Rallycross: Vītols ends the English season with a victory, the road to France and the motorway! (PHOTO)

Roberts Vītols had an excellent final stage of the British Rallycross Championship Junior class, winning first place in the final and winning the decisive race. The Latvian won a bronze medal in the overall standings of the British Championship. Vītols’ next steps are on the motorway in France.

The last two rounds of the British Championship were held at Croft over the weekend. We already reported on a difficult race on Saturday, in which he achieved fourth place. On Sunday, in the ninth round of the championship, Roberts Vītols was excellent, achieving the highest success.

Unlike Saturday, today’s Croft track was dry and sunny, which on the one hand promised a less nervous race than the previous day, but also less familiar track nuances, as Roberts gained minimal, if any, experience in dry conditions on Saturday.

In the first two qualifying races, Vītols was second, which already at that time, due to the changing results of his competitors, put Robert in first place. The first starting position of the final was confirmed by a victory in the third qualification. In the final, Vītols was unbeatable, achieving a convincing victory, beating his closest follower, Patrick O`Donovan, by less than three seconds, and Saturday’s winner, Luke Constantine, by 3.6 seconds. This success convincingly allowed Robert to secure third position in the championship overall standings – the main threat in the fight for bronze, Ben Sayers, finished the race in fourth position.

The victory was received very emotionally in the Vītols family, as there is a possibility that this final race will put an end to his touring appearances in Great Britain, and perhaps his entire rallycross career. Although there are no exact plans for the next season, Vītols has started flirting with road racing and will already have his debut race in France next weekend. It should be recalled that a large part of Roberts’ career consists of the Latvian and Baltic karting championships, so asphalt driving is no stranger to the pilot.

On Thursday, Vītolas will have test drives with a TCR class car at the Nogaro track. The TCR class is currently a rapidly progressing international road racing category, forming the most prestigious FIA ​​championships for saloon cars, not counting individual national formats such as the German DTM, the British BTCC, and the like. Even after the collapse of the FIA ​​​​WTCC World Championship, it is the TCR cars that form the continuation of the championship – the FIA ​​​​World Cup.

On Friday, Robert will have to be on the track for familiarization and meetings. On Saturday, he will have to complete the Peugeot 208 Racing Cup series qualification, as well as four 25-minute races. In addition, in the afternoon, between the last races, he will also have to participate in the endurance race qualification. The endurance race itself – a six-hour battle, with three pilots in the team – will take place on Sunday morning. As Vītols admits: “I don’t know what my hands and head will say about all this, but I won’t have much time to rest!”

We will publish our impressions of the Croft race in the near future, whether the Nogaro weekend is a farewell to rallycross.