At the end of the race, we gathered the comments from some of the podium protagonists of an intense 30 minutes of action on track.
Lucky Khera, 1st Trofeo Pirelli Race 1: “It was hard work because he’s [Swift] fast, that’s why. It was a brilliant race, so thanks for that. It was amazing, nothing much more to say. I’m not sure how I’m going to keep him behind me tomorrow. It’s a 4 letter word, and ‘knows’.”
James Swift, 2nd Trofeo Pirelli Race 1: “Khera was just too fast through the final chicane. I made a little bit of a mistake and then he got the run on me and then we just went round at the same pace, so there were no real passing opportunities. He just had more pace towards the end. The racing was close but fair I think; we got close and I couldn’t see him. I tried to leave him a cars- width but not any more. I think there will be some passing opportunities [in Race 2]. Today it seemed like when he was behind me, he had more pace, and I had the same behind him. Hopefully I can do the same tomorrow but be one second ahead.”
Graham de Zille, 1st Coppa Shell Race 1: “I have no idea how I keep finishing top; I just do as well as I can. I try not to dice too much with the guys around me if they’re not in my class, but there was some good dicing out there today. I thoroughly enjoyed it. For tomorrow I’m hoping for more of the same, it’s going to be a hot one. Quite sapping so we will see how it goes.”
Paul Simmerson, 2nd Coppa Shell Race 1: “The race was very hot. In qualifying, we had a coil pack failure; when we removed it, half of it had snapped, so we only had 7 cylinders. But we managed to get one lap in. At the race start, my aim was to get past a couple of cars early. When I saw Paul [Rogers] spin, it was like all my Christmases came at once. Once I passed him, I just backed off and saved the tyres to get to the end of the race. I knew he would try to catch me so I just tried to wait for him. I doubt I can catch Graham tomorrow, not unless someone is going to give me a Formula 1 car.”
Paul Rogers, 3rd Coppa Shell Race 1: “I think I don’t have much to learn, I’m still going to push the same. It was just too dusty today. Hopefully tomorrow I can qualify on the other side of the track.”