For the third year in a row, Gosia Rdest became Polish Vice-Champion in the national D4 3500 class at the wheel of her Seat Leon Cup, as she added one more race victory and a second place finish at the Tor Poznan season finale.
Polish fastest woman was back last weekend to Tor Poznan, her local racetrack, for the final round of the shortened 2020 WSMP Polish Championship.
Coming from her best Alpine Europa Cup round at Circuit Paul Ricard were she finished sixth in all the three scheduled races, Gosia Rdest was back behind the wheel of her Seat Leon Cup Racer, ready to tackle the D4 3500 class title.
The previous rounds had seen mixed fortunes for Rdest, who returned to the championship after a partial campaign in 2019 where she also competed in the highly-competitive all-female inaugural W Series championship.
Entirely contested at the Tor Poznan circuit, the 2020 WSMP Polish championship saw Rdest on the top step of the podium in two previous occasions, together with two further second place finishes and two retirements.
"This year has definitely brought many unexpected twists." - commented Gosia before the season finale. "After the long-awaited start of the season, the highly condensed fight for victories began. Unfortunately, this year our motorsport adventure was disrupted by on-track incidents and car failures. We lost some points, but we still managed to remain in the mix." - she added, as she entered the final race event mathematically still in contention for the title.
"I need to get high in the points to make up for the accidents on track. I feel good after a successful weekend at Paul Ricard, I hope that I will also keep a good pace on home soil and hopefully after the weekend I will be able to enjoy another success together with the team."
The competitions at Tor Poznan were met with changing weather conditions: despite the wet qualifying, Gosia Rdest secured a confident pole position and went on to win in commanding style the first race of the weekend, crossing the finish line with a 19-second advantage over second-placed Jacek Wisniowski in the BMW M3.
On Saturday, the weather conditions worsened and the rain fell down on the 4.083 m racetrack. In the second qualifying, Rdest topped again the timesheets and entered the final race with high hopes for the championship standings. Unfortunately, her qualifying pace could not be converted into another victory and Gosia fell back behind Szymon Jabłoński - the TCR Eastern Europe specialist and guest starter that had been forced to retire after an accident in the previous race.
Rdest battled hard with Wisniowski - the 27-year old lady's main rival in the point standings. The aggressive approach of the driver of the #48 BMW M3, though, resulted in Gosia's Seat Leon Cup Racer reporting damages and, despite finishing the race in third place, Rdest was promoted to second after a post-race 25-second penalty for Wisniowski.
After four rounds and eight races, Gosia Rdest became Polish vice-champion for the third time in a row in the D4 3500 class, claiming three race wins, three second places and two retirements - one for a technical failure and one for a competitor's mistake.
"I am very happy that during the last weekend of WSMP I managed to drive well enough to be second in the general standings." - said Rdest.
"With my results in both qualifying and races, I have proved that I know what I am doing on track and that I can repeat it consistently."
"Motorsport is very exciting and requires an incredible amount of determination - with the right skills and experience, it pays off with the results that I have achieved once again. Fortunately, during the last round, we did not encounter any car breakdowns, so I could secure more podium results."
Regarding the incident in the final laps, Gosia commented: "Fortunately, in the digital and real-time control era, my rival had to come to terms with the rules that are applied in racing all over the world".
Additionally to her vice-champion title at the wheel of the Seat Leon Cup Racer, Rdest also claimed the runner-up position in the Endurance class, where she raced alongside Janusz Szymanski in a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup - a new experience for Rdest, who had previously only competed in sprint races.
"I will definitely remember this season for a long time." - added the most successful female racer in Poland. "From the first round until the last one, the whole team had to work at full speed. From engine failures to car repairs, we had to deal with various situations. None of the rounds went without additional challenges, so we appreciate this year's success even more."
"What we show on track is undoubtedly the final element that translates into the result. However, the car's preparation and the skills of my reliable mechanics were just as important, as this season they saved me of the greatest hardships."
After some busy months in this compressed 2020 racing season, Gosia Rdest will be back on track on October 31 and November 1 for the final round of the Alpine Elf Europa Cup in Portimao, as the French one-make series will support the European Le Mans Series.
