ROK CUP Romania: Everything will be decided in the final!

The fourth round of the Romanian season took place last weekend at Prejmer Raceway and, even though some leaders took a further step towards the crown, no championship battle has been decided before the final weekend.

Patrick Săliștean reached 11 victories out of 12 possible in the Micro ROK category following the Prejmer round and his advance is almost decisive at the moment: 69 points with 75 still up for grabs. The Sunday morning heat was essential, where the contact between Săliștean and his title opponent, Răzvan Ciobanu, had serious consequences for the pursuer. The winner was found guilty, but he had built a bigger lead than the three-second penalty and thus remained with the victory. Particularly close is the three-way battle for third position in the overall standings, where Robert Pulbere was overtaken by Ioan Alexandru Buturean and Raul Teodor Secară, but only 5 points separate the three. The Micro ROK Ladies trophy is more and more disputed, after Carla Maria Roșu defeated Antonia Vidican in all three races and came close to only 4 points.

Tudor Jercan had a perfect round at Prejmer, managing to prevail in all three rounds to reach a total of 9 victories out of 12 possible in the Mini ROK Category. From a mathematical point of view, David Ciureanu is the only rival who can still claim the title, but with a deficit of 59 points his hopes could be dashed as early as the first race of the final weekend. However, the driver who comes strong before this season finale is Alexandru Rad, who finished two heats in second place and hopes to finish the championship in the Top 3. Sonia Crivoiruc needs a few more points to claim the Mini ROK Ladies trophy in front of Ruxandra Cozma.

The disqualification of Kevin Vlăsceanu from Saturday's heats was an alarm signal for the leader of the Junior ROK category. He came to Prejmer with a considerable advance over Luca Paul Viișoreanu, but this was the first weekend in which he did not respond to the pace of his rival, who celebrated all three wins. The difference between the two is now insignificant - only 3.5 points ahead of the decisive weekend. Equally close is the fight for third position in the overall standings, where Alexandru Boltașu compensated the deficit of the absence from the first stage and passed in front of Zoe Florescu-Potolea by just one point.

Costin Tudor Ion continued his perfect course on the third track in a row in Senior ROK, reaching an impressive series of 10 consecutive victories. This time, Andrew Denis Boriceanu was close to Ion and fought hard, but each time he finished in second place. The difference between the two amounts to 60 points, which means Ion only needs a podium in the first leg of the final stage to mathematically secure the title. Within the Gold subcategory, reserved for racers over 35 years old, the balance between Bogdan Irimia and Bogdan Ionescu was broken due to the absence of the latter. Like Costin Tudor Ion, Bogdan Irimia can celebrate the title at the end of Saturday's heat of the decisive round.