Martin Rump finishes debut ELMS season in sixth place
Estonian racing driver Martin Rump and his team, Absolute Racing, finished sixth in this year's European Le Mans series (ELMS), also placing sixth in the season-closing race in Portimao, Portugal.
Rump said of the race and of his team, Absolute Racing, that Portimao had been: "A good test for the end of the season."
"We certainly expected a better result from the last stage of the season, but this is motorsport. In my stint, I had to practically skate on the track with slicks for five or six laps, but we managed. As the track dried out, we also showed some good speed. Last place it's not what we hoped for, but as a whole team we gained a lot of experience from this season," he went on.
"We didn't have total success the whole season. It was as if the tools and opportunities were there all the time, but we didn't earn the highest places. At the same time, all this has developed and taught us as a team. It was also a very awesome year for me personally. It sometimes seems completely unbelievable in my mind, and I often catch myself pinching myself, as if it's a dream," Rump added.
One of the high points of the season was being the first Estonian ever to compete in the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours, where he and his team placed 11th in their category.
Next year's ELMS season has six stages, though Rump said he had nothing firmed up, yet. "The main keywords of the next season could be the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, the global FIA WEC endurance racing series and also the ELMS.
"I would also like to thank all my supporters and supporters, whose support in both good and bad moments has been very important to me."
Absolute Racing finished sixth in the LMGTE class in the overall standings of the six-round series, while the best result of the season was the third place in the four-hour race at Spa in Belgium.
This weekend's race in the Algarve saw the team start from the back of the grid in the Porsche 911 RSR-19, while team mate Andrew Haryanto lost a lap after confusion over a tire chance on the second warm-up lap.
Rump took the car from ninth place to sixth despite being on slicks in the wet.
Rump has two more races left this season in another series, the Nürburgring Endurance Series in Germany, the first of which will be held this coming weekend and the second at the beginning of November.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
