The Ferrari Challenge UK Trofeo Pirelli held Race 1 at the historic Donington Park track. Near the podium the protagonists of the two classes, Trofeo Pirelli and Coppa Shell, commented on their performances.

Gilbert Yates (Charles Hurst), winner in Trofeo Pirelli

Pranav Vangala (HR Owen), second in Trofeo Pirelli: “It was a good race here, Donington’s a tricky circuit! I think we were lucky with the weather for the race. I had an okay start, managed to fend off Mike Dewhirst coming up the middle. But then after that, I think, Gilbert Yates got a bit of a jump on me on the first few laps, and I was doing my best to claw back, but then traffic got in the way, and I ended up finishing second. So I'm happy with it, but I think I know what I have to work on next time”.

Paul Simmerson (Graypaul Birmingham), third in Trofeo Pirelli: “It was a tough race. We got a reasonable start. I wanted to try and get Mike Dewhirst, but Mike came straight to the middle, so I had to go to the inside. After that, we just settled down. I was managing the gap behind. Mike's not in my class, so I was already sat in P3. I got held up behind one of the cars in front. We were managing the gap between four, four and a half seconds. Then I lost three seconds, and the guys got onto me. One of the guys came past me, managed to get past me there – we were going down the straight I could see he had damage. He went in too deep, so I undercut and got a better run on him. I went down the inside of him perfectly fine, I got my corner, and then he turned it on me so I had to back out and then I think he might have kept his foot in. We both went off, which allowed John Marcar to get past. Marcar’s tires went, and he had a moment, so I was able to get him back in the last lap. So all good”.

Mike Dewhirst (Dick Lovett Swindon), winner in Coppa Shell:

Peter Hunter (Stratstone Manchester), second in Coppa Shell: “Delighted! I kept my head nailed down and just picked off people one by one – it went really well and now I’ve got a cap”.

Darren Howell (JCT600 Leeds), third in Coppa Shell: “Can’t remember a lot about it! It was very eventful, but I drove through their dust and didn’t see anything – but I really enjoyed it!”.