A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME
Series organisers expect grids to grow following a13-car entry forthe first round ofthe inaugural standalone Praga Cup season at Silverstone. Single-seater stalwarts Arden Motorsport and Mittell Cars each took a victory ontheir Praga debuts, but several teams suffered reliability issues with the R1 machine.
“It’s been a hell of a few months getting it all together but, onthe whole, really pleased,” said Praga Cars managing director Mark Harrison. “The first-ever race, there were thingsthat didn’t go quite to plan, but the second race went much better and we’re on our way.
“It’s still so early. The cars have hardly been out for testing. Two orthree ofthe new cars only came at the last minute. Lots ofthings add up. By the time we get to round three at Snetterton we will be well-oiled machines.”
Although grid numbers were slightly lower than theexpected 16 cars, Harrison believes that target will be reached by the middle ofthe season. “We’ll definitely get more cars because we had four or five drivers who would have been racing who didn’t havea National A race licence
[in time for Silverstone],” he said.
“We’ll definitely havemore cars at the nextround and, by the middle ofthe season, we’ll be up to the 16 cars that we promised. We’vealso gota couple of cars at the factory ready to roll.
“Every team that raced with us in
Britcar Endurance last year has come back, and we’ve got new teams, so we’re optimistic. I’m really pleased that people like Scott Mittell [from Mittell Cars] and RAW Motorsports are involved.
“We’ve had Arden here – which is fantastic – and they are looking at working with us through the season. We are attracting the right people and it’s making it really competitive.”
Alex Kapadia, who together with Richard Wells wonthe Praga class within the Britcar Endurance Championship last year, enjoyed the standalone format.
“Not having to dive between all the GT cars is great,” said Kapadia. “It’s much more pure. I think this is themost fun championship to be in. It’s super-fast and reasonably good value. You’ve gotequal cars and good depth of competition, and that will only get stronger.”
Ex-british Formula 4 and GB3 racer
Alex Connor and fellow Pro Tom Canning, running as an invitational entry, were victorious for Arden in an eventful opening race as several cars hit trouble. Ben Stone and Rob Wheldon were second for fellow debutant RAW Motorsports, while two-time F3 Cup champion Stefano Leaney took third with Jack Tomalin for Tim Gray Motorsport.
A brief rain shower caught a few drivers out in the early stages of racetwo, but Charles Hall and Scott Mittell stayed out of troubleto claim victory ahead of Stone and Wheldon, while Dan Gore and Christopher Wesemael completed a double-podium finish forthe Mittell team.