Success and technical woes in the motopark Endurance race.
The latest leg of the Finnish Endurance Cup was held at the Motopark in Virtasalmi. Sontek
Racing participated with cars 813 and 913 and the drivers this time were:
813:
Mikko Toivonen
Jupe Arala
Tino Lainisalo
Manu Skyttä
913:
Jyrki Laune
Antti Heiskanen
Pasi Saarimaa
Ronja Skyttä
On Friday 16.8., the we had our free practice, which was not lacking in drama. There was a hole in the oil condenser pipe of car 813 and from the pit the “explosion” looked as if the whole engine had given in and blown out its last smoke. The practice had to be suspended for everyone for about an hour. In car 913, challenges with the transmission were noticed after the practice. The mechanics had their hands full, and the heavy rain did little to slow down the professionals. However, the cars were made race ready during the evening.
Saturday started with qualifying sessions by Mikko Toivonen (813) and Jyrki Laune (913), who both claimed good places on the starting grid, finishing first and second in their respective class.
The race got off to a fast start, but the 913's traction control started to get fiddly already from the second lap and we had to take the car to the pit a couple of times to fix the fault. The fault was eliminated with a tester, after which the speed returned to normal. The challenges of the 913 did not end there. Around the halfway point of the race, a bolt broke in the left rear wishbone and took almost half an hour to repair.
The 813 had fewer challenges and maintained good pace throughout the race. The 813 eventually came second overall, although the second front tyre had to be changed for the final stint. The 913 came to the checkered flag despite technical challenges in 16th place. In their own class, the cars were ranked 1st and 2nd.
Despite the challenges, it was a great race, thank you all.
The next race of the Endurance Cup and the culmination of the season will be held in Alastaro in mid-September. There is also a special event where you want to be present. More on this on the Sontek Racing website shortly.