Festival Italia Brands Hatch

Sunday (14/08/2016) a little piece of Italy made a visit to Kent as Brands Hatch hosted the first Festival Italia. The sky was blue, the sun was out, a glorious meeting for spectator and competitor alike…

The Festival Italia is an event with a difference. Not only was there action on the circuit but plenty to see and do off track too in the surrounding pits, paddock and grandstand areas. There was a small Italian market where you could purchase Italian cheeses, wine and other foods, a fun fair and many cars and bikes on show with a ton of Italian car and bike clubs showing up with their highly polished prides of joy.

For the crowd’s enjoyment there were demonstrations from F1 cars, including the Benetton B190, a 1991 Dallara F191 and a utterly stunning Ferrari 212 F1, all of which howled around the famous Indy Circuit.

The race action was not without incident either, during qualifying of the BRSCC Alfa Romeo Championship Andrew Bourke suffered brake failure when entering Paddock Bend and ended up barrel rolling out the other side hitting the tire wall, bouncing into the catch fencing finishing up nose diving into the gravel trap. Thankfully Bourke escaped any serious injury, perhaps a little shaken and I would like to wish him a speedy recovery and swift return to this popular and highly contested championship. Overall, Andy Robinson secured the win in race 1 in his 156 and Chris Snowdon in race 2 in his Alfa 75.

The Pirelli Ferrari Formula Classic races were both won by novice racer Richard Cook in his Ferrari 355 Challenge machine, the first of the two Ferrari races, this were Cook’s first wins in this championship.

Full results from the meeting can be found here.

For a first meeting and event, Festival Italia successfully brought a slice of Italy to Brands Hatch with all it’s themed entertainment and demos and I look forward to seeing this weekend take a slot on next years calendar.