The chequered flag fell on an exhilarating finale to the 2024 Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli UK championship series this weekend at Silverstone. After Gilbert Yates (Charles Hurst) mathematically sealed his championship victory in the Trofeo Pirelli series during Race 1, the stage was set for Dick Lovett duo Mike Dewhirst and Robert Rees to battle it out for the coveted 2024 Coppa Shell title.
Qualifying 2. In Trofeo Pirelli, Gilbert Yates continued his fine form to post the fastest lap time of 2:04.418, securing his eighth pole of the season. In Coppa Shell, it was Saturday runner-up Stuart Marston (Maranello Sales) who achieved pole, just 0.3 secs ahead of fellow 2023 returnee Paul Simmerson (Graypaul Birmingham).
Trofeo Pirelli. Yates quickly found pace in the early stages of the race, building a narrow one-sec advantage ahead of fellow Irishman Andrew Morrow (Charles Hurst). The race settled, until an incident between Morrow and Haymandhra Pillai (Jardine Colchester) demoted the pair to third and fourth respectively. Their incident handed the advantage to Yates, who by the halfway point led second placed driver Pranav Vangala (HR Owen) by nearly 20 secs.
Morrow pushed hard to catch back up to Vangala, laying down serious rubber in an attempt to close the gap. But the HR Owen driver was determined to keep his podium spot and pressed on to consolidate his position in the order. As the race concluded, it was Yates who completed the perfect race weekend sealing his 5th win of the season as Ferrari Challenge UK Trofeo Pirelli champion.
Coppa Shell. Robert Rees (Dick Lovett Swindon) delivered a trademark electric start and leapt up the order to secure pole position before the beginning of Farm Curve. Polesitter Simmerson retaliated quickly, passing the Welshman less than a lap later to retake the lead. Further down the order, Mike Dewhirst (Dick Lovett Swindon) quickly charged towards the podium places. Before he had the chance to arrive at Rees’s bumper, the Welshman suffered a spin. His misfortune sent the championship leader to the bottom of the order handing the advantage to title rival Dewhirst.
Dewhirst, spurred on by the possibility of championship victory, pushed his Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo to the limit in an attempt to move up the order. Ahead of him sat a determined Marston who refused to concede his position. With just a few laps to go, the pair caught race leader Paul Simmerson and the resulting three-car battle proved advantageous to Dewhirst, who cut past Marston with just a minute remaining to secure second.
On the final lap, it looked as though Dewhirst had pulled off an incredible comeback to secure the Coppa Shell championship title in his debut season. But an irrepressible Rees refused to surrender, and in the final throws made a move to pass Peter Hunter (Stratstone Manchester) and rise up into fifth. Rees’s last-lap heroics secured the Welshman enough points to win his first Ferrari Challenge UK Coppa Shell title in an intra-dealer championship battle which has thrilled spectators throughout the season.
Next season: The racing calendar for the 2025 Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli UK championship was announced Saturday evening, where drivers will visit four locations in the UK, as well as a new European track for the series. The season finale will take place at Silverstone as part of Ferrari Racing Days.
The 2025 schedule can be found below:
Round: Location: Date:
Round 1 Navarra, Spain 25 - 27 April
Round 2 Oulton Park, UK 16 - 17 May
Round 3 Brands Hatch, UK 20 - 22 June
Round 4 Donington Park, UK 26 - 27 July
Round 5 Silverstone, UK 5 - 7 September