Moh Ritson succeeds overseas….
Moh celebrates double podium in European debut
A fantastic podium in Portugal for Yorkshire’s Moh Ritson, followed by a second, as he and Tockwith Motorsports (TMS) team-mate, Sarah Moore, completed a 1-2 in both races at the GT4 South European Championship round in Portimão, Algarve.
All season long in the Britcar Dunlop Endurance Championship, Moh has threatened to score a top-three finish. This weekend it was promise fulfilled, as the 17-year-old Yorkshireman – together with Sarah – took their TRICO-sponsored Ginetta G50 to two superb second places on arguably the biggest stage yet at the Portimão circuit in Portugal.
The races ran from day into night – a challenging format for the drivers – as the Portimão circuit’s large swooping elevation changes mean that some parts of the track are dark, while others still benefit from some residual daylight. Despite not having encountered this format before, the rising star coped well with the conditions – finding eight-and-a-half seconds between qualifying and practice, ensuring he was confident as the first race got underway on Saturday afternoon.
Moh and Sarah brought the red and white TMS car home safely, headed only by their sister TMS-TRICO car after some fierce battles on-track.
He said: “It was really hot with fiercely bright sunshine! I made a good start, holding my position, and I battled with the #69 Porsche and the #77 Ginetta G50 for the majority of the stint.
“There was plenty of overtaking and swapping of positions, before I eventually handed over to Sarah in second place, just a couple of seconds ahead of the #77 Ginetta. Sarah delivered a defensive masterclass and secured our first podium as team-mates.”
Race two, which supported Sunday’s final race of the European Le Mans Series – one of the world’s leading motorsport championships – was full of incident and was punctuated by significant safety car interruptions as TCRs went flying, not to mention daylight quickly fading.
Moh and Sarah were able to stay out of trouble and repeat their race one result, coming home a strong second, much to the delight of the team and their supporters.
He said: “Sarah started and instantly made up lots of places whilst renewing the battle with the #77 again, but multiple safety cars bunched everyone up.
“We made our driver change under the safety car, with a fast changeover from the crew, and I rejoined the pack before we resumed racing a lap later. I had the hardest stint of my life and I battled with #77 all race, as darkness rapidly fell!
“We swapped positions multiple times and made some big moves under heavy braking down the inside into turn one. The lights, wheel-to-wheel racing, as well as the degrading tyres and tricky track conditions, meant it was so difficult, so to cross the line in second-place was the best feeling ever.”
Moh paid tribute to the TMS team and Sarah, his mentor: “Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this journey. This weekend has made me realise what this is all for. There have been endless amounts of hard work to get to this point and it feels amazing.
“Thank you TMS for being so supportive, providing a great car this weekend, and giving these opportunities. I won’t forget the incredible crew who put everything together.
“Finally, thank you to Sarah for all of her amazing coaching. I wouldn’t have developed the skills I have and reached the achievements I have without her support and motivation.”
Moh’s TRICO-sponsored Ginetta G50 was supported by his personal sponsors: Fusion by Design, Novo, Co-ordSport, Premier Martial Arts Leeds, Fusion Learning, and Moran Personal Training, as well as Optimal UK and Dolz.
ENDS
For further information, contact
Moh Ritson’s press officers, Gary Barak or Tom Henman, at Chicane:
gary@chicane.marketing or tom@chicane.marketing
Tel: Chicane office: +44 (0) 1923 269490
Tel: Mobile during race events: +44 (0) 7973 159070