The third round of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli UK at Donington Park kept the experienced drivers on their toes, with rookie drivers pushing seasoned racers down the field. Andrew Morrow (Charles Hurst Belfast) earned his first win in the Trofeo Pirelli whilst newcomer Jason Ambrose (Dick Lovett Swindon) dominated the Coppa Shell class with his third and fourth consecutive race wins in the season.
Race 1 saw the three drivers entertain audiences with dramatic racing: on the second lap, the trio came into turn one side-by-side, with Sikkens trying to defend his lead from Khera on the outside and Morrow cutting up the inside. Morrow pushed the Dutch driver wide to take the lead, whilst Khera slowed to follow Morrow through to maintain his second position, ahead of Sikkens who lost two places.
The trio kept the pressure on one another for the duration of the race, but a Safety Car deployment to recover Faisal Al-Faisal (HR Owen London), brought all of the cars back together. Two laps later and a mistake on Roberts chicane by Morrow saw his car run wide and Khera snatch first place. With Morrow now battling Sikkens, Khera was able to build a commanding lead and remained in first place to the finish line. The more experienced Sikkens failed to find a way past the rookie driver, and on the last corner of the last lap, Sikkens span off the track, falling to fifth. This promoted Graham De Zille (Meridien Modena) to third, despite crossing the line after Paul Hogarth (Stratstone Manchester), who unfortunately earned a 10-second penalty for being out of position at the start of the race.
The second qualifying session was dry throughout but again saw drama in the final third of the session. With less than 0.3 seconds separating the top four drivers, new-entrant Oliver Kilbride (Carrs Ferrari) slid off the track at McLeans, his speed taking him clean across the gravel resulting in a heavy rear impact in the tyre wall that smashed the concrete reinforcement behind. Thankfully, Kilbride was uninjured, but essential track repairs resulted in a red flag and a 40-minute pause to the session. On re-start, Morrow quickly found his pace to achieve his first ever pole-position with a time of 1:06.793. At the end of the session, less than half a second separated the top three drivers, with Sikkens and Khera just 0.202 seconds and 0.461 seconds respectively off the rookie driver's pace.
Race 2 was a professional affair, with Morrow leading the pack from pole-to-pole to take his first ever race win. Sikkens and Khera failed to catch their new rival, providing audiences with some great racing until a puncture on lap 17 saw Khera back to the pits. He returned to the track a lap behind the leaders, ultimately climbing one position to finish sixth in class. Sikkens held on to second place, whilst De Zille – who was promoted from the Coppa Shell class this year – finished in third place, his second podium place of the weekend.
In Race 1, Ambrose was without challenge, building a 14-second lead ahead of the pack before the safety car slowed the race and allowed Rogers and the rest of the pack to close the gap. Despite this, Ambrose continued to dominate the race to take his third consecutive win and his fifth podium finish in as many races. Rogers finished the race in second place, with Marston gaining a place to finish third after stewards imposed a 10-second penalty on Paul Simmerson (Graypaul Birmingham) for being out of position at the start.
Qualifying 2 saw Ambrose retain his front-row seat, taking pole position, with Rogers also performing consistently, again qualifying in second place behind the rookie driver. Amazingly, this was just 0.003 seconds faster than his on-track rival, off-track friend Simmerson, who will start the final race of the weekend in third position.
The unstoppable Ambrose continued to dominate his class, taking his fourth consecutive race win and sixth consecutive podium finish, making it six-of-six from his debut at Snetterton. Behind him, Marston climbed from fourth to second on the first lap, capitalising on the rivalry between Rogers and Simmerson. With the pair locked in battle, Marston comfortably took second place – his best result to date – whilst Simmerson would ultimately keep rival Rogers off the podium for third place.
Pirelli Ferrari formula classic. The first race enjoyed dry conditions, with Wayne Marrs taking first place in Race 1 of Pirelli Ferrari formula classic with a 7.700 second lead. He finished ahead of Vance Kearney and Tristan Simpson, all in Ferrari F355 Challenge cars.
Tim Walker capitalised on the early morning sun and the dry and bright track conditions for Race 2, taking the top place on the podium with a 13.482 second lead. Marrs brought home second place with Simpson close behind him.
Round 4 of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli UK takes the cars and drivers to Brands Hatch for the penultimate round of the 2022 season, on 02-04 September, before the series heads to Silverstone for the season finale on 16-18 September.
All qualifying sessions and races of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli UK are streamed live at live.ferrari.com
Photo credit: Ferrari North Europe
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Trofeo Pirelli. Lucky Khera (Graypaul Birmingham) immediately set the pace in Qualifying 1 with a fastest lap time of 1:06.620 early in the session, however rival H. Sikkens (H.R. Owen London) kept him from the podium. Pushing hard, Sikkens fastest lap of 1:06.604 was just 0.016 seconds quicker than Khera, earning him pole position. Khera had 10 minutes to respond, but heavy rain in the final third of qualifying prevented him from regaining pole. Andrew Morrow completed the top three.
Coppa Shell. Looking to continue his winning spree, newcomer Jason Ambrose qualified his Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo in pole position for the first race at Donington Park. Despite only joining the Ferrari Challenge UK series this year, Ambrose has finished every race in the 2022 season on the podium, with a double win in the last round at Snetterton. Paul Rogers (JCT600 Brooklands) and Stuart Marston (Maranello Sales) completed the top three.
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