08 June 2018
Misano Adriatico, 8 June 2018 - Eric Cheung, Murat Cuhadaroglu, Nicklas Nielsen and Fabienne Wohlwend triumphed on the first day of the fourth round of the 2018 Ferrari Challenge Europe season at Misano.
Coppa Shell. The day’s racing kicked off with the Coppa Shell, which took place at sunset and was an exciting and spectacular race. Christophe Hurni (Team Zenith Sion-Lausanne) jumped the start and was punished with a drive-through. The lead then passed to poleman Erich Prinoth (Ineco-MP Racing), who was followed by Eric Cheung (Formula Racing), Manuela Gostner (Ineco-MP Racing) and Vladimir Hladik (Baron Motorsport). There was no change until mid-race when Prinoth spun out, having to start again from fourth. This left the way open for Cheung, Gostner and Hladik. Thomas Gostner (Ineco-MP Racing), fifth up to that point, and his daughter Corinna Gostner, were hit respectively by Giuseppe Ramelli (Rossocorsa-Pellin Racing) and Agata Smolka (Rossocorsa). Hurni climbed up to eighth while Tommy Lindroth (Baron Motorsport), in his one 100th Challenge race, and Fons Scheltema (Kessel Racing), in his 200th, finished ninth and tenth. Despite the result, Prinoth still tops the championship standings although Cheung has pulled much closer.
Shell Am. Giuseppe Ramelli seemed to have notched up his first career win in the Coppa Shell Am. Driving the 488 Challenge of Rossocorsa-Pellin Racing, he performed impeccably from start to finish. However after the race was considered responsible for a contact with Thomas Gostner and was hit with a 25-second penalty dropping down to sixth. Turkey’s Murat Cuhadaroglu (Kessel Racing) won the race to close the gap with championship leader, Sweden’s Ingvar Mattsson, who started from pole but was third over the line. Alexander Nussbaumer (Formula Racing) took second.
Trofeo Pirelli. The Trofeo Pirelli race took place at night. At the start, poleman Nicklas Nielsen pulled away from the competition helped by the fierce duel between David Fumanelli (Rossocorsa) and Bjorn Grossmann (Octane 126). The Formula Racing driver crossed the line more than six seconds ahead of Fumanelli and Grossmann. Nielsen tops the championship standings.
Pirelli Am. Fabienne Wohlwend is letting nothing get in her way at the moment. The 20-year-old from Liechtenstein, winner of Race-2 at Spa, dominated from qualifying in the 488 Challenge of Octane 126. Like Nielsen, Wohlwend also benefited from the battle that raged behind her involving Tommaso Rocca (Rossocorsa), Martin Nelson (Scuderia Autoropa) and Chris Froggatt (Ferrari GB - H.R. Owen). The three fought it out until the last lap, when Froggatt, who overtook Nelson after the midway point, passed Rocca to seize second place. The second set of races are on Saturday at 8 pm and 10:15 pm.
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