It was another sunny day at Brands Hatch as the cars lined up on the Elite 1 grid for today’s thirty-eight lap race with Ander Vilariño starting eighth after his disappointing race yesterday when he had to retire and Romain Iannetta further back in fifteenth position after a strong sixth. At the rolling start Ander got away cleanly and avoiding trouble held onto eighth place at the end of the opening lap but on lap three the Safety Car was deployed to allow a stranded car at Paddock Bend to be removed. At the restart on lap nine Ander was right behind Graff with Whorton-Eales behind him and the Spanish driver was able to hold his position but on lap eleven the Racing Engineering car was hit by Whorton-Eales at Graham Hill Bend and he did well not to spin but he lost a place to his rival. On lap thirteen Ander out-braked Whorton Eales into Paddock to regain eighth which became seventh on lap fifteen when Hezemans pitted for a drive-through penalty.

There was another Safety Car period on lap sixteen when a further car was caught in the gravel trap at Paddock and it was six laps before racing resumed. Ander lost a place to his teammate Romain at the restart but was able to regain the position as the cars raced down the Brabham Straight and he was up to sixth when Rocca left the track at Graham Hill Bend. On lap twenty-eight the Racing Engineering car passed Sedgwick to move up to fifth and he was looking to close the gap to Day and Graff in third and fourth. Ander was now the quickest car on the track and with two laps left Ander was right on the bumper of Graff but he had to settle for fifth just 0.2 seconds behind him.

Romain made yet another great start gaining four places to start the second lap in eleventh with Ercoli just ahead and Ferrando chasing him. The French driver was able to hold his position after the Safety Car restart but lost a place to Ferrando on lap fifteen but Hezemans’ pitstop meant he was still in eleventh. As racing got underway after the second Safety Car period Romain passed several cars, including Ander, to lie seventh until Ander regained his position. Almost immediately the Racing Engineering car passed Rocca and Sedgwick to take sixth spot with ten laps remaining. As the race entered the final five laps Romain had to drive defensively as he had the car of Ercoli close behind but he drove perfectly to take sixth just 0.6 seconds behind Ander.

It was still hot for the second race of the day, this one for Elite 2 drivers, which would make it tough for the drivers over the thirty laps. Following yesterday’s race, with their grid positions determined by the drivers fastest lap in that race, Myatt Snider was starting from ninth on the grid with Eric Clement in sixteenth. From the rolling start Myatt immediately gained two places to lie seventh at the end of lap one but two laps later he was passed by Jeffs to drop to eighth but he immediately set some fast laps to close back in on Jeffs who was at the back of a big pack of cars fighting for second. By lap fifteen, the halfway point in the race, it was becoming very tense at the front of the field with the cars from second to Myatt in eighth running nose to tail with all the drivers looking for any advantage while not overusing their tyres that had already done thirty laps in yesterday’s race.

An accident on lap eighteen at Druids saw the Safety Car out on the track allowing the cars to close up and giving the drivers a chance to cool their tyres. Racing resumed again on lap twenty-four with just six left to run and Myatt immediately gained a place to seventh on the exit from Paddock Hill Bend and he was right on the bumper of Jeffs car but he was being challenged by Risitano at Druids but he was able to keep his position. The remaining laps saw the young American fighting hard to keep Risitano back and he took the chequered flag in seventh.

Eric had a clean getaway gaining a place into Paddock Hill Bend and finishing the opening lap in fifteenth and by lap eight he was involved in a tight battle with Hemborg ahead and Krasonis just behind. The battle continued up until lap fifteen when Eric had a spin at Druids resuming in twenty-third position. The French driver did not give up and began to gain places over the second half of the race and he quickly progressed to eighteenth where he finished taking the victory in the Legends Class.

A much better day for Racing Engineering today with all four cars finishing, three of them in the top seven and a win in the Legends Class. There will now be a four-week break before the teams meet again at the Most circuit in the Czech Republic.

Team Comments:

Alan Queille - Technical Director: "Today we recovered a bit of ground and at least managed to have both Elite 1 cars in the top 6 and Myatt in 7th. Pity about Eric, who was sent into a spin while fighting for points. This is still not the aim; however, it is a step forward compared to yesterday. Our expectations were definitely higher before coming to Brands Hatch and we will take advantage of the upcoming break before the races in Czech Republic to see what happened to our cars after Valencia and get back to the performance level we showed there."

Ander Vilariño: “Today we finished in the top 5 after starting from eighth. It's not a bad result but I think that everybody in the team were expecting more. It has been a tough weekend and now we've got time for everyone in the team, to put everything into getting back to the top positions in the next round in the Czech Republic.”

Romain Iannetta: "Today we had a good race. I had a good start and my restarts were also good and I managed to pass several cars. The car was quick during the first part of the race and I was able to go at the speed of the leading cars. We missed out a little bit today, but we are on the right path. I finished 6th, which was good after yesterday’s race. Now we will work on making it better for the next race.”

Myatt Snider: "I made up a few spots at the start, but just couldn’t keep rear grip on the tyres, so we ended up 7th. Still proud of everyone at Racing Engineering for giving me such a good Ford performance Ford Mustang. We’ll try again in Most."

Eric Clement: "During the first three laps I felt quite OK, then the car became difficult for me to drive. I was hit by another car, spun and ended up at the back of the field. There was little I could do from then on."