Over 70 drivers flocked to Slovakia from across Europe to fight for the double points on offer at the Federal Tyres King of Europe Grand Final. It was also an opportunity for drivers and fans to see what’s in store for 2017 - with the launch of what is quite possibly the most exciting calendar in the series history.
Remmo Niezen, Andras Molnar and Adam Kerenyi occupied the Top 3 Pro Series positions going into the event, with a total of 6 potential Champions fighting for the chance to take the coveted top spot.
Sadly, for Adam Kerenyi, his quest for the Championship was ended early. After fitting a new 2JZ engine to his BMW E46 after a failure in Spain, he once again fell victim to engine troubles which rendered him out of the running.
There would be no such problems for Team Driftbrothers, as Joe and Eli occupied the top two spots in the qualification rankings after extremely impressive runs.
Szilvester Gyorgy made his comeback to the series at the previous round in Germany, but car issues led to an early ending to his weekend. He was determined to fight back this weekend, nailing third place in qualifications.
Fourth place would be occupied by last years winner Bartek Solarski, with fellow Polish driver Marek Wartalowicz in fifth with his infamous chop-top BMW E21 build.
Remmo Niezen occupied sixth place with series contender Andras Molnar in ninth, handing 8 valuable points to Remmo and 2 to Molnar in the chase for the title.
It would be all to play for as the drivers prepared their cars for the final challenge of the season. With one of the strongest Top 32 line-ups of the season in both the Pro and Pro2 series, none of the three titles were any closer to a conclusion.
As the Pro2 series got underway, with a total of ten potential winners were in the running for the top three spots on the overall podium. Early upsets would include Swiss driver Arnaud Emery who had occupied fourth place in the rankings going into the final.
Silvano Moreira, who occupied the top place in the rankings going into the event faced his team-mate Hugo Goncalves who was in third. After a close fought battle between the two drivers, it would end Moreira's title hopes as Goncalves progressed.
Current Champion Pavlin Penev's hopes would also be shattered in the Top 8, as he fell victim to Bartek Rosiak.
Sebastian Matuszewski's fine form continued as he found himself up against Clemens Kauderer in the Top4. However, an early mistake from Matuszewski allowed Kauderer to land his place in the final once again, fresh off his win in Germany.
Bartek Rosiak faced another person in the running for the title, Ene Sorin, but luck wouldn't be on Sorin's side as Rosiak progressed to the final.
In the small final, Matuszewski took the early advantage against Ene Sorin, but a mistake from Matuszewski in his chase run handed the third podium spot to Sorin.
Bartek Rosiak faced Kauderer in the final battle, and after a close fought battle the judges handed a 6-4, 6-4 scoring in Rosiak's favour, handing him his first Pro2 win.
With the final rankings decided, Sebastian Matuszewski becomes the new Federal Tyres King of Europe Pro2 series Champion, with Ene Sorin in second and Clemens Kauderer in third. This year has seen the series progress leaps and bounds, with huge amounts of talent coming through the ranks.
As the Queen of Europe series got underway, Kristalina Stefanova and Danielle Murphy would defeat Aleksandra Fijal and Michaela Sacherova.
Stefanova would then go on to face the top qualifier, who remains undefeated so far in the season, Karolina Pilarczyk. Karolina's early advantage allowed her to once again into the final!
With the score 8-2 between Corinna Graff and Danielle Murphy in their first run, Danielle needed to desperately make up the points if she was to make the final. Pushing as hard as she could, a mistake handed a 10-0 to Graff, allowing her to face Pilarczyk in the final.
In the small final, Murphy, who has driven a different car each round this year, managed to clinch the third place from Stefanova.
In the final, it would leave Pilarczyk and Graff to fight it out, with Pilarczyk desperate to keep her 100% win record throughout the season. Despite two close battles going to a one-more-time, she would eventually make no mistake as she once again takes the win.
There was no question that Karolina would take the top spot in the overall rankings and take the Queen of Europe title for the first time. Danielle Murphy's hard-fought year earned her second place, with Corinna Graff in third.
Next up would be the main event - it would be the all-important Top 32 battles which would decide the series.
Much to everyone’s surprise, series leader Remmo Niezen took an early exit in the Top 16 to Alois Pamper, which left him anxiously watching how for Andras Molnar would progress to potentially steal the Championship.
With Molnar eventually falling victim to top qualifier Joe Hountondji the Top 8, it would leave Remmo to work out whether he'd done enough to take advantage of the double points on offer in the Championship standings.
As the fight continued, it would see Szilveszter Gyorgy, who had defeated Ciortan and Pamper, up against previous Slovakia Ring winner Bartosz Stolarski in the small final. Despite an impressive return to the series from Gyorgy, Stolarski would make no mistake to secure his spot on the podium once again.
After once again winning qualification, Joe Hountondji’s fine form would continue - surpassing previous Champion Norbert Kovacik, ending Andras Molnar's title hopes and beating last years Slovakia Ring winner Bartosz Stolarski to hand him a place in the final! No-one would have expected to see him meet Bulgarian driver Krasimir Stefanov, who had shown great form throughout the weekend!
After making no mistakes in the final battle, Joe Hountondji would once again secure the top spot, handing him his second win of the season and fifth place overall.
As the final results came in, it would be confirmed that Remmo Niezen’s incredible consistency throughout the year had paid off as he landed the top spot in the Championship, becoming the new King of Europe! Andras Molnar took a well-deserved second place after an impressive first season in his new 1JZ S13 build. Adam Kerenyi would settle for third after car issues plagued his season, but he’ll undoubtedly be fighting for the Championship again next year.
Congratulations to all our winners this year, especially Remmo Niezen in his first ever full King of Europe season, where he also took another win alongside Team Driftbrothers as the 'Falken Brothers' lifted the team trophy.
Yet another win, and another trophy in the cabinet for Remmo would see him lift the Motul Technical Challenge trophy.
Earning a well-deserved top spot, Andras Molnar would take the MyWay Drift School Rookie Challenge trophy.
Click here for the official event video
Click here for the ProSeries photo gallery
Click here for the Pro2/QOE photo gallery
This concludes the 2016 King of Europe season, but the year is far from over yet! In less than two weeks we head to South America, where the finest drivers from around the world go head-to-head in the Federal Tyres King of Nations Grand Final in Brazil!
