Reports from the Navarra paddock

The weekend of Friday, 25 to Sunday, 27 April also marked the start of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli UK, the last of the Maranello manufacturer’s single-marque series to get underway this year. Now in its seventh season, the British series kicked off at the revamped Navarra circuit in Los Arcos, northern Spain. 

Beyond the island. It’s not the first time that a leg of the Ferrari Challenge UK has been held outside His Majesty’s territory. Before heading to Navarra, the British single-marque series had visited the Belgian circuit of Spa-Francorchamps in 2023, as part of a leg of the European series. On that occasion, being the final round of the sporting season, the championship winners were decided: Andrew Morrow (Charles Hurst) and Paul Hogarth (Stratstone Manchester) in the Trofeo Pirelli and Coppa Shell, respectively.

296 Challenge. Also for the British series, the undisputed star of the championship (launched in 2019) this year will be the Ferrari 296 Challenge – the ninth single-marque series car from the Prancing Horse, which has successively replaced the 488 Challenge and the 488 Challenge Evo. Already last year, drivers had the chance to get to grips with the new car during a number of tests held at various rounds of the championship.

A strong start… The Trofeo Pirelli class picked up where it left off, with a win for Gilbert Yates (Charles Hurst), who, after becoming champion in 2024, immediately kept his lead at the top of the standings, thanks to two pole positions, one win (in Race-1) and a second place (in Race-2) on Spanish soil. There was similar continuity in the Coppa Shell, with Paul Simmerson (Graypaul Birmingham) climbing the top step of the podium in the first race – having only competed in the final round at Silverstone last year, where he also won Race-2.

Vangala’s first. Young driver Pranav Vangala (HR Owen), after finishing third last year in a steadily improving campaign marked by multiple podium finishes, finally took his maiden win, celebrating in Navarra in Race-2 after edging out Gilbert Yates with less than three minutes remaining.

Plenty of new faces. Strolling through the Navarra paddock, one could spot many familiar faces, but there were also numerous new entries – both in the Trofeo Pirelli, with Joseph Dean (Stratstone Colchester), Calum Leathem (Charles Hurst), John Marcar (Graypaul Birmingham), Oscar Ryndziewicz (Graypaul Glasgow), Bal Sidhu (HR Owen), and Fedor Samorukov (HR Owen), and in the Coppa Shell with Huseyin Sert (Maranello Sales) and Ehsan Ranjbar (HR Owen). Among them, Ryndziewicz and Leathem stood out by securing third place on the podium, in Race-1 and Race-2 respectively.