Last year, Roberts Vītols won the Latvian Rallycross Championship title in the Super 1600 class, and also won a bronze medal in the British Rallycross Championship Junior class. Since last season, the team has been thinking about which path to choose in the sport?
Roberts Vītols’ career was initially built purposefully – if a guy has talent and success, then he should always move forward. His career achievements have been truly brilliant: championship titles in Beta (Mini) buggies, Latvian and Baltic karting, NEZ rallycross and Latvian rallycross championships, success also in NEZ crosskarts and the aforementioned achievements in Britain. Now, it seems, is the time when he should take the big step that Reinis Nitišs, brothers Jānis and Artis Baumaņi, and some of our own were once ready to take.
“Logic would dictate that the continuation should be in the European Super 1600 Championship. However, at this point there are considerations as to whether the figures that have to be paid for a relatively short season in the front-wheel drive class are appropriate, adequate.”
“It’s not that we’re not considering this option, but the European Championship is expensive,” says Roberts’ father and manager, Uģis Vītols. At the same time, when looking for alternatives to spend the season in a way that would be financially sensible and at the same time develop the driver’s career, there is no answer either. We have plans and ideas, but it’s difficult to say a definite “yes” to something. Interesting situation!”
Last year, after a season in Great Britain, Vītols went to France to participate in a road race with a Peugeot car. It was an unexpected turn for rallycross fans, but also understandable enough – for a former kart driver who is no stranger to the nuances of asphalt driving, the road is a direction to try. Are thoughts still wandering in the direction of the highway? Roberts himself does not rule out such a possibility: “The highway is tempting. Rallycross is interesting in that the rides are short, fast, dynamic, and everything happens quickly. But this is also a small minus.”
“I work on my physical fitness, I’m aware that I’m better than some of my competitors who pay less attention to it.”
“But in reality, I can’t use this advantage, because the moment I could demonstrate my superiority, the race ends. There is a greater element of endurance on the highway – both physically and in terms of concentration. If you are superior to your competitors in this element, the lap times will show it after the race. That’s why I’m not shy about looking for opportunities in this direction as well, I’m not shy about offering myself to highway people and teams as well. And I really believe that I can be competitive; my performance in France confirms that.”
So, at the moment, there is no final word from Vītoli on the full plan for this season, but the team is on its way to a decision. Roberts has conducted trials in rallycross, without giving up the idea of defending the champion status in the Latvian championship. Uģis is concerned about whether the Super 1600 class will be able to reach the quorum of participants in the stages, which this year has been increased to seven cars: “I really don’t understand why, at this moment, when the rallycross and also the autocross 1600 classes are having problems, this number needs to be increased by one more driver. What does that change? Who cares whether the championship title is achieved in a competition of six or seven drivers? I am very skeptical whether the class will gather this number regularly, but at the same time, the level of the three or four drivers who will fight for the title is very high.”
It should be noted here that the high level of the leaders is one of the main factors why the class has problems with mass appeal. Uģis Vītols is inclined to agree: “Yes, that could be true. It is clear that hardly any other driver could enter this class and immediately start winning in Latvia at the moment. The Super 1600 class itself is very expensive in its essence, plus the internal competition between the leaders. However, these costs are unfortunately objective; victories in this class cost what they cost.”
Maybe we should go to the Touringcar class, which theoretically and perhaps also practically could be cheaper? Vītols explains: “This idea has also been considered, but the so-called meat grinder plays a role here – in the Super 1600 class with four cars, sometimes the hitting and contacts go beyond the limits. Is it wise to go to the big class? I have the feeling that in other countries, rallycross is cleaner and people are more concerned with how much each contact costs and how much they will have to spend in the garage afterwards, restoring the equipment.”
In the first of several Biķernieki tests, Vītols showed lap times with his Peugeot that he himself was not satisfied with. Uģis explains this result with a smile: “Roberts drove past, there were no lap times. We started investigating why that was. We looked at the tires – the cords were already worn out! Before the tests, I pulled out the oldest tires from the stock at home, which seemed to have dried up from standing and were wearing out quickly.”
“I laughed to myself: “Old Vītol, what are you doing…” But seriously, it feels like the car got tired last year and all sorts of nuances are leaking out.”
“That’s why we’re going to work hard right now to get the car ready for the next training session on Saturday.”
Returning to the topic – what to do when everything you have started has been crowned with success, we come to a conclusion that has been around for several years now – the gap between national championships and a significant international program is very large, there is no middle ground. This nuance was also caught by Arnis Odiņš and Edijs Ošs, who tried the European Super 1600 class a few years ago (it is believed that both are still Vītolas’ competitors at the national level): what to do if the European program is too unrealistic, but you want to compare your strength with drivers from other countries? Even then, the champions admitted that an intermediate stage is missing. At one time, the NEZ Rallycross Championship served as such. No matter how disparaging comments were sometimes heard about the championship and its composition, it gave the drivers the opportunity to enjoy the atmosphere of at least an international competition, the process of going to the stages, meeting drivers and cars with whom they had not yet stood on the starting line together.
It is hoped that this year, despite the difficult calendar situation, the NEZ Baltic Rallycross series will be realized. In reality, it will be the Baltic Championship, but under the NEZ flag – due to certain formalities. An international series would be easily achievable at the same time. True, in the case of Vītols, a stage has also been passed – Roberts has already been the NEZ Rallycross champion.
It’s intriguing to watch the Vītoli family’s future choices – their success so far shows that in any case, the next step could be interesting!
