Waple says Rodin are ‘really confident’ after ‘deserved’ first podium of the year at Silverstone

Rodin Motorsport Team Manager Sam Waple called Callum Voisin’s Silverstone Feature Race podium “bittersweet”, as while he was happy to see him take P3, he was gutted to miss out on the victory.

During a frenetic race in mixed conditions, Voisin and teammate Piotr Wisnicki made the bold call to start on the Hard tyres while rain fell prior to the Formation Lap, as others chose to swap to the wets.

This proved to be an inspired call as conditions dried by lights out, helping Voisin made his way up from P9 into the lead by Lap 3.

FEATURE RACE: Lindblad completes Silverstone double in action-packed affair

He then dropped to the back when the rain returned, only to fly through the field on a dry track towards the end of the race. Voisin crossed the line in P1, while the Polish driver made up 25 places to finish in P5.

But Voisin then fell to third behind PREMA Racing pair Arvid Lindblad and Gabriele Minì after he had been given a five-second penalty for overtaking Jenzer Motorsport’s Max Esterson off the track in an earlier battle.

Speaking in the team’s garage after the day’s events, Waple reflected on it all and admitted how disappointing it was to miss out on the victory.

“For us it's a bittersweet day,” he said. “For us as a team, we've got two cars up in the points in the Feature Race, but we feel it was taken a little bit away from us on that penalty with Callum and he deserved the win today.

“But we can't be too upset. Callum is on the podium at his home race, but it's a mixed emotion today unfortunately.”

Voisin and Wisnicki were the only ones who chose to stay on the slicks with the 28 other drivers, including their teammate Joseph Loake, deciding to go for the Wets. Waple then explained how they as a team came to the decision.

“It was absolutely a team choice,” said Waple. “Certainly, for Callum, his engineer was adamant that looking at the radar that it was going to be better to go on slicks and was very confident about that.

“With Piotr at the back of the grid, there was nothing to lose and both Piotr and his engineer decided that it was a good risk to take. Joseph and his engineer went with the majority, went with the pack, and they had a go on the wets.

READ MORE: Thoughts of the Top Three post Round 7 Feature Race

“From our side we had all bases covered and it ended up being that the slicks were the right choice. But in the middle of the race, it could easily have gone the other way again back in favour of the wet runners.

“It was a great call, and I am very pleased with the team, they were very confident on the grid to go with that slick choice for Callum especially.”

Waple explained that there was not a lot of panic within the Rodin ranks when the rain returned during the race. He revealed that there was a discussion about boxing for the wets, but they decided against it to protect any “advantage” that they could have.

He was pleased that they made the right call but more so that Rodin had finally delivered on the pace that they have had recently.

With their first podium of the year and a double point scoring result in the bag, Waple is confident that they can continue this form and end the campaign on a high.

READ MORE: Montoya delighted with points finish at ‘special’ Silverstone Sprint Race

“We're really confident as a team that we have made progress this year,” he said. “We've actually seen that the pace has been good at a number of events already this year, but we just haven't realised it.

“For us, the feeling this weekend is that we have deserved to be here for the majority of the year, but we've actually realised it this weekend. From our side it's almost there, it's just a case of going ahead and doing it.

“It's nice to get those points on the board for Callum, obviously all three drivers have points, a bit of a confidence boost for them going into the last three rounds, it's a bit late in the season now but it's great for everyone in the team and for the drivers.”