Ferrari Challenge North America Kicks off at COTA

Ferrari Challenge completed its first racing action of Ferrari Racing Days at the Circuit of the Americas on Saturday 22 April under perfect Texas conditions. Blue skies and cool temperatures prevailed and offered drivers a perfect canvas on which they delivered a spectacular day of racing, the opening stanza for Ferrari Racing Days. 

Trofeo Pirelli. Manny Franco (Ferrari of Lake Forest) drove away from the rest of the Trofeo Pirelli field after a dramatic start saw him surge past the pole-sitter Jeremy Clarke (Ferrari of Beverly Hills) in the opening sequence.  By the time the 30-minute contest was complete, he had earned a gap of over six seconds to eventual second-place finisher Matt Kurzejewski (Ferrari of Beverly Hills).  Jason McCarthy (Wide World Ferrari) rounded out the podium finishing a further three seconds behind.  Points leader in the category, Roberto Perrina (Ferrari of Seattle) finished just off the podium as he chased down McCarthy in the closing moments, finishing just one second behind.

In Trofeo Pirelli AM, it was Justin Rothberg (Ferrari of Palm Beach) who led home Marc Muzzo (Ferrari of Ontario) and Brian Kaminskey (Ferrari of Long Island). Kaminskey especially was under pressure as the clock ticked over as he finished just three-tenths of a second ahead of Brian Cook (Ferrari of Seattle) for the final podium position.

Coppa Shell. The race saw the sole safety car intervention on the day in the opening lap as a driver found themselves trapped in the gravel, requiring rescue.  Ultimately, the race resumed with plenty of time still on the clock for a fabulous contest, one that was ultimately won by Grey Fauvre (Ferrari of San Francisco). The leading sequence of cars was shuffled through a wild turn-one sequence allowed some drivers to make immense progress while others suffered unlucky delays.  But by the end of the race, Dave Voronin (Foreign Cars Italia) secured the second position, his first podium in the Challenge championship, while pole-sitter Sureel Choksi (Ferrari of Denver) rounded out the podium in third. 

In the Coppa Shell AM category, Dan Cornish (Ferrari of Austin) secured his place at the top step with a fantastic move on then-race leader Lisa Clark (Ferrari of Beverly Hills).  The California driver finished second in the final reckoning, ensuring her points lead in the championship remains unchallenged.  The duo were in a bit of a league of their own with Darren Bernstein (Ferrari of Washington) rounding out the podium, but finishing quite a few seconds behind the leading pair.

Schedule. Ferrari Challenge returns on track on Sunday 23 April with qualifying and racing action as part of the final day of Ferrari Racing Days in North America.  All Ferrari Challenge sessions will be streamed live on live.ferrari.com.