Jorden Dolischka twice in the Top-10 in TCR Eastern Europe

Jorden Dolischka had her most successful weekend in the TCR Eastern Europe series to date, achieving her highest points haul and two consecutive top-ten finishes at Most, including a personal-best-equalling ninth place, after starting on pole in Race 2 and demonstrating impressive racecraft throughout the event.

Jorden Dolischka enjoyed her best weekend in TCR Eastern Europe at Most, Czech Republic, where she scored her highest haul of point, equalling her best result of ninth and claiming her third consecutive top ten in the series - having also battled at the front following a reverse grid pole in race 2.

The Austrian racer is contesting her rookie season in touring cars, having previously raced in single seaters, as well as in high level karting competitions around Europe. Jorden, who started racing at 8 years of age, was also part of the 2022 driver selection for the all-female W Series championship and made it to the on-track assessment in Arizona, where she drove the Ligier F4 car.

In 2024, however, Dolischka is tackling a learning-oriented season, as she joined Mertel Motorsport for her rookie campaign in TCR with no prior experience of touring cars - thus targeting continuous progress at every round as she discover the secrets of the Honda Civic Type R TCR FK7 one session at a time.

Dolischka in fact competed in just one round of the Suzuki Cup before being scouted by the German team for the 2024 TCR Eastern Europe, which she started at Balaton Park Circuit, Hungary, with no testing. A personal best of eleventh followed on her home track at Red Bull Ring, then she bounced back from a retirement in race 1 at Slovakiaring with her first point-scoring result - a ninth place in the third round of the championship.

Dolischka thus aimed to build on these steady improvements as she headed to Most for round 4 of the season - and the pre-event testing highlighted more performance progress, as she ran eighth fastest in the official practice, with a 2:00.320 lap.

Despite challenges of mixed weather, the Mertel Motorsport driver had a positive qualifying: she clocked a 2:03.312 on her final run which put her #10 Honda Civic ninth on the starting grid - and second among the Junior class entries.

Mato Homola secured pole position, a little over one tenth ahead of Giacomo Ghermandi and Adam Kout - in a closely contested session which set the tone for very spectacular races at the Czech racetrack.

Starting from P9, Dolischka witnessed a chaotic start with multiple contacts in turn 1, where Ghermandi hit Homola, who went straight into the runoff, and David Kajaia also went off. Jorden lost one position off the line, then found herself going deep at turn 1 amidst the chaos. Mato Homola had nevertheless rejoined in the lead, but Ghermandi was off in the gravel soon after, opening the door for Kout and Kircher.

Dolischka fell to P11 but remained in the race: albeit 20 seconds behind, she tried to catch up with Smejkal after the first lap incident. Meanwhile, Ghermandi kept dropping down the order after the collision at the start, falling to 10th by lap 6. Jorden made up ground and closed in on Ghermandi, getting five seconds behind.

Dolischka was running almost two seconds quicker than the Italian - and caught him on lap 9, eventually making a move stick one lap later. Once ahead, she found more pace and ran in 1:44, setting her personal best on lap 14 and improving significantly in the final part of the race, although she now had a 17-second gap to Smejkal.

She took the chequered flag in P10 in Race 1, overcoming an unfortunate start and showing positive improvement throughout the race. Mato Homola secured victory, holding off Adam Kout all race, while Rene Kircher took third after a good defense from Attila Bucsi.

Dolischka started from reverse grid pole in Race 2 on Sunday, presenting a great opportunity for the Austrian to achieve a new personal best. The morning rain gave way to sunshine just ahead of Race 2.

Smejkal had a great launch and took the lead, while Jorden, after an initial difficult getaway, defended well from Ivars Vallers as they went side by side into T1, successfully holding off the #121 Audi. She maintained second position, but Adam Kout also made progress, passing both Dolischka and Smejkal by the end of the first lap.

Completing the first lap in third, Dolischka was the protagonist of a spectacular pass for second into turn one after a very late braking - with Smejkal spinning out while trying to defend. However, the next few corners were chaotic, and Dolischka was shuffled down to ninth just before the safety car was deployed for the stranded cars of Smejkal and Vallers.

The recovery proved lengthier, and the race was red-flagged with 16 minutes to go due to required barrier repairs at the final corner. The action resumed behind the safety car, and when the green flag waved, Adam Kout accelerated away, retaining the lead from Cizek and Knego.

Dolischka executed another late move into turn one and moved up to eighth over Jiří Zbožínek, although the two traded positions again. The pace car was deployed again one lap later, as Giacomo Ghermandi's Honda Civic TCR came to a halt with front suspension damage.

With 2 minutes left on the clock at the restart, drivers had two more racing laps to go. Dolischka kept it clean into turn one and aimed to capitalize on attrition ahead, but while she remained just behind Kircher and Zbožínek, no gaps opened in the closing minutes. Adam Kout took his first victory of the season on his home track, ahead of Cizek and Knego.

With a ninth-place finish, Jorden Dolischka matched her personal best in the series and enjoyed her most productive weekend to date, scoring back-to-back top-ten finishes and securing her highest points haul so far.

She will aim to maintain momentum and continue improving at the next round, as TCR Eastern Europe heads to Brno Circuit on 7-8 September for the penultimate double-header of the season.