Khera clinches second UK Championship title with one race to go

The final race weekend of the fourth season of the 2022 Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli UK saw Lucky Khera (Graypaul Birmingham) clinch his second championship title, with one race still to go. In the Coppa Shell series, Carl Cavers (Graypaul Nottingham) led in both Qualifying 1 and Race 1, keeping Jason Ambrose (Dick Lovett Swindon) and Paul Rogers (JCT600 Brooklands) battling for vital championship points.

Trofeo Pirelli. Coming into the weekend with a 19 point advantage over his closest rival, Khera was composed and confident on track. After just four laps, Khera set a fastest lap time of 2’04”150 to take pole position and keep a vital championship point away from rival H. Sikkens (HR Owen London), who was just 0”188secs off Khera’s pace to start the race in second place. Andrew Morrow (Charles Hurst), who came into the weekend in second place in the championship, suffered an accidental fire extinguisher deployment which unfortunately ended his qualifying session after four laps, resigning him to the back of the grid for the start. That allowed returning driver John Dhillon (Graypaul Nottingham) to place third in his first qualifying session of the season.

Khera made a clean start to Race 1, avoiding a multi-car melee in corner 2 which resulted in three drivers – Dhillon, Paul Hogarth (Stratstone Manchester) and Faisal Al-Faisal (HR Owen London) – back to the pits and to retire from the race.

After the first of two Safety Car deployments, Morrow had moved from 6th to 3rd and was now running with leader Khera and second place Sikkens. However, neither Sikkens or Morrow could improve on their position and they finished Race 1 behind the new 2022 Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli UK Champion, Lucky Khera.

Coppa Shell. Series newcomer Cavers was immediately on the pace at Silverstone, setting the fastest lap time in Qualifying 1 of 2’03”949 after just four laps of the 3.6mile circuit, the only driver of the day to enter the 2’03secs bracket. Series leader Ambrose set a time 1”623secs behind Cavers, with fellow newcomer John Seale (Carrs Ferrari) placing third in class.

Starting from an overall pole position, Cavers maintained a commanding lead over the pack, also avoiding the multi-car incident on Lap 1. Ambrose was not so lucky after he spun after being clipped by another car. He was able to re-join the race and kept pushing from the back of the pack, ultimately finishing in fourth place, helped somewhat by two Safety Car deployments. Ahead of Ambrose, Paul Simmerson (Graypaul Birmingham) finished in second position and Rogers – who came into the race in second place in the championship – finished in third place.

Standings. In Trofeo Pirelli, Lucky Khera has accumulated 128 points, with his 25 point lead gifting him the Championship Title with one race to go. Both Sikkens and Morrow head into Race 2 equal on 103 points.

In Coppa Shell, Ambrose has 119 points, Rogers 110 and Simmerson 96. Race 2 will decide the Championship, starting 16:20 tomorrow.

Programme. The final race of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli UK takes place tomorrow – 18 September 2022. Qualifying starts at 11:15 and Race Two at 16:20, both of which can be watched live at live.ferrari.com