Vitols concludes RallyX season with victory in Germany, RallyX South title and fully funded FC2 prize drive

Provento Racing Team driver Roberts Vitols concluded his RallyX season with another victory at the Estering circuit in Germany. The result secured the RallyX South Supercar Lites title and confirmed the season’s primary objective – a fully funded FC2 drive at the RallyX Global Final in Portugal.

Vitols showed strong pace from the beginning of Saturday’s competition, setting the fastest time in practice and winning the opening qualifying heat.

Contact at the first corner compromised his second qualifying heat, while in Q3 Roberts missed the fastest time by just 0.2 seconds. Running in second place in the final, Vitols made contact with the rear of Lindeqvist’s car at the entrance to the joker lap. The Swedish driver later revealed that his engine had been running on only three cylinders. However, Vitols was shown the black flag for causing the collision and ended Saturday without a podium finish.

On Sunday, Vitols responded to the previous day’s setback by winning all three qualifying heats before securing a commanding victory in the final, finishing 3.532 seconds ahead of his nearest rival. The result confirmed Roberts as RallyX South champion and brought his season total to seven victories and nine podium finishes from ten races.

“I am pleased with Sunday’s victory, but I take even greater satisfaction from the work of the entire team. After the final, I told them that this was not simply about one race win or one fastest lap from me. A result starts long before the race itself, and every member of the team contributes to it through track and driving analysis, preparing the car before and during the event, tyre strategy, joker decisions and precise information from the spotter.

“A huge thank you to my father, who prepared both the car and the team transport while I was away in the United States. Thank you to my mother for the excellent catering and for creating such a positive atmosphere within the team, and of course to my sister for her work as my spotter and for being by my side before every start. I also want to thank Team Färén, whose members always worked tirelessly to ensure that the car was fully prepared throughout each race weekend,” said Vitols.

“This season had its highs and lows, but overall it was a great experience and an excellent year. Being fastest in 11 consecutive sessions without making a mistake is not easy, but it is equally important to learn how to fight and find a way forward when we do not emerge from the start in first place,” Roberts continued.

Even before the German round, Vitols had mathematically secured the season’s main Supercar Lites Academy prize, valued at approximately €25,000 – a fully funded FC2 drive at the RallyX Global Final at Montalegre in Portugal.

Roberts’ father and Provento Racing Team manager Ugis Vitols believes the achievement represents the outcome of a carefully planned, long-term effort.

“We have progressed patiently, step by step, working with the budget available to us to compete among the elite drivers. We have always believed that persistence and determination would eventually open the next door.

“The significance of this prize goes far beyond its financial value. More importantly, I believe we have established ourselves and earned our place at the higher level. Following the speed and consistency we have demonstrated over the past two seasons, people are now telling us that we belong there, rather than simply saying that it would be nice to see us there.

“Everything we have done and fought for over these years has been part of a focused plan, and I am proud to say that it is now becoming a reality,” said Ugis Vitols.

The event will mark Roberts’ FC2 racing debut and his return to top-level rallycross machinery. His most recent race in a Supercar was in the British Rallycross Championship in 2022.

“This will be a great opportunity to race a top-class rallycross car again. The last time I competed in a Supercar was in British Championship in 2022, and I have missed that feeling. I felt very natural in the Supercar and was able to drive freely and confidently.

“With the Lites car, you are constantly trying to extract every last bit of performance because it has less power and the differences between the drivers are very small. It will now be interesting to see how we perform with the FC2. We are all looking forward to Portugal – the field will be strong, and the racing promises to be extremely competitive,” said Roberts.

Roberts Vitols competes in RallyX with the proud support of Provento (www.provento.lv) – a company with over 30 years of experience in agricultural, forestry, garden, and construction machinery, equipment, and spare parts.