Silverstone race report: First time winners! Debut victories for Stanislaus, Stowell and Mitchell
Race 1: Mitchell and Stanislaus star
A sunny Silverstone Grand Prix circuit greeted a packed grid of 27 drivers competing in a combined Sports Prototype Cup and Zeo Prototype grid.
Heading the Cup field for the start was the Open class Praga R1-T of Ruben Stanislaus ahead of series debutant Jonathan Mitchell, taking a stunning Revolution Trophy pole. The former historic and Caterham racer adapted to the supercharged 500bhp car very quickly after just a single test session.
Into lap two, Stanislaus led, pulling away from teammate, former WEC driver Rodolfo Gonzalez, with Mitchell leading the Revolution Trophy.
Barcelona winner, Richard Morris, (Revolution 500SC) was a couple of seconds behind Mitchell with the similar car of Evo magazine’s James Taylor doing battle with Will Stowell (Praga).
By half distance, Mitchell extended his Revolution Trophy lead to an impressive 17 seconds over Morris. In the Open class, Stanislaus remained in control, battling for overall victory with Zeo leader Mike Jenvey. Stanislaus was four seconds clear of Gonzalez, who in turn was battling with the similar (but non-SPC) University of Wolverhampton Praga.
Another impressive Revolution debutant was former Radical winner, Nigel Redwood, who made progress from a lowly grid position to jump ahead of Taylor by lap eight.
Into the closing stages, a stirring battle for overall victory between the top two Zeo cars gave Gonzalez the opportunity to pounce on Stanislaus and snatch the Sports Prototype Open lead. A lap later, the battling Praga duo switched the order again. In the Revolution Trophy, Mitchell was now over forty seconds clear of Morris in a truly dominant debut performance, with Redwood looking comfortable in third. Taylor was enjoying his return to Revolution racing in fourth place, with Penteado an impressive fifth in the first non-supercharged Revolution.
Race 1 Podium:
Sports Prototype Open class: 1st Ruben Stanislaus 2nd Rodolfo Gonzalez 3rd Will Stowell
(all Praga R1-T)
Revolution Trophy: 1st Jonathan Mitchell 2nd Richard Morris 3rd Nigel Redwood (all Revolution 500SC)
Race 2: Mitchell does the double, Stowell takes Open win
Race 2 saw Mitchell on the front row and well placed to repeat his Revolution Trophy win, just ahead of Stanislaus heading the Cup Open class. Prolific Revolution race winner, James Abbott, joined the grid for this race and there was much anticipation on how far he could climb from sixth. Likewise, Iberian LPC class champion, Roger Green, would take the start for the afternoon encounter, but from an out of position 18th.
At the start, Mitchell made a stunning start to take the lead from the pole position Zeo entry of Mike Jenvey around the outside of Copse. Abbott delivered an equally epic first lap to move into second place overall and in the Revolution Trophy.
In the Open class, Stanislaus was delayed in a first lap melee, losing a lot of time trying to restart. It set the scene for a stirring comeback drive for the Praga star. Green had a similar story, making up first lap places before being stranded at Vale before restarting.
After ten minutes, Mitchell led Abbott by three seconds. Abbott was engaged in a captivating battle with the Praga of Shane Kelly, which was registered for the Zeo championship, rather than the Open class. This meant that Will Stowell led the class in his Praga, with the recovering Stanislaus having lost 50 seconds with his first lap dramas, but already up to eight overall.
Two laps later, Abbott’s charge was curtailed by a long pitstop, leaving Mitchell in a very comfortable Revolution Trophy lead from Morris and Penteado. Will Stowell headed the Open class on his Cup debut,
Race 2 Podium:
Sports Prototype Open class: 1st Will Stowell 2nd Ruben Stanislaus 3rd Rodolfo Gonzalez
Revolution Trophy: 1st Jonathan Mitchell 2nd Richard Morris 3rd Joaquim Penteado