Rallycross: Vītols receives encouragement from the English team

Latvian rallycross driver Roberts Vītols received encouragement from his Peter Gwynne Motorsport team after finishing third in the first round of the British Rallycross Championship on Sunday.

Although Roberts understands with his mind that he has achieved a high result, with his emotions, the driver is experiencing that victory in the British Championship Junior class was so close, but did not materialize. Realizing this, the team representative and Vītoli contact person, Sara Watson, sent encouragement to the Latvian driver: “Robert, it was great to see you back in our group, and you did really well! You have to remember that all the drivers, except for Tom [Ovenden] and Alfie [Porter], had previously driven on this track, which is very, very technical. So it is clear that your performance was very, very good. Since our cars are all the same, every mistake was costly. Although it is sometimes frustrating, it develops you, and you learn to properly use the power of the car and the correct track lines. These races are like good lessons for the future in life, looking for the way to the top. Most of our Swift champions have achieved major championship titles later in their careers. So get ready, the next step is the Leadenhill race!”

We already reported that Latvian rallycross driver Roberts Vītols won third place in the MSA British Rallycross Championship Junior class at Silverstone on Sunday. The Provento Racing team driver lost to the first-place winner by only 0.6 seconds in a fierce battle for victory.

Roberts Vītols joined the leaders early in the race, showing the best result in the practice runs, reaching third place behind Patrick O’Donovan and Luke Constantine. Vītols finished second behind Constantine in the remaining two qualifying runs, earning him the second starting spot in the final.

In the final race, it was not known until the last moment who would win in the fierce competition. This was largely dictated by O`Donovan, who chose to ride the Joker lap at the last possible moment. When the leader returned to the main track, the trio were practically next to each other. At the finish, Constantine won, beating O`Donovan by 0.038 seconds, while Vītols was third, losing 0.6 seconds to the leader.

Although the result achieved in the fierce competition is commendable, 17-year-old Roberts Vītols admitted after the finish that he was not completely satisfied with what he had achieved: “Whatever my emotions were after the finish, I have to admit that on this day, on this track, I am in the position I deserved. The two guys who finished in front were very strong and had brilliant races. During the day, I could not cope with two turns on the unfamiliar track. I seem to have solved one corner right during the final, but another one remained a puzzle for me, where I could not find either the correct car settings or the correct way of starting. I have not yet learned to define for the team after the race exactly what and how the car was doing on the respective track section. But that is also my goal when starting in the British Championship — to learn. This one race was a remarkable school of how to work with a little-known car, tires, and other nuances on a track that is very complex from the driver’s and the settings point of view. I take from this day, “I will evaluate the good, the bad, and I will fight on!”

Provento Racing team manager Uģis Vītols expresses satisfaction with his son’s convincing progress throughout the day: “We got what we wanted most – a wild school on a particularly technical and challenging track. And the fact that Roberts sat in a strange car in the morning, but fought for victory in the evening, is special. However, he did not know these tires, their behavior, but the car we trained with in Latvia has a larger engine capacity, and accordingly, a different gearbox. We got a school and a very valuable experience. I think that these three cars will show more than one special fight during the season!”

The next round of the British Rallycross Championship will take place on Easter Monday, April 22nd, at the Lydden Hill circuit.