Voices from the podium of race 2 at Oulton Park
Oulton Park 17 May 2025
Race 2 from the Oulton Park track also goes into the archives for the Ferrari Challenge UK Trofeo Pirelli. Below the podium the protagonists of the two classes, Trofeo Pirelli and Coppa Shell, commented on the race and their own performances.
Gilbert Yates (Charles Hurst), winner in Trofeo Pirelli:
Pranav Vangala (HR Owen), second in Trofeo Pirelli: “I feel very lucky to even start, given I had some issues with the cars traction control that stopped giving me power. But the engineers were amazing. They fixed it and got me on the grid. A safety car restart twice was not ideal. I think I managed to really give a good bit of pressure through the race to Gilbert (Yates). I was really on top of him when I learned an important lesson in physics right before the end, where I realised that if you get too close in a high speed corner, you lose front end downforce and that's exactly what I did: I got right behind his bumper, my front end washed out and I ended up having a spin. So disappointing, but it all comes down to experience and congratulations to Gilbert”.
Calum Leathem (Charles Hurst), third in Trofeo Pirelli: “Very nerve wracking! My coach told me there’s there was five left, and that's when I started making mistakes at the end. Then the car behind me started catching up and Vangala made a mistake, so I was on him, but I just kept breaking with him every time and kept up with him which helped out a lot. I’m very happy”.
Peter Hunter (Stratstone Manchester), winner in Coppa Shell:
Mike Dewhirst (Dick Lovett Swindon), second in Coppa Shell: “It was good race. A safety car restart, so couldn't do much at the beginning. There was a couple of cars between me, Hunter, and Simmerson. But I then got going and put a lot of pressure on Simmerson. Again, he ran a little bit wider in the hairpin, which allowed me through. Caught Peter, but he was just canny. I couldn't get past him, he was taking good lines. He was quick through some of the corners where you need to be quick, and I just literally couldn't get on him”.
Paul Simmerson (Graypaul Birmingham), third in Coppa Shell: “Congratulations to Peter Hunter on his first win, he drove really well, so nothing against him. I feel a little bit hard done by with the safety cars, but congratulations to Peter Hunter”.