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Tohills form was not a flash in the pan.  In the first heat Kotek pulled clear of Tohill after some paint swoping in the opening lap.  But, Tohill didn’t rest on his laurels.  For the remainder of the qualifying heat Tohill slowly reduced the gap with Kotek to finish right on his fellow drivers rear bumper as they crossed the finish line.  In the second qualifying heat Tohill lined up against the 2006 European champ Roman Castoral.  There was a tight tussle at the first corner with Castoral just coming off best.  Again, Tohill didn’t give up and was visibly faster than Castoral; the Irishman pushed the Czech driver around the circuit but had to make do with another close second.  It was obvious overtaking was becoming an issue around the Autodrom and the Czech drivers seem to have all angles covered.  But Castoral was visibly out of breath after this encounter, shaking his head with frustration was the first sign that Tohill had the local drivers under pressure.

Tohills strong qualifying heats meant he automatically qualified for the A final.  Tohill lined up on the second row behind Kotek & Castoral.  Tohill commented before the final “I know I can beat these guys now, I just need to get a good start, get out front and get the head down, who knows what could happen between the others as they scrap for national pride?”   The start of the A Final was a tense build up with Kotek initially jump starting.  In the second start Tohill made an exceptional start, he drove around the outside of everyone at the first corner and exited side by side with Kotek.  Kotek gave Tohill a shove which meant the Irishman had to settle back for second place.  But then halfway through the first lap Tohill got a major shove with an audacious move from Castoral.  This caused the Irish man to run wide in the loose section allowing Castoral & Smetana slip through.  The Irishman set about re-catching the Czech drivers.  This is exactly what he did and for the final couple of laps Tohill was knocking on the door of Smetana & Castoral but, with no way through the Irishman had to settle for fourth place.

Tohill commented “Fourth place is a good result but it is also a frustrating result as our pace was really, really strong.  We didn’t expect to have pace here as it is a track so well known to a lot of my main competitors.  But, it’s fast and flowing nature suited my driving style and the Honda.  We will no longer play the long game in the championship.  Now we will go for outright victories as I feel we have the pace.  Poland will be really difficult as again it’s a circuit where the Czech drivers compete in their national championship.  The final round in Germany will be our best opportunity for a victory as the circuit will not be as well known to the Czech drivers as normal.  We promise some hard fights before the end of the year.  It’s time to start giving these guys a taste of their own medicine!”

The next round in Poland will be tough for Tohill as his entire main championship rivals race in Słomczyn on a regular basis.   This is an extremely low grip, high speed circuit which always provides knife edge racing and big crowds.  Perhaps the Irishman can muster up some support from Polish fans who have returned from Ireland.      

Christopher Evans from Delgany (Opel Astra) was the only other Irish driver represented in Czech Republic. His run of good form came to an end in the first heat on Saturday as he experienced terminal engine failure.