Kessel Racing headed to the brand-new Balaton Park Circuit last weekend to attend the second round of the Ferrari Challenge Europe. After securing one podium and one race win in COPPA SHELL at the season-opener in Mugello early in May, Henry Hassid came to Balaton as the class leader. After great race actions, the team secured good championship points and the #167 driver Henry Hassid from France kept his lead in the championship standings.
Saturday, 1st June 2024
After an early qualifying for the COPPA SHELL AM class, Jan Sandmann in the #186 Ferrari set the 9th fastest time, with his team-mate Stephen Earle in the #100 Kessel Racing Ferrari following in 11th place. The 30-minute race went underway in the afternoon, with still some damp patches in areas on the 4,115-kilometer-long track from the rain earlier in the day. After an exciting race, Stephen Earle improved by three positions and crossed the finishing line in eighth place, whilst his team-mate Jan Sandmann came home in P10.
The COPPA SHELL race took place late afternoon and the leader in the standings, Henry Hassid (#167), started this chase for championship points from six on the grid. His team-mate in the sister car #177 Fons Scheltema started from 9th place. Both Kessel-Racing-Drivers had a great start to the race: Henry Hassid stormed-up into 3rd place and Fons Scheltema even made-up four positions. Henry Hassid was on a great run, even taking over the race lead on lap 2, however as the challenging weather conditions made the track drying up quicker, both drivers pitted to get their slick tyres. After an eventful 30-minute race, Henry Hassid brought the #167 home in 6th place with Fons Scheltema completing two Top-10 finishes with P9.
Sunday, 2nd June 2024
The weather turned out better on Sunday morning for the COPPA SHELL AM and COPPA SHELL qualifying sessions. In the AM category, Jan Sandmann placed the #186 Ferrari in 10th place and his team-mate Stephen Earle in the #100 car was 11th fastest.
The COPPA SHELL AM race went ahead in dry conditions and a few laps into the 30-minute race, the Safety Car was brought out onto the track. The race continued with 17 minutes left on the racing clock and Jan Sandmann improved by six positions to cross the finishing line in P4 – unfortunately he was later given a penalty, which set him back to 6th position. Stephen Earle finished in P12.
Last but not least it was time for the second COPPA SHELL race. After the first race yesterday, Henry Hassid entered the race on Sunday still as championship leader by seven points from 4th on the grid, whilst his team-mate Fons Scheltema in 11th place. In a thrilling race, Henry Hassid crossed the finishing line initially in first place, securing his second victory of the season. However, he later received a five-second-penalty for overrunning the track limits. The Kessel-Racing-Driver still remains in first place in the standings, with an 11-point advantage over Dhillon and 17 over Tibor Valint.
The next race will take place at Jerez (Spain) on the weekend of 20th to 23rd June 2024.