Bad luck denies Trogen RX2 podium at Silverstone
Reigning RX Academy Champion Sami-Matti Trogen and Finnish rallycross team SET Promotion were cruelly denied a podium result in the third round of the RX2 International Series at Silverstone in the UK (May 26).
Eighth quickest in Q1 after a not-perfect start, Trogen battled in traffic in the opening two qualifiers, but ran in clean air to claim a race victory on track in Q3 and set the second fastest time. Again racing in traffic in Q4, Trogen secured a front row starting position for the semi-finals and despite dropping a place in the opening corners, used faster pace than his rivals, and a cunning overtaking manoeuvre in the first corner later in the race, to finish second and progress to the final.
But, eager to stand on the RX2 podium for the first time in 2019, the final didn’t play out well for the 17-year old driver. Having lost time in the first corner battle in the first attempt at the race, a re-run was required when another competitor crashed out. At the re-start, a driver ahead of Trogen was sent into the turn one tyre wall, leaving the Finn nowhere to go. Significant damage was sustained to the front-right suspension of the SET Promotion machine, but in a valiant effort to score as many points as possible, Trogen returned to the grid for the second re-start and began the race before retiring, to be classified fourth.
The team’s third fourth-place finish in a row came with the biggest points score of the year so far, meaning Trogen is fourth in the standings with four rounds still to go.
- The pace was there again this weekend and overall things have been okay. It was difficult in the final that I had some bad luck, that’s not what I wanted but that’s how it goes sometimes. I need to try again to be on it from the first heats of the weekend at the next race. The next round is in Norway at Hell. I know that track from last year, it’s a nice track which I think can suit us and grid position is not as important as it is here, so I’m looking forward to that, says Trogen.
- It was solid weekend for Sami-Matti again despite the first corner impacts in the final starts. Again he improved a lot through the event. Starting positions on the outside were not perfect places to be in Q1 and Q2 so that made it difficult to build the race at the beginning of the weekend. Q3 and Q4 were much better and the semi-final drive was really good. We found some small details from a driving side and I think we were much closer than in the previous races. The starts are crucial, especially in this category and we will try to improve that for the next race. I feel sad that it ended the way it did in the final but still really happy for the performance that Sami-Matti showed this weekend. We must remember that he is still very young and learning all the time, sums up SET Promotion RX2 Crew Chief and spotter Kalle Pinomäki.
The next round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship and RX2 International Series will take place at Hell in Norway (June 15 – 16), after the third round of RX Academy at Nysum in Denmark next weekend (June 1 – 2).