The third round of the 2024 Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli UK race series commenced today at Snetterton race circuit in Norfolk. Heady sunshine followed initial showers, and the resulting conditions set the stage for a fascinating spectacle of competitive racing action as the Trofeo Pirelli and Coppa Shell drivers pushed their Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo race cars to the limit.
Qualifying 1. In Trofeo Pirelli, Gilbert Yates (Charles Hurst) extracted the most from his qualifying session, stringing together an impressive lap of 2’09’’727 to outqualify Andrew Morrow (Charles Hurst) by nearly 1 sec. In Coppa Shell, the experienced Gary Redman (Graypaul Nottingham), unphased by the slippery conditions, set a flying lap of 2’15’’607 to finish top of his class.
Trofeo Pirelli. Clear skies and sunshine following a wet qualifying session produced an almost-dry track for the race start. Haymandhra Pillai (Jardine Colchester) started well, diving down the inside of turn one to slip past an unsuspecting Andrew Morrow (Charles Hurst). Undeterred, the 2023 Trofeo Pirelli championship winner retaliated quickly to push back past Pillai and focus his efforts on fellow Charles Hurst stablemate Yates, who was working hard to consolidate his lead. Further back, Pranav Vangala (HR Owen) quickly adjusted to the improved track conditions, pouncing upon a mistake from Pillai to move up into the podium places.
Upfront, the battle for 1st place continued. Morrow worked diligently to improve his lap times and by the midpoint was within half a second of Yates. As the clock counted down, the battle between the pair grew more intense, reaching a crescendo just 7 minutes before the end when a wide entry by Yates into Riches allowed Morrow to strike. Yates worked valiantly to close back in on the reigning champion, but it was Morrow who kept his cool and maintained his impressive pace to secure victory and extend his now 4-race unbeaten run at Snetterton.
Coppa Shell. A blistering start from Robert Rees (Dick Lovett Swindon) catapulted him from 4th to 1st place before the exit of Riches. Mike Dewhirst (Dick Lovett Swindon) also sought to capitalise on the opportunity, moving past Gary Redman to secure 2nd position despite the Nottingham driver's best efforts. Dewhirst wasn’t finished there, and quickly found his race pace as he closed the gap with Rees: making a move 7 minutes in when he capitalised upon a mistake by the frontman to secure the race lead. Despite the best efforts of Rees, it was Dewhirst, buoyant from his recent victory in Oulton Park, who pulled out a string of clean, consistently quick laps in the latter stages of the race to consolidate his position and secure his second race win of the season.
Tomorrow. Race 2 takes place on Sunday. Qualifying 2 will commence from 10:30 and Race 2 begins at 14:35. Conditions are expected to remain unchanged. Both sessions can be spectated live at the circuit or online at live.ferrari.com.