R-Motorsport’s first season in the Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe ended with the team’s guest appearance at Hungary’s Hungaroring. The Swiss outfit has had a very eventful, roller-coaster of a year in this hotly contested championship.
Victory at the Nürburgring was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the season for the team. “The competition was very strong throughout, and yet, we’ve improved as a team with every weekend. That success was well deserved by the whole crew, who have worked so hard,” said Marvin Kirchhöfer, speaking about his home fixture.
Kirchhöfer secured a total of 39.5 points together with team-mate, Ricky Collard. As a result, the Anglo-German duo booked eighth place in the drivers’ championship of the Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe. “More might have been possible,” said Collard. “Unfortunately, we lacked the necessary race luck at the Hungaroring. We lost a few places in the first race and finished tenth. We had more bad luck again in the early stages of Race 2 and fell back to the rear of the field.”
The race weekend at the Hungaroring was much more successful for Hugo de Sadeleer and Aaro Vainio, as they claimed two podium finishes in the Silver Cup competition for junior drivers. The Swiss and the Finn ultimately secured second place thanks to a brilliant charge in the last race of the season. “We kept our chances of winning the title in the Silver Cup alive until the end. Of course, we would like to have won but can be just as proud with second place,” said Aaro Vainio.
The points haul secured by the two young drivers is quite impressive. They took points from nine of the ten races, appearing on the podium in seven races. “Of course, I particularly remember our race weekend at Misano where we won both races,” said Hugo de Sadeleer.
The Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe may be over but there’s still the season finale of the Endurance Cup to come. The tenth and final race of the Blancpain GT Series will take place September 29th in Barcelona.
Team Principal Dr Florian Kamelger was very positive in his summary of R-Motorsport’s debut season in the Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe: “Even though with P9 and 10 in the first race and P9 for Aaro and Hugo and 20 for Marvin and Ricky, more should certainly have been possible here in Hungary, we can look back on a very successful season in the sprint series. Marvin and Ricky secured the team’s maiden win at the Nürburgring and secured eighth place in the overall standings in Hungary. Aaro and Hugo showed that they are among the best junior drivers in the field with second place in the final rankings of the Silver Cup classification and finishes in the Top Ten in both races in Budapest. Overall, we’ve had a season that leaves you wanting more. We’re really looking forward to the finale of the Endurance Cup in Barcelona where we intend to end the season with a decent result.”
Source. R-Motorsport
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