Ferrari Challenge UK: Manuela Gostner battles back to score valuable points at Brands Hatch

Manuela Gostner overcame a challenging weekend at Brands Hatch to secure another solid points finish in the penultimate round of the 2026 Ferrari Challenge UK season, recovering from a qualifying incident that ruled her out of Saturday's race before returning to finish fifth in the Pirelli Trophy class on Sunday.

Photo credits: Ferrari Races

Manuela Gostner overcame a challenging weekend at Brands Hatch to secure another solid points finish in the penultimate round of the 2026 Ferrari Challenge UK season, recovering from a qualifying incident that ruled her out of Saturday's race before returning to finish fifth in the Pirelli Trophy class on Sunday.

The Italian continued her maiden campaign in Ferrari Challenge UK after capturing the 2025 Ferrari Challenge Europe Shell Cup title, stepping up into the competitive Pirelli Trophy category reserved for pro drivers. Having made the move following her continental championship triumph, Gostner has steadily adapted to a calendar made up almost entirely of British circuits, many of which were completely new to her.

The season had begun positively with Ferrari Challenge UK's only mainland European round at Circuit Paul Ricard, where Gostner immediately collected second and third-place finishes in the Pirelli Trophy class.

She then continued to gain valuable experience around unfamiliar British venues, recording fourth and fifth-place finishes at Snetterton before returning to the podium with third place in Race 2 at Silverstone. Oulton Park proved a more difficult weekend, where she twice finished fifth, but the consistent points kept her in the mix heading into the fifth and penultimate round at the iconic Brands Hatch circuit.

Another venue she had never raced at before, Brands Hatch presented arguably the greatest challenge yet, particularly with the event using both the short Indy layout on Saturday and the demanding Grand Prix circuit on Sunday.

Despite the steep learning curve, Gostner immediately demonstrated encouraging pace. During the private pre-event test, she set the third-fastest overall time with a lap of 46.139 seconds, finishing less than half a second away from the outright pace setter. The encouraging form continued into official practice on Saturday morning, where the Italian clocked a best lap of 46.671 seconds to place seventh overall and fifth among the Pirelli Trophy competitors.

In qualifying, Gostner produced an excellent lap of 46.247 seconds to secure third overall on the grid, finishing just four tenths away from pole position despite her limited experience around the Kent circuit.

However, what had been shaping up as a strong qualifying effort quickly took an unexpected turn.

An incident in the closing moments of the session caused damage to her Ferrari, immediately putting her participation in Race 1 into doubt. The team worked intensively to repair the car ahead of Saturday afternoon's contest, but the damage meant that Gostner was ultimately forced to withdraw from Race 1.

"Brands Hatch was probably the toughest track I had ever driven, which made qualifying P3 on Saturday feel special, especially against drivers with so much experience there", she commented. "Unfortunately Saturday ended earlier than planned after a small setback after the qualifying session, but the team worked late into the night and somehow got the car ready for Sunday."

Photo credits: Ferrari Races

The overnight rebuild paid off and the #93 Ferrari 296 Challenge returned to the circuit on Sunday morning for practice, where Gostner immediately showed she had lost none of her confidence despite the previous day's setback, recording the fifth-fastest time before qualifying for the second race on the longer Grand Prix layout.

She posted a best lap of 1:28.151 to secure seventh overall and fifth in the Pirelli Trophy class, setting herself up for a recovery drive in the weekend's only race she would be able to contest.

When the lights went out for the 30-minute-plus-one-lap race, Gostner made a good start; launching from seventh overall, she immediately committed to the inside line through the famous Paddock Hill Bend, holding position while placing early pressure on Sean Ran's Shell Cup Ferrari ahead.

Running consistent laps in the 1:28.6 range, Gostner quickly established a comfortable margin over the cars behind, opening a gap of more than four seconds to Seminara within the opening three laps while remaining glued to the rear of Ran's Ferrari.

Although Sean Ran managed to edge away slightly through the middle phase of the race, the Italian maintained a consistent rhythm. While she was unable to immediately respond to the Shell Cup driver's pace, she simultaneously controlled the gap to the chasing Seminara, eventually stretching her advantage to almost ten seconds.

Holding seventh overall and fifth in the Pirelli Trophy standings, Gostner patiently waited for another opportunity. That opportunity arrived during the closing stages: with less than five minutes remaining, she began significantly reducing the gap once again, bringing herself back to within two seconds of Sean Ran.

Although her rival initially responded to stabilize the margin, Gostner found another burst of pace, gaining eight tenths of a second on lap 20 before finally executing a decisive overtaking move for sixth overall.

Once clear, she immediately demonstrated superior pace, pulling nearly five seconds clear in only a handful of laps while beginning to close rapidly on Shell Cup leader Beighton ahead.

Although she reduced the deficit to under five seconds before the chequered flag, time ultimately ran out.

Gostner crossed the finish line sixth overall and fifth in the Pirelli Trophy class, salvaging valuable championship points.

Reflecting on the second race day, Gostner praised everyone involved in getting her Ferrari back onto the circuit. "Truly incredible work from everyone", she said. "Back behind the wheel for Race 2, everything quickly felt normal again. I qualified P5 in a super-close session and finished the race in the same position."

"A challenging weekend with a bit of everything, but we handled it together and came home smiling."

Despite the setback that cost her the opportunity to capitalize on her Saturday starting position, Gostner once again demonstrated resilience during her rookie Ferrari Challenge UK campaign. After five rounds, she sits fifth in the Pirelli Trophy standings with 77 points heading into the season finale at Donington Park on 19-20 September, where she will look to finish her first British campaign on a high note.