RISHOVER PODIUM IN DONINGTON FINALE

Zielonka had pitted after 15 laps and rejoined, taking the flag 20^th overall, but he was later excluded for his earlier incident.

Any hope Rishover had of a repeat in the second race were dashed before he had completed the opening lap. “I was probably about fourth, but lost some pace  exiting McLeans. Sven Thompson got a run on me into Coppice and he went for the inside as I turned in, and he hit me,” he said after ending his race in the Coppice gravel.

Zielonka was holding ninth place and chasing Chris Headlam, but spun at the Melbourne Hairpin and lost three places.

His recovery gained momentum and on the closing lap and he managed to finally take Headlam to regain ninth.

Pouring rain and terrible visibility greeted the drivers for the last race of the weekend and the UK season. Zielonka was starting from fourth, with Rishover in penultimate place.

It was a flying start for Zielonka though, holding third until a second lap spin, just as the safety car came out. It dropped him to ninth, but he was still faring better than Rishover. “I was 10^th but had to pit after the second lap as I couldn’t change gear,” he explained.

The safety car took the drivers up to the pitstop window, with Zielonka pitting 10^thand rejoining 16^th.

Rishover rejoined after his stop, but soon returned to the pitlane to retire, whileZielonka revelled in the conditions and started to climb the leaderboard,

With the stops completed he was up to sixth and gradually closed in on the battle for ahead. With Williams spinning on the last lap, he made two places as the flag was readied, taking fourth.

Published by Peter Scherer for 360 Racing, September 19th, 2023

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