Challenge Europe - Glory in Brno for Nielsen, Froggatt, Hurni and Nussbaumer

Brno, 21 July 2018 – Ferrari 488 Challenge drivers Nicklas Nielsen, Chris Froggatt, Christophe Hurni and Alexander Nussbaumer won the first races of the Brno round of the Ferrari Challenge Europe 2018. Trofeo Pirelli. The day opened with the Trofeo Pirelli, which saw a breakaway at the start by Danish driver Nicklas Nielsen in pole, who took advantage of the duel between rookie Sean Hudpseth (Formula Racing) and Bjorn Grossmann (Octane 126). Towards mid-race the German driver received a penalty for jumping the start and this opened the way to a Formula Racing clean sweep with podium places for Nielsen, Hudspeth and Jens Liebhauser. Grossmann had to settle for fourth ahead of Alessandro Vezzoni (Rossocorsa-Pellin Racing). Pirelli Am. Scuderia Praha's Jan Danis was one of the drivers penalised for jumping the start. The Czech had done really well to use pole position to pull away from his rivals. However, the drive-through relegated him to the back of the field from where he executed an exciting comeback to secure second place after overtaking Martin Nelson (Scuderia Autoropa) and Fabienne Wohlwend (Octane 126).Chris Froggatt won the race, it was the fifth of the season for the Ferrari GB – HR Owen driver. Coppa Shell. The Coppa Shell race was decided at the start when Christophe Hurni, in the 488 Challenge of Team Zenith Sion-Lausanne, overtook polewoman Manuela Gostner (Ineco-MP Racing) at the first curve. On the second row, her sister Corinna jumped the start and incurred a drive-through penalty. Shortly after, Erich Prinoth overtook Eric Cheung (Formula Racing) to take third. Manuela Gostner kept Hurni under pressure throughout but the Swiss made no mistakes and crossed the finish line with a lead of just under one second. This is Hurni’s second win of 2018, while Gostner is celebrating her second runner-up spot. Prinoth is back on the podium after missing out at Silverstone. Cheung, in fourth, still tops the standings. Shell Am. In the Coppa Shell Am, Alexander Nussbaumer was the author of a perfect race: starting from pole, the Formula Racing driver took an immediate lead over his rivals, leaving second place to Murat Cuhadaroglu (Kessel Racing). Ingvar Mattsson (Scuderia Autoropa), who entered the weekend leading the championship, made a thrilling late comeback. On the last lap, Dusan Palcr, who had just been overtaken by Mattsson, tried to recover his podium position but hit the Swedish driver's car and spun out. However, Mattsson resumed immediately to notch up yet another podium in 2018. It’s the same again tomorrow with races at 12.50 pm and 3.35 pm.     [playlistembed4me id="baab40f6-72ce-4c25-a469-4161f2733dd8"]