STEP Motorsport had low expectations ahead of the weekend’s round of the Danish Endurance Championship (DEC) at Padborg Park. The team’s Ginetta G40 GT5 does not have the same motor power as its competitors in the championship, and on the southern Jutland racetrack with its long straights, the best cards were in the hands of the rivals.
However, despite the unfavorable conditions, the team worked diligently to achieve a good result. With the fourth and sixth-fastest lap times in the two qualifying sessions, Silas Rytter demonstrated that raw power is not everything.
The first race took place on Saturday afternoon, and the young karting star from North Jutland put in a solid performance behind the wheel. Meanwhile, the team had done its homework, practicing the pit stop where Silas had to get out of the car and back in again, to perfection. This meant that Silas secured his and the team’s first podium finish in the Danish Endurance Championship with an impressive third place.
-I think it was a good race. It’s a bit special because I can see my competitors pulling away from me on the straight, but I can get our little car around the tight corners of the track much faster. I’m happy we made it into the top three because it shows that you can’t always win just with a big engine, said Silas Rytter, who was close to repeating this success in Sunday’s race.
The Sæby teenager started well with good and stable lap times, and during the pit stop, the team gained valuable time—putting Silas back in third place. However, one competitor managed to slip past, and the hard blow came in the last corner on the final lap:
-The pedal just went all the way down! I had to continue into the pit, and I crossed the finish line in there, but that dropped me to fifth place. It’s a bit disappointing, said Silas Rytter, who nevertheless returned home with respectable results and a wealth of learning from a race weekend where he and STEP Motorsport worked overtime to win David’s battle against Goliath.
Team manager Morten Dons is pleased with the weekend’s results, even though the brake issue at the end put a damper on the joy:
-It’s just incredibly unfortunate that Silas lost what would have been a secure fourth place due to a brake problem. The car ran perfectly all weekend, and there were no signs of trouble—he deserved that fourth place, said Morten Dons, who continued:
-Silas did a really great job again this weekend. He has a professional approach to both his own work and the team’s work, and he constantly tries to learn and improve. We spent a lot of time over the weekend analyzing data and working on the mechanics of the pit stop, and it’s great that Silas just listens, asks questions, and absorbs it all. That’s the kind of thing that makes it fun to be a team manager!
There is only a two-week break before the spring season concludes with races at FDM Jyllandsringen. Here, there are hopes that the positive trends will continue:
-Jyllandsringen will be exciting, as there are several elements that play to our advantage. We need to do our homework, and then we’ll see how it goes, concludes Morten Dons.