Race 1 – First Win For Khera

Lucky Khera wins the opening race of the season, with Graham de Zille winning in the Coppa Shell.

First Win. Lucky Khera (Graypaul Birmingham) managed to convert his pole position into his first win in a thrilling opening race of the season, which ended behind the safety following a spin from Paul Hogarth (Stratstone Manchester) and a downpour of rain.

Trofeo Pirelli. The drivers provided exciting action right from the start, as Paul Hogarth reacted quickly from the rolling start to pass Khera for the lead going into Paddock Hill bend. Khera would not give in, though, taking the fastest lap and staying within half a second of Hogarth for the majority of the race. The constant pressure from Khera eventually took its toll on Hogarth, who lost control of the rear end going into Paddock Hill bend just after the rain had started to fall, and ended up stuck in the gravel. This allowed Khera to retake the lead and also bought H. Sikkens (H.R. Owen London) into the top three, who had stayed with the leaders throughout, and eventually finished second in class ahead of Hogarth who kept third spot despite his spin.

Coppa Shell. Graham de Zille (Meridien Modena) made a flying start to the race, and established a strong class lead as he fought for the outright podium places with Khera, Sikkens and Hogarth. Battling the leaders for the entire race, de Zille also took the fastest lap in the class as he successfully held off the challenge of Sikkens to finish second overall in the race and first in the Coppa Shell. Jamie Thwaites (JCT600 Brooklands Leeds) pulled off a good move to take second place from Alex Moss (Graypaul Birmingham), who came home in third after defending the position following pressure from Paul Simmerson (Graypaul Birmingham).

Sunday at Brands Hatch will be another exciting day, with qualifying taking place at 12:50 and Race 2 at 15:00.