11 September 2018
Englewood Cliffs, NJ (September 11, 2018) Fifty-five Ferrari Challenge cars will be making their way to Road Atlanta for the final North American round of the 2018 Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli season. Opened in 1970, the 2.54 mile circuit just outside of Atlanta, Georgia offers a high-speed challenge, with all corners taken in 3rd gear or higher.
Trofeo Pirelli – Cooper MacNeil (Scuderia Corsa – Ferrari Beverly Hills) consolidated his championship position over Peter Ludwig (Wide World Ferrari), running off a consecutive win streak that caries back to Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca. The more interesting battle, however, in Trofeo Pirelli is between Marc Muzzo (Ferrari of Ontario), Joseph Rubbo (Ferrari of Long Island) and Naveen Rao (Scuderia Cava – Ferrari of San Diego). The trio are separated by 17 points, with Joe Rubbo able to gain the most ground at the previous round of Watkins Glen. The three have been trading top results through the season, so we’ll have to wait to Road Atlanta to see who concludes the North American portion of the season on top.
Trofeo Pirelli AM – Rob Hodes (Scuderia CAVA – Ferrari of Washington) leads Tofeo Pirelli AM, but it is a precarious lead of only 19 points over Alfred Caiola (Ferrari of Long Island), who is a further six points ahead of Murray Rothlander (Ferrari of Vancouver) and Ross Chouest (Ferrari of Palm Beach) – tied at 112 points apiece. Its been a remarkably competitive year with six different winners from the five rounds thus far completed. Beyond his two wins early in the season, Rob has been able to generate his championship advantage through consistent performances, only finishing below fourth on one occasion. Meanwhile Alfred Caiola (Ferrari of Long Island) had really come on strong at Laguna Seca and Montreal, gaining important championship ground on Rob, but was unable to sustain that momentum at Watkins Glen. Instead, it was Murray Rothlander and Ross Chouest who split the wins in the AM category between them.
Coppa Shell – Thomas Tippl (Scuderia Corsa – Ferrari Beverly Hills) continued his run of dominance – having won nine consecutive races in the Coppa Shell category, a monumental achievement in his first ever season of racing. Mark Fuller (Scuderia Corsa – Ferrari Westlake) has well established himself in the runner-up position and has enough in hand – barring disaster – to hold his second place in the championship over Chris Carel (Scuderia Corsa – Ferrari of Beverly Hills).
Coppa Shell AM – Kevin Millstein (Scuderia CAVA – Ferrari of San Diego) and John Megrue (Ferrari of Long Island) are enjoying somewhat of their own private battle at the head of the Coppa Shell Am category as Dale Katechis (Miller Motorcars) and Brian Simon (Cauley Ferrari) are locked in a battle for third and fourth.
458 EVO - Martin Burrowes (Ferrari Ft. Lauderdale) has a 19 point lead over his nearest competitor – James Walker (Ferrari of Houston), who only owns a 4 point lead over Trevor Baek (Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo) in the 458 EVO category. These four enjoyed an epic scrap at Watkins Glen in July which will surely carry on in to Road Atlanta.
Schedule - On-track action begins on Thursday with private testing. Racing action will begin on Saturday at 1:45PM, with round 2 on Sunday starting at 12:30.