Niccolò Schirò reopens the game; fine return for Thomas Gostner

Niccolò Schirò made off with the victory at the end of the first Trofeo Pirelli race held this afternoon at the Imola track, replicated by Thomas Gostner on his comeback into the Coppa Shell. The first event of the sixth round of the Ferrari Challenge Europe blasts the overall standings wide open, not just in the Trofeo Pirelli, but also in the Coppa Shell Am, where a victory for Henrik Jansen and a second place for Agata Smolka, combined with a ninth place for Laurent De Meeus, reshuffles the general standings. In Coppa Shell and Trofeo Pirelli Am, Tani Hanna and Emanuele Maria Tabacchi climbed onto the podium to consolidate their positions.

Trofeo Pirelli. Niccolò Schirò (Rossocorsa) made an authoritative drive to take a third season victory ahead of Bjorn Grossmann (Octane 126), who first claimed pole position then later the fastest lap of the race and Sam Smeeth (Baron Motorsport) who, in an intense finale, tenaciously held his third spot from the assaults of Fabienne Wohlwend (Octane 126) and Adam Carroll (Ferrari Budapest). The English driver, thanks to a splendid overtaking manoeuvre on the final lap on the first female to have claimed top honours in the Ferrari Challenge, eventually finished in fourth place. An unlucky race for the leader of the general standings Louis Prette (Formula Racing) who finished in sixth place, thus allowing Schirò to slightly close the gap on the leader board.

Trofeo Pirelli Am. Jan Danis (Scuderia Praha) steps onto the top step of the rostrum for the third time this season, ahead of Martin Nelson (Scuderia Autoropa) and Emanuele Maria Tabacchi (Rossocorsa). The trio, who took the chequered flag within a 2”3 interval, battled throughout the thirty-minutes of the race, alongside Christian Overgaard (Forza Racing), fourth past the chequered flag.

Coppa Shell. A winning comeback for Thomas Gostner in the Coppa Shell who dominated the race in Coppa Shell ahead of Tani Hanna (Formula Racing) and John Farano (Rossocorsa), whose return to the series has been a decidedly positive one. In a race characterised by numerous incidents, Gostner skilfully fended off the attacks mounted by an aggressive Fons Scheltema prior to the entrance of the Safety Car, then those of Hanna in the latter part of the race. The class leader frustrated the attempts by Farano to overtake him, beating him over the line by a mere three tenths-of-a-second.

Coppa Shell Am. On the top step of the podium celebrating a fourth season win was Henrik Jansen (Formula Racing) ahead of Agata Smolka (Rossocorsa) and Alexander Nussbaumer (Scuderia Gohm). The race was divided by the Safety Car into two distinct phases. In the first, Smolka commanded the group ahead of Jansen and Mattsson, while in the second, the driver from Formula Racing took up the baton to cross the line 5”085 ahead of the speedy Pole and 16”4 ahead of Alexander Nussbaumer. A tough race, with a ninth place finish for Laurent De Meeus (HR Owen) who fell foul of a couple of unlucky incidents, including spinning off, which reduce his advantage in the standings.