The Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli season continued its ineluctable march towards the Finali Mondiali with the completion of its fifth round in North America at Sonoma Raceway. Set against the rolling hills of wine country, the motorists of the longest-running and largest single-make series put their Ferrari 488 Challenge Evos to the test on Sonoma’s undulating and demanding circuit.
Trofeo Pirelli. Manny Franco( Ferrari of Lake Forest) again secured the palm on Sunday ahead of Matt Kurzejewski( Ferrari of Beverly Hills) in alternate and Roberto Perrina( Ferrari of Seattle) taking home third. Franco was again in a class of his own, using 30- twinkles of green flag racing to make up a nearly eight alternate periphery over his nearest contender. The drama really also was for the alternate third and fourth positions, which also be to represent the top three in the crown standings.
Jason McCarthy( Wide World Ferrari) tried to get once Kurzejewski several times, especially in the opening ten twinkles. From there the group evened out, until the final stanza when McCarthy’s early aggression came back to hang him in the form of advanced tire declination, allowing Roberto Perrina to slip by with a last-stage pass. In the Trofeo Pirelli AM order, Brian Cook( Ferrari of Seattle) secured his first palm of the season after three previous passages to the tribune.
The action in Trofeo Pirelli AM was implacable but in the final standings, it was Dave Musial( Ferrari of Lake Forest) leading home Justin Rothberg( Ferrari of Palm Beach) in alternate and third independently, separated by lower than an alternate at the line. The result marked a welcome return for Dave Musial to the tribune, his first since the opening round at Homestead- Miami, while Rothberg was suitable to further make on his crown advantage thanks to an atypical weekend from Tony Davis( Continental Autosport).
Coppa Shell. David Voronin( Foreign Buses Italia) completed a clean reach of Sunday’s action in the Coppa Shell order, taking pole position, securing the fastest stage and eventually winning the race, leading home Grey Fauvre( Ferrari of San Francisco) and Cameron Root( Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo).
The result was an important bone
for Voronin as well in his title bournes as it moves him now within eight points of crown leader, Root. In what was again a race continued by safety buses, Voronin eventually earned a 1.8 alternate periphery in his palm while Fauvre enjoyed an analogous periphery over Root. important of the final result was decided in the opening many twinkles as Fauve was suitable to get once Root and began to chase down Voronin, applying steady pressure throughout the race, though eventually without success.
Meanwhile, in Coppa Shell AM, Bruce Cleveland( Ferrari of Silicon Valley) repeated his performance from Saturday with another palm, this time leading home Steve Check( Ferrari of Rancho Mirage) and Lisa Clark( Ferrari of Beverly Hills) who enjoyed a strong answer performance to deaden a decreasingly strong crown challenge from Lance Cawley( Ferrari of Atlanta).
Schedule. Ferrari Challenge will return for its final round in North America from September 6th through the 10th before the crown packs up and heads to Mugello for the Finali Mondiali in October.
