The first race on the Silverstone track in the fourth round of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli UK was alive with heated duels. Overtaking, attacks and a few mistakes animated Race 1 which was only decided in the final laps: Carl Cavers triumphed in the Trofeo Pirelli while Chris Smith crossed the line first in the Coppa Shell.
Carl Cavers, Trofeo Pirelli winner:
Andrew Morrow, second place Trofeo Pirelli: “It was a good race, I struggled at the end… To be honest, you want to secure championship points but at the same time, you want to get first. I was trying hard, but Carl got me into the wrong end of Turn 2”.
Faisal Al-Faisal, third place Trofeo Pirelli: “I feel amazing. I mean, we ended up 11th [in Q1] and we fought just to enjoy the race with no pressure. We started overtaking one by one, and then we see the possibility. I think we’ve been able to do it and I'm so happy.”
Chris Smith, Coppa Shell winner:
Paul Simmerson, second place Coppa Shell: “It was a really hard-fought race – there was a couple of spins in front of me but I managed to avoid them. Unfortunatley I saw Paul Hogarth spin out and that was how I knew I was in P1. And then my team mate was behind me… Chris [Smith] knows me, there’s no way he’ll try anything, and he got me into Turn 3 - it was a fantastic move! Honestly, I'm absolutely made up for Chris Smith. He’s worked really, really hard... and I'm delighted for him that he got first. Well-deserved!”.
Paul Rogers, third place Coppa Shell: “It was a tough, tough, race – long time coming! My first podium this year, I’ve had bad luck this year with crashing… I think everyone was really struggling in the last 6 laps for tyres. One guy span twice in front of me before I went past him… You know this circuit – it’s quite forgiving, it’s big, it’s got space, it’s beautiful and I'm really happy.”