elms - iMOLA

Spoiler alert: I got my first Rookie podium in Race 2 at Imola—yay me!

Qualification:
If you read my Assen blog, you already know how qualifying works, but for those who missed it: your best time in qualifying sets your position for Race 1, and your second-best time sets the grid for Race 2. I qualified 15th for Race 1 and 13th for Race 2.

Race 1:
Not as exciting as Race 2, but still eventful. I started in 15th and quickly made my way up to 13th after the start. I then battled with Grouwels, and after a few minutes, I was sitting in 11th place—so that’s +4 spots.

Unfortunately, with 18 minutes left in the race, I went wide and damaged the car. I started falling back, and after another lap, I had to call it due to brake issues. A disappointing DNF, but I had some great battles out there!

Race 2:
Race 2 was definitely the highlight! I started 13th and immediately jumped two spots to 11th. This race was full of action, especially toward the end.

In 11th place, I was sitting 3rd among the rookies and stayed there for a while. I made a few attempts to move up to 2nd rookie, and toward the end, I managed to secure it! But then I tried to grab 8th place, which didn’t go as planned, and I lost 2nd rookie to Jongejan.

It was an intense race, and I ended up finishing 3rd rookie, right behind Jongejan, head-to-tail.

Imola was a success.

And here’s a sweet bonus—I made my dad cry! He was so emotional seeing me on the podium for the first time. How awesome is that?

Even though my brother and sister couldn’t attend, they watched the livestream on YouTube and were super proud. I hope they can come see me race in person again soon!

Thanks for reading, and maybe watching!

Talk to you soon,
Dréke Janssen

Special thanks to Janssen Logistics, Strebo Ittervoort and RedAnt for making it possible for me to race the RCCB.