Bruno Senna does the double at Silverstone!
It was another incredible demonstration for Bruno Senna at Silverstone yesterday. The 23-year old driver, nephew of one of the most legendary F1 World Champions, Ayrton Senna, starred as Ferrari Challenge Dealer Team GB’s special guest, driving a F430 Challenge in Brazilian colours. In this memorable action-packed weekend, devoted to Ferrari’s 60th Anniversary, Bruno drove in the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli European series and comfortably won both races, as well as capturing both pole positions. On Saturday, Bruno maintained the lead from green light to chequered flag and achieved the fastest lap time of the day with 1:58:891. After the pit stop, he was already several seconds ahead of the leading group and crossed the finish line with more than 11 seconds to spare. Sunday’s race was even more exciting for the young Brazilian as he had to contain Giacomo Piccini and Ange Barde who pushed him hard towards the latest stages of the race, but were unable to take the victor’s spoils away from Senna. He even managed to improve his lap time by over half a second with a best lap of 1:58.272.
“I am very happy about the results achieved over the weekend,” said Bruno. “It has been a very privileged opportunity for me to race in a Ferrari. The strategies of driving a race car derived from a road car are very different from a GP2 single seater; this means that over this weekend, I’ve gained an understanding of a different type of racing and this will help improve my driving skills as I’m still quite new to motor racing. And it was an incredible chance for me to get so close to many Tifosi Ferrari, feel their passion and their love for such an iconic brand!”
Massimo Fedeli, Managing Director of Ferrari GB, said, “We are very proud to have Bruno with us for this very special weekend of Ferrari passion. Not only is he a very clever and skilled driver, but the enthusiasm he has for racing he also brought to our VIP Ferrari owners, clients and guests. We hope he can share his time with us again in the future and we’ll always remember him for winning both races to help us celebrate this very special anniversary for Ferrari.”
Team Vertu Racing driver, Jamie Constable in Car 152, competing in the Coppa Shell category, qualified on Saturday in a respectable 10th place out of a packed grid of over 35 cars, finishing race 1 in 14th position. In race 2 on Sunday, he improved his pace and carefully picked his way through a very crowded race track to finish one position shy of a podium.
Mike Cantillon, in only his first race with Ferrari Challenge Dealer Team GB, made a stunning debut in the Coppa Shell European series, qualifying sixth for Saturday’s race and finishing a remarkable 4th, but in Sunday’s race he qualified in 7th and made it to the second step of the podium. Motorsport Director Enrico Bertaggia, was ecstatic when Mike finished second: “It’s fantastic! A new driver for the Team. He nearly made it to the podium yesterday but today he proved what he can do.”
Ferrari Racing Days was an action packed weekend for the Tifosi, with an incredible range of racing activities, courtesy of the factory’s Corse Clienti Department which hosted – in addition to the Trofeo Pirelli – F1 Clienti, Shell Ferrari Historic Challenge and the only official UK appearance of the ultra exclusive FXX programme. Moreover, the Ferrari Owners Club GB managed to create a display of over 1000 Ferrari cars during the weekend – including 44 iconic F40s – to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Crowds were also stunned by aerial displays from the Royal Navy Black Cats Helicopter display team, and were entertained by the Red Devils parachute team who competed in the pit-stop challenge demonstrations.
