Gosia Rdest starts Polish touring cars season on a high

Polish racer Gosia Rdest had a record-breaking start to her Polish Racing Car Championship season, where she claimed two victories and a second place.

Photo credits: Gosia Rdest

Polish former W Series racer Gosia Rdest was back on track last weekend to finally kick-off her 2020 season after the long wait imposed by the pandemic delay.

Last week, Rdest announced that she will compete in the Polish Racing Car Championship (WSMP) for the fifth year in a row, at the wheel of a Seat Leon Cup car.

In the last two seasons, Gosia finished runner-up in the final standings after having to miss some rounds due to clashing calendars. This year, with the Alpine Elf Europa Cup set to start on 22nd August at Nogaro, France, the 27-year old lady will get the chance to enter each round of her national championship - which will feature 4 double-header rounds, all on the Tor Poznan racing venue.

"I am very glad that I will start in the Polish Racing Car Championships this year again." - she said before the season opener. "The previous seasons were extremely successful for me, but I couldn't compete in all rounds, which weakened my chances. Now I'm going to start in the full season, aiming to be Polish champion."

As she told us last year during her W Series campaign, her home circuit remains one of her favourites to race on: "Tor Poznan is a special place for me, because it is 'our' track - it is always full of fans creating an amazing atmosphere. Although they won't be there during the start of the season, I hope that they will come back very soon. My team knows the car well, I have full confidence in it and I can't wait for the first trips to the track."

The first surprise came as early as Thursday, when Gosia Rdest revealed that she would take part in two separate classes, both the sprint races on her Seat Leon and Saturday's endurance race, at the wheel of FÖRCH Racing's Porsche 911 GT3 Cup: as experienced Polish Porsche specialist Robert Lukas was unable to start the first endurance race, Gosia was called to sub in alongside Janusz Szymanski.

On the other hand, Friday proved to be a challenging day for Rdest, whose Seat Leon suffered an engine failure during free practice. A dramatic fire made things worse and it was soon clear that the engine had to be replaced.

"Fortunately, there is no impossible for our irreplaceable team Racingtech!" - wrote Gosia on her social media feeds - and after an incredible effort, the car was moved to Krakow and back to Poznan, where it arrived ready just in time for qualifying.

And, after such a battle against time, victory tasted even better as Gosia Rdest and her team won Saturday's sprint race in the D4 3500 class, beating Jacek Wisniowski (BMW M3) and Łukasz Stolarczyk (VW Golf TCR) at the chequered flag.

The success was topped when the young Polish racer claimed victory in the Endurance race as well. After Szymanski's first half of the race, Rdest completed the second stint and crossed the line 35 seconds ahead of the Kordecki / Mielcarek duo in the two-hour race.

"What a day! Two races, two different cars and two first places! I am extremely happy!", she wrote, thanking her ever-supporting partners like Bahco, Bilstein, Ravenol, Epos, A / B / C, Emka S. A., Philips.

Rdest clinched pole position for Sunday's second race in the Seat Leon challenger, but was then edged for the victory by Łukasz Stolarczyk by just 0.8 seconds. Nevertheless, Rdest leads the standings with 43 points after the opening weekend at Tor Poznan.

"In such moments, I know that it is worth putting hours of hard work, the many sacrifices and all your energy into motorsport." - she commented. "Sunday's race in the Leon was completed in P2! A podium after my Racingtech mechanics' fight with the car and after my on-track battles tastes even better than usual. I know that together we can do anything.

After the first two races, we are in first place in the WSMP general class classification."

The second double-header round of the Polish Racing Car Championship be on 28-30 August, as the series will make its return to Tor Poznan. Meanwhile, Gosia Rdest will return to the virtual racetracks for the W Series Esports League, where she is currently 9th in the standings.

In Gosia's words:

"In such moments, I know that it is worth putting hours of hard work, the many sacrifices and all your energy into motorsport."

Ph credits: Gosia Rdest