Ferrari Challenge North America closed its schedule west of the Atlantic with Sunday’s trio of races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Champions were crowned in the 488 Challenge Evo classes – which saw the car’s tenure in the series come to a close at the checkered flag – while the Ferrari 296 Challenge racecars will visit the Imola Circuit in Italy to decide its own championships next month as part of the Finali Mondiali.
Trofeo Pirelli. With a dominant victory on Sunday at Indianapolis, Dylan Medler (The Collection) swung the Trofeo Pirelli class championship in his favor with two races remaining. Medler started first over Saturday’s winner, Matias Perez Companc (Ferrari of Central Florida), and kept his challenger at a distance throughout the race. Roberto Perrina (Ferrari of Seattle) – who entered the weekend as the points leader – finished third on the podium after finishing fifth on Saturday, but is now three points behind Medler heading to the Finali Mondiali.
In Trofeo Pirelli Am, excitement built once again as the top-two championship contenders started side-by-side on the grid. However, both Brian Cook (Ferrari of Seattle) and Tony Davis (Continental AutoSports) would not make it to Turn 1, as Cook’s Ferrari hit the side of Davis’ and the two went crashing into the inside frontstretch wall. The incident caused a red flag, but occurred behind the Trofeo Pirelli Am race leader, David Musial Sr. (Ferrari of Lake Forest). Musial went on for the win, with Ofir Levy (Ferrari of Silicon Valley) finishing runner-up for the second consecutive day and John Horejsi (Ferrari of Vancouver) matching his best finish of the season in third.
Coppa Shell. After a hectic race the day prior, Sunday’s Coppa Shell race was the cleanest of the day and saw Rey Acosta (The Collection) sweep the weekend overall. Acosta started on pole again en route to the victory, and points leader Eric Marston (Ferrari of Westlake) rebounded from a challenging day on Saturday to finish second in Race 2. Yahn Bernier (Ferrari of Seattle) put his elbows out for fourth place early in the race and it paid off for a podium finish when Robert McWilliams (Ferrari of Washington) held the position, but ran off course with five minutes to go.
In Coppa Shell Am, Roy Carroll (Foreign Cars Italia) mirrored Acosta’s efforts with a weekend sweep of his own, albeit in simpler fashion than in Race 1. While Carroll cruised to the win, Ferrari of Central New Jersey teammates, Jeffrey Nunberg and points leader Roger Monteforte, rounded out the podium in second and third, respectively.
488 Challenge Evo. Following a near-perfect season consisting of nine wins and 10 pole positions, Massimo Perrina (Ferrari of Seattle) claimed the 488 Challenge Evo Trofeo Pirelli class championship by more than 70 points. Perrina fought his way to Sunday’s win after a Lap 1 misstep gave his lead away to Logan Broughton (Ferrari of Lake Forest). The youngster took back the top spot on a restart with 22 minutes remaining. In both the race results and final championship standings, Broughton held on to second and Jason McCarthy (Wide World Ferrari) finished third.
The 488 Challenge Evo Coppa Shell championship not only came down to the final race of the season, but also the final lap as Matthew Dalton (Ferrari of Long Island) claimed the title. Dalton entered Sunday’s race ahead of Gerdas Venslovas (Continental AutoSports) by eight points, but started two places behind his challenger. Venslovas powered up to second and even captured the point for fastest lap, potentially placing him in position to win the championship. However, an overzealous pass attempt in the final turns of the race damaged his Ferrari and stopped it just yards away from the checkered flag. As a result, Dalton sped past to finish fourth and ultimately the championship.
Joel Rosenbacher (Ferrari of Lake Forest) scored the final Coppa Shell victory for the 488 Challenge Evo, with Enoch Hurd (Ferrari of Atlanta) in second and Rosenbacher’s teammate, Henry Hummel (Ferrari of Lake Forest) finishing third.
Finali in Italy. The famous Finali Mondiali concludes the Ferrari Challenge North America season on October 16 – 20, and will determine the series’ 296 Challenge Trofeo Pirelli and Coppa Shell class champions after six events across the United States and Canada.
This year, the Finali will take place at the Imola Circuit and will feature Ferrari Challenge championships from across the globe.
All races, including replays from this weekend in Indianapolis, are available on the Ferrari YouTube channel.