Endurance Cup 2024 season opened with two cars
A hot extended weekend in Kemora and the Endurance Cup season opened with two cars. The team arrived already on Thursday and booked a class A spot at the paddock, where tents and places for cars were quickly built. Friday was a training day where both teams got nice laps under their belts on the track. However, there was a slightly heavier spin during practice when one of the cars (713) examined the lawn of the safety zone more closely and through the roof. This certainly served as a good reminder to everyone that motorsport can take unexpected turns. Safety equipment that complies with the rules is important and works as it should in real life. The driver survived with a scare, but the car was no longer in race condition after practice. However, an identical car (913) in the Sontek Racing racing fleet was picked up for the race.
Saturday was a "day off" spent watching the FRC races and training for Sunday's race in a simulator with a car identical to our real race car and, of course, the Kemora circuit. On Saturday evening, the team went on a joint track walk to check the best driving lines and braking spots.
In Sunday's race, Sontek Racing was represented by the following drivers:
Car 813:
Mikko Toivonen
Petri Kiikka
Jani Turunen
Jenni Silventoinen
Ilmari Wallo
Car 913:
Manu Skyttä
Jyrki Laine
Tatu Siipola
Ronja Skyttä
Jupe Arala
The morning traditionally started with the driver’s safety meeting and continued with time trials. The time trial for car 813 was driven by Jani Turunen and car 913 by Tatu Siipola.
813 from qualifying to grid p5 and 913 to grid p7. The tactics of the race had already been honed the night before, and we started racing accordingly. The start went well for both cars and the race proceeded as planned. Every driver drove a one hour stint. Jenni Silventoinen and Jyrki Laine did two hours each. Endurance racing in the heat certainly tested the drivers more than the cars. So, hydration was extrelmely important during the day. Driver changes and refuelling went as expected. 913 suffered from a mysterious intermittent problem, which affected the throttle response. Despite this, both cars made it to the checkered flag. Car 813 was second in the start and won its own class. Car 913 was sixth at the start and second in its class.
The Endurance Cup 2024 continues at Botniaring 29–30.6.