Voices from the podium of race 1 at Brands Hatch

Under the scorching sun, the Ferrari Challenge UK Trofeo Pirelli held Race 1 on the historic Brands Hatch 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: “I think I was disappointed to not have a better start. Ended up being stuck in third, and then it took me a few laps to make it past Paul (Simmerson), who put up a pretty good fight. It meant that when I was chasing Gilbert (Yates) down, we also got the race cut short by four minutes. I reckon I would have had a better shot if I had been second the whole way, obviously. But you win some, you lose some, so broadly pretty happy with the result”. 

Paul Simmerson (Graypaul Birmingham), third in Trofeo Pirelli: “I had a good, reasonable qualifying. I was a bit slower than I was yesterday but started in P3. I managed to get a great start, got the inside of Pranav Vangala, then a couple of laps later, I saw him gaining on me, so I gave him space up through Druids and racing room through Graham Hill. We were coming up towards Surtees and he drifted across the track and pushed me straight onto the grass. It was obviously going to get bit feisty, but we'll see if he will do it again and what happens tomorrow”.

Peter Hunter (Stratstone Manchester), winner in Coppa Shell: 

Mike Dewhirst (Dick Lovett Swindon), second in Coppa Shell: “Really good race. It was hot, but the tires held up surprisingly well. The race was cut a bit short, if you're saving your tyres for the end, you didn't really get chance to exploit them fully, but it was tight, and everyone drove a good race, and there just wasn't very many opportunities. I think my tactic of going towards the end didn't pay off today. The race was cut so that was it!”. 

Paul Rogers (HR Owen), third in Coppa Shell: “I enjoyed the race, I was catching second in front of me at one period, but unfortunately my tires just then started to go off and got too hot, because you know how hot it is today and I had to settle for third place. I had an 11 second gap behind me, so I didn't worry. And then when the car went off and we got that yellow flag, that slowed everybody down and that was it. But no, it was a really, really nice race”.