Roberts Vitols claims another victory in the second day of the Pembrey

Latvian rallycross driver Roberts Vītols has finished the British Championship weekend in Pembrokeshire perfectly, taking home two winner’s cups – a victory in both the third round of the championship on Saturday and the fourth round of the series on Sunday. Sunday’s success came in an incomparably more dramatic way. On Sunday, the championship participants had to drive the track in the opposite direction compared to Saturday. This did not have a negative impact on Robert’s performance, but it did change the balance of power between the main competitors. Overall leader Luke Constantine regained speed on the track from the first laps, finishing only third on Saturday. Luke dominated qualifying – in the first race he was still third behind Vītols and Tom Ovenden, but in the other two races he achieved victories. Meanwhile, Robert’s pace seemed to have faded – the victory was followed by second and third places in the qualifying races. The team was also forced to change the car’s gearbox. The driver’s camp admitted that the two-day racing marathon was starting to tire Robert. However, in the final, Vītols did what seemed impossible at the time – playing out Joker’s strategies right up to the last lap, Roberts and Constantine had a tense final, fighting for victory. At the finish, Vītols was ahead of his competitor by a hair’s breadth, winning first place. However, this race did not end there for either Robert or Constantine. Immediately after the finish, the judges gave both of them a 15-second penalty for not respecting the track boundaries – in the heat of the battle, both of them, according to the judges, had gained an unauthorized advantage by incorrectly following the track. Such a penalty threw both of them to the last places – seventh and eighth, but the victory would go to Patrick O’Donovan, who finished third. Both Vītols and Constantine filed an appeal against this decision. The process took a very long time, because, unlike the previous stages, this time the competition control room was bustling with computers, as athletes from other classes also came to explain and justify what they had done/not done. After two hours, Roberts Vītols was again the winner of this stage, because the judges had canceled the penalty. However, another half an hour later, the celebrations were postponed again, because a report had been received about an incident on the track. In the first turn, someone rammed Roberts’ car, as a result of which Vītols flew into the back of Constantine’s car, formally attempting to knock him out. The judges watched the video from Roberts’ car and verbally acknowledged that Vītols’ version of what happened was correct and that no penalty was due. Later, this was also officially recognized. Roberts’ victory was finally secure, and although Constantine’s team tried to file a protest about another episode in the final, it was not accepted, because the time for submitting protests had expired. Despite a productive weekend, Roberts Vītols is still in third place in the overall standings, accumulating 104 points. Constantin is in the lead with 112, O’Donovan – 106. The end of the season is shaping up to be particularly tense, although there are still five rounds left in the championship.