and it will be a dream come true for me. I don't know what to expect, because for me it will be a new experience, but I will prepare on the simulator, and I hope to be able to transfer that experience to the right track and achieve a good result," Marković is excited, stressing that he owes a great deal of gratitude to the Union of Electronic Sports of Montenegro.
"Without their support, as well as their support Filip Šoć we wouldn't get the chance to participate in this competition. Also, I would like to thank the FIA, HAKS and SIMmark who enabled us as the champions of Southeast Europe to realize our dream and I would like to praise the fantastic organization from the beginning to the end of the event itself, which was perfect. With this event, colleagues from Croatia showed that they are doing work at a high level, and I hope that it will spread to the entire Balkans and that e-sport races, like the real ones, will rise day by day, because we, after all, racing countries that produced great champions and drivers," Marković concludes.
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