Breakell Racing enjoyed a weekend to remember as the Sports Prototype Cup competed in support of the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.
The Clitheroe based team made the lengthy 1,000 mile journey to Monza, based just north of Milan, with two Revolution A-Ones and a Radical SR3 in tow, as an exciting driver line-up of Richard Wells, Chris Short and Charles Graham prepared to race at the world-famous ‘Temple of Speed’.
Wells, a three-time podium finisher in the second half of the 2020 season, and relative Revolution newcomer Short were behind the wheel of the A-Ones, while Radical Challenge regular Graham was making his SR3 Trophy class debut in the Sports Prototype Cup.
With all three drivers competing at Monza for the first time, a 30 minute free practice session on Friday morning gave them the chance to get to grips with the 3.6 mile circuit. Qualifying followed that day, with Short and Wells finishing sixth and seventh overall respectively.
Buoyed by those strong results, Breakell Racing had high hopes for race one at Saturday lunchtime. Short produced a great performance to battle back from eighth place at one stage to fourth at the finish, only a few seconds shy of the podium, while Graham finished a competitive fifth in the Radical class.
Unfortunately for Wells, he was caught up in a multi-car incident outside of his control early in the race. Despite the best effort of the team, the car was too damaged to be repaired at the circuit, so Wells would be unable to participate in race two on Sunday.
The second race took place on the morning of the Italian Grand Prix, in front of grandstands filled with passionate ‘Tifosi’ crowd. A brilliant start for Short saw him pick off a couple of drivers in the early laps to get himself firmly in podium contention in third place.
Unfortunately a spin into the tight opening chicane would lead to an early conclusion to his race though. Graham meanwhile put in another great showing in the Radicals, improving his pace throughout the race en-route to another well-earned fifth place.
““What a fantastic weekend. I’ve never seen such big smiles on drivers’ faces than after FP1. Driving Monza, the ‘Temple of Speed’, in a prototype is a special opportunity and our whole team has loved every second of the experience.
“I’m very impressed with how all three drivers performed with it being their first ever visit to Monza. After making good progress on Friday, both Chris and Charles produced great drives in the races to come away with competitive results. It’s just a shame Chris in particular didn’t get the silverware he deserved.
“I’m absolutely gutted for Richard, who was incredibly unlucky to get caught up an incident ahead of him and end up with irreparable damage. He’ll be back stronger next time out. There’s been highs and lows along the way, but it’s been a week that we’ll always remember and a huge thank you to all the team members for their hard work throughout.””
The 2021 Sports Prototype Cup season is set to continue on Saturday 23rd October with a pair of 30 minute races at Donington Park, before another overseas event at Paul Ricard in France over the weekend of 5/6 November.
Breakell Racing made the most of their trip to mainland Europe with a visit to Hockenheim the Sunday prior to Monza (5th September), teaming up with German outfit WS-Racing for a corporate track day event.
The Lancashire squad gave invited guests the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a Revolution A-One and Radical SR3 around the former F1 German Grand Prix venue, with lots of happy faces after driving the thoroughbred prototype racers.
The team have opportunities available for arrive and drive trackday experiences and car hire. Interested parties can get in touch at info@breakellracing.co.uk or 07843 388161.
Next up for Breakell Racing is a busy end to their maiden season in Ginetta racing, starting with back to back events this month. The GT4 SuperCup and GT5 Challenge head to Croft in North Yorkshire next weekend (18/19 September), followed by the Juniors in action at Silverstone a week later.