Polish racing star Gosia Rdest made a strong return to racing after nearly two years, securing 11th overall and two top-5 Challenger class finishes in the Alpine Elf Cup at Circuit de Barcelona, following her comeback after giving birth to her first child.
Gosia Rdest competed in her first event in almost two years as she returned to the Alpine Elf Cup Series at Circuit de Barcelona. Rdest used her experience of the car and series to ensure it was a smooth re-introduction to on-track action as she secured a best result of 11th overall. Achieving two top-5 finishes in the Challenger class, the Chazel Technologie Course driver made significant progress during the course of the event.
Returning to competitive action for the first time since giving birth to her first child in August 2023, Rdest joined the Alpine Elf Cup Series grid for their event at Circuit de Barcelona. Gosia was familiar with both the car, track and series having competed in the one-make series for three consecutive campaigns from 2020 onwards. Achieving a best overall championship finish of eighth in both 2020 and 2021, Rdest was looking to a smooth re-introduction to racing while once again pushing towards the top-10.
Prior to the event getting underway, Rdest took part in a test at Circuit de Barcelona in preparation for her comeback. The Spanish circuit holds fond memories for Gosia as she scored two top-10 finishes in the Alpine Elf Europa Cup in 2021, before achieving a seventh-place result at the track in 2022.
With the Alpine Elf Cup supporting the 24H Series, the weekend schedule featured a single practice on Thursday, followed by a second practice session, qualifying and race one on Friday, before the final race of the event took place on Saturday morning. Rdest got up to speed well in Thursday’s sole session which was held in wet conditions and was therefore not representative of running for the remainder of the weekend.
Friday morning’s second practice session was held in dry conditions with Rdest completing 16 laps in her Alpine A110 Cup car. Showing competitive speed in sector two especially, Gosia ended the session in 16th position overall, fifth among the Challenger class drivers.
Both qualifying sessions took place back-to-back on Saturday afternoon which ensured a good amount of consecutive track time which proved beneficial for Rdest.
Immediately improving on her fastest time from practice in the first session, Gosia’s time of a 1:54.242 was over a second faster than her best lap in the morning session and placed her 13th overall. Setting a time half a second faster in the second qualifying session, Rdest was continuing to gain confidence and this lap saw her qualify in 15th position.
Rdest lined up 13th for the opening race of the weekend which took place on Friday evening. She negotiated the start well and drove the opening turns confidently as the Chazel Technologie Course racer immediately gained positions.
The second half of the lap was more challenging, however Rdest ended lap one in 14th position, fifth in the Challenger class. After settling into a good rhythm, Gosia was looking to move forward and on lap three, she overtook Frederic de Brabant to gain 13th position.
Rdest backed up this overtake with a personal best time which drew her closer to the group of drivers ahead. As she caught Sami Dhahri, the VPS Racing driver overtook Clement Berlie and Rdest was able to follow him through in a smart, opportunistic move. Now in 12th position overall, fourth in the Challenger class, Gosia was applying pressure to Dhahri while ensuring Berlie remained behind.
The battle between these three drivers was intense as they fought for positions just outside of the top-10, with the slipstream effect ensuring neither driver could break away. On lap 10 Rdest shaped for a move on Dhahri, however Berlie was able to capitalise and move back ahead of the Polish racer to reclaim 12th position and drop Rdest to fifth in the Challenger class. Gosia rallied late in the contest in an attempt to regain touch with Berlie, however she ran out of time to make a move to end her comeback race in 13th position overall, fifth in the Challenger class.
For the second and final race of the weekend, Rdest lined up 15th on the grid, fifth in the Challenger class. The Chazel Technologie Course driver made another excellent start and gained four positions on the opening lap to move into 11th. Initially holding off Matteo Nomblot, the duo were catching a large group of drivers who were battling hard for positions inside the top-5.
On lap four, Rdest was faster than the next five drivers ahead and by a setting a lap time which matched her best qualifying effort, she had made contact with this pack of cars.
Junior class driver Nomblot was also sensing an opportunity to move forward and on lap five, he overtook Rdest to claim 12th position overall. This overtake coincided with the group ahead settling into position and therefore Rdest started to slip back from those inside the top-10.
Although the second half of her race was quiet, she continued to reacquaint herself with the car and manage her tyres in case of a late race restart. On the final lap of the contest, Gosia overtook Romain Monti for 11th position to secure a positive end to her comeback weekend of racing.
Rdest completed a clean weekend of racing in the Alpine Elf Europa Cup with a pair of top-5 Challenger class finishes at Circuit de Barcelona. Her race starts were particularly impressive as she got up to speed quickly and gained positions through the first half of both opening laps.
After a successful return, Rdest will now be targeting further opportunities to get back behind the wheel, with Paul Ricard hosting the next round of the Alpine Elf Cup Series on the weekend of October 5th/6th.
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