Felix Hirsiger (Ineco – Reparto Corse RAM) in the Trofeo Pirelli and Zois Skrimpias (Ineco – Reparto Corse RAM) in the Coppa Shell won at the wheel of their 296 Challenge cars in the final races of round six of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Europe at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Hendrik Viol (Scuderia Praha Racing) also triumphed in the Trofeo Pirelli Am, while in the Coppa Shell Am, Charles Chan (Formula Racing) claimed his maiden win.

The hot Spanish weekend also featured Ferrari official driver Lilou Wadoux, who served as Race Advisor for the Prancing Horse one-make series.

Trofeo Pirelli. Hirsiger claimed another victory, extending his championship lead over fellow countryman Jasin Ferati (Emil Frey Racing) to 11 points with only two rounds to go. He also earned bonus points for pole position with a time of 1’42”279 and for setting the fastest lap in 1’44”137. Starting from pole, Hirsiger defended against early overtaking attempts from Gilles Renmans (Francorchamps Motors Brussels), the eventual runner-up, before gradually pulling away to finish first again during the Catalan weekend. Third place went to American Dylan Medler (The Collection), while Ferati made a remarkable comeback, gaining 17 positions to finish fourth after being moved to the back of the grid because his car was found non-compliant in qualifying.

Hendrik Viol also secured a double in the Trofeo Pirelli Am, repeating his Race-1 victory, starting from class pole and consistently running among the main-category drivers. With his fourth win and ninth podium of the season, the Czech driver extended his lead in the standings to 29 points over Michael Verhagen (Ferrari Warszawa), who finished fifth today, and 42 over Marco Zanasi (Motor Service – Pinetti Motorsport), who took third behind David Gostner (CDP – MP Racing), once again the fastest in class.

Coppa Shell. After a thrilling, race-long duel, Zois Skrimpias took his second win of the season, getting the better of yesterday’s winner, Oscar Lee Ryndziewicz (Kessel Racing). Starting from pole with a time of 1’43”653, the Greek driver held off Ryndziewicz’s repeated overtaking attempts until a dramatic final lap, when the Scot briefly took the lead and set the fastest lap before Skrimpias fought back to take the flag. Fons Scheltema (Kessel Racing) completed the podium after a decisive late move on John Dhillon (Formula Racing). Manuela Gostner (Ineco – Reparto Corse RAM) maintained her lead in the standings. 

After finishing second yesterday, Charles Chan earned his first win in the European series with a victory in the Coppa Shell Am. Having taken the lead early on, he managed to hold off his pursuers to the finish. The Hong Kong driver also recorded the fastest lap of the race in 1’47”841, narrowly beating Friedrich Müller (Gohm Motorsport – Engstler) in a close finish, with Müller making the podium for the second day in a row. Andreas König (Emil Frey Racing) rounded out the podium in third.

Sven Schömer (Penske Sportwagen Hamburg) remains at the top of the standings despite finishing outside the top ten today, after receiving a drive-through penalty from the stewards for colliding with pole-sitter Jan Sandmann (Kessel Racing), who is second in the championship, 28 points behind. 

Next round. Following the summer break, the 296 Challenge cars will be back on track from 17 to 21 September for the seventh and penultimate round of the season at Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps, as part of the Ferrari Racing Days.