Round three of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Europe 2024 at the Jerez circuit concluded with the first wins of the season for Philipp Baron (Gohm Motorsport – Baron Racing Team) in the Trofeo Pirelli and Manuela Gostner (Ineco – Reparto Corse RAM) in the Coppa Shell. The sweltering Spanish Sunday also saw victories for Claus Zibrandtsen (Formula Racing) in the Trofeo Pirelli Am and Andreas Königh (Gohm Motorsport – Haupt Racing Team) in the Coppa Shell Am. Fabrizio Fontana (Formula Racing) secured a second successive victory in the Trofeo Pirelli 488. Ferrari official driver Yifei Ye served as Race Advisor for the races in Spain.
Trofeo Pirelli: After two second-place finishes at Balaton, Philipp Baron claimed his first victory of the season in Race-2 at Jerez. Starting from third place, the Austrian driver took the lead, capitalizing on drive-through penalties for Giacomo Altoè (Emil Frey Racing) and Luca Engstler (Gohm Motorsport – Engstler) for excessive speed at the start. Baron controlled the second half of the race, finishing ahead of Luca Ludwig (MERTEL Motorsport). Despite a drive-through penalty, Altoè finished third, setting the fastest lap time of 1’43”838. Bence Valint (Ferrari Budapest – Rossocorsa), who finished fourth, retains the overall lead, six points ahead of Baron and seven over Altoè.
Claus Zibrandtsen also claimed his first win of the season in the Trofeo Pirelli Am, emerging victorious from a close contest. Marco Zanasi (CDP – Pinetti Motorsport) finished second, continuing his streak of podium finishes, and Angelo Fontana (Rossocorsa) took third. Hendrik Viol (Scuderia Praha Racing) retains the top spot in the standings, 11 points ahead of Zanasi, despite not finishing the race.
Coppa Shell: Manuela Gostner secured her first win of the season after a strong start and decisive overtake of Motohiko Isozaki (Cornes Motors Shiba). Tibor Valint (Ferrari Budapest – Rossocorsa) finished second, while Christophe Hurni (Zénit Scuderia) secured his first podium finish of the year in third. Thomas Gostner (CDP – MP Racing) finished fourth, and Henry Hassid (Kessel Racing), the poleman, finished fifth after a drive-through penalty for excessive speed at the start. Hassid retains the overall lead, 24 points ahead of John Dhillon (Graypaul Nottingham), 25 ahead of Manuela Gostner, and 29 over Tibor Valint.
In the Coppa Shell Am race, Andreas König won by just 558 thousandths of a second ahead of Zois Skrimpias (Ineco – Reparto Corse RAM), who started from pole. Andrea Levy (Rossocorsa) finished third, earning the extra point for the best lap time in class.
Trofeo Pirelli 488: Fabrizio Fontana continued his winning streak with another double victory following his success at Balaton. The Italian took pole position and maintained the lead throughout the 30-minute race, finishing with the fastest lap in the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo. Ivan David Mari (Garage Zénith – Best Lap – FCI) secured his first podium in second place, followed by Tommy Lindroth (Gohm Motorsport – Baron Racing Team) in third.
Next Round: The Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Europe will return to the Iberian Peninsula for round four in two weeks, from July 4 to 7, at the Portimão circuit in the Portuguese Algarve.
