It got better and better throughout the weekend as the two Ginetta drivers raced in the penultimate round of the Danish Endurance Championship at Padborg Park. And it ended well—with a trophy.
In the two qualifying sessions, the STEP Ginetta had to settle for seventh and eighth places, respectively. The small Ginetta naturally falls short at Padborg Park, where more powerful competitors benefit from the long straights. All sails were set to perform well in the two one-hour races.
Due to commitments elsewhere, Mads Riis drove the entire race on Friday himself, while Silas Rytter took care of Saturday’s race. However, for Riis, it was a tough day at the office, as the good pace from previous races never fully came into play. A seventh place was not quite what the talent team had hoped for, but that’s how motorsport can be.
After nearly a day of waiting, interrupted only by a short warm-up session on Saturday afternoon, Silas Rytter could put on his racing suit and prepare for his race. The North Jutland driver provided a much-needed redemption for the team after a tough Friday.
It didn’t take long for Silas Rytter to start moving the small Ginetta racer up through the field, and after a perfectly executed pit stop, a podium finish suddenly became a realistic possibility. For a while, the car was in second place in its class, but when the finish line was crossed for the last time, Silas Rytter secured a fantastic third place.
-It was just a race where everything went as I had hoped. The car ran perfectly, and our pit stops were spot on. Our strategy has always been to beat the competitors in the pits, because on the track, their cars are better than ours. Today that strategy worked, and it feels great, says Silas Rytter, who is supported by the team manager:
-Today we proved that good work in the pits can sometimes turn the whole race around. We’ve trained and optimized our pit stops all season, but that doesn’t change the fact that the driver has a big task when we line up in a car that isn’t fully competitive based on engine power alone, explains Morten Dons, who continues:
-Mads had a tough day in the car yesterday, and it’s frustrating when things don’t come together. However, you can safely say that it did today—for both Silas behind the wheel and the team in the pits—and that saves the weekend for us overall.
There’s less than a month until the final round of the Danish Endurance Championship, which will take place at FDM Jyllandsringen.