After missing out on victory in Race 2 at Tierp in Sweden last weekend, Roberts Vitols quickly returned to winning ways on Saturday in Finland by claiming his fourth victory in five races this season.

Alexander Lindeqvist’s challenge ultimately proved unable to stop the championship leader. Although the Swede succeeded in putting Vitols under pressure by topping both opening free practice sessions, the Latvian driver regained control as soon as qualifying began, setting three fastest times to secure the top spot in the intermediate standings.

A dominance that Vitols maintained all the way to the chequered flag in the final, finishing ahead of Alexander Lindeqvist, Kevin Daarbak and Pontus Oskarsson.

Despite another commanding performance, Roberts Vitols admitted that the weekend had initially been far tighter than the final result might suggest.

“The free practice sessions were extremely close. In both sessions, the gaps between Alexander Lindeqvist and me were only a few hundredths of a second. I think we were separated by two hundredths in one session and three hundredths in the other. It really showed how high the level was right from the beginning of the weekend.”

Arriving late in Finland following a long journey, the championship leader also acknowledged that he had not started the event in ideal physical condition.

“Honestly, I probably wasn’t feeling 100% on Friday. I arrived quite late after the flight and the journey, and we were still working on the car later in the evening. I was a bit tired at the start, but throughout Saturday I gradually managed to get back into my rhythm.”

With the field appearing so evenly matched, Vitols believed the opening qualifying heat played a decisive role in shaping the rest of his weekend.

“Q1 was clearly a key moment for us. From there, I managed to settle into the right rhythm and we were able to continue pushing in the right direction.”

While pole position naturally remained an important advantage on the fast Finnish circuit, the Latvian driver nevertheless felt the opening corner offered more opportunities than usual for overtaking attempts.

“Pole position is always an important advantage regardless of the circuit. But here, I still felt there were more opportunities than elsewhere because the first corner is very fast and offers more options for drivers starting from different parts of the grid.”

That analysis was immediately confirmed in Q1 when Vitols managed to take the lead despite starting from second position on the grid.

“In Q1, I managed to take the lead in the very first corner even though I started from second on the grid. That proves overtaking is possible here, even if starting at the front obviously remains a major advantage.”

Beyond outright pace alone, the work carried out on the car setup throughout the day also played a key role in the Latvian’s rise to the top.

“Together with Eric Faren and the rest of the team, we worked extensively on the setup throughout the day. We progressively improved the balance of the car and I think that was one of the keys to the final.”

By the time the finals arrived, Vitols felt he had a car perfectly suited to the demands of the Honkajoki circuit.

“When we reached the finals, we knew exactly which direction to take in terms of setup and how to exploit the car. From there, the objective was simply to stay clean and keep putting laps together without making mistakes.”

Already a four-time winner this season, the Latvian driver nevertheless refuses to look too far ahead as changing weather conditions could still shake things up for the remainder of the weekend.

“I haven’t checked the weather forecast for tomorrow yet. But honestly, it doesn’t really bother me. We already raced in the rain at Tierp and it went pretty well for us.”

Confident in his team’s ability to adapt quickly to any situation, Roberts Vitols is primarily focused on maintaining the same methodical approach that has guided him since the start of the season.

“If it rains tomorrow, then we’ll race in the rain. It will simply be another experience and another way to learn in different conditions. Whatever happens, we’ll be ready to race.”