With more than half of the 2021 season already complete, the championship battles within the different categories of Ferrari Challenge competition are coming into focus and margins are beginning to thin. Each of the drivers involved will be pushing even harder to maximize their results as even minor mistakes or imperfect qualifying sessions may make the difference in the final tabulations.
Trofeo Pirelli. Cooper MacNeil (Ferrari of Westlake) has the Trofeo Pirelli category all to himself and so has amassed a perfect record to date, and looks certain to take his fourth consecutive Ferrari Challenge title but will nevertheless miss this weekend’s round due to conflicts with another IMSA round. Meanwhile in Trofeo Pirelli AM1, Martin Burrowes (Ferrari of Ft. Lauderdale) leads the category with 113 points, ahead of Jason McCarthy (Wide World Ferrari) with 108. McCarthy has enjoyed a stand-out year after being promoted from Trofeo Pirelli AM2 after the second round at Sonoma, and has continued to prove strong in the AM1 category, winning at Watkins Glen. But, he tailed off at Homestead, and Martin Burrowes was able to earn two podiums, including a race win that gave him the current margin. In AM2, the magical run of Keysin Chen (Ferrari of Beverly Hills) continues as he leads the championship in his first ever season of competition. But it is a tightly fought affair, with Brian Davis (Ferrari of Palm Beach) only five points behind and previous champion Brad Horstmann (Foreign Cars Italia) just a further eight behind Davis.
Coppa Shell. Dave Musial Jr. (Ferrari of Lake Forest) has stormed away with the Coppa Shell category, leading Todd Coleman (Ferrari of Denver) by just over 20 points. He’s managed to do it with remarkable consistency at the sharp end of the field, with a podium streak that dates back to the second round at Sonoma. Coleman meanwhile has won some races but endured some torrid luck at others, with a mechanical fault at race 2 at Homestead while leading especially heartbreaking. In Coppa Shell AM meanwhile Franck Ruimy (Ferrari of Beverly Hills) enjoys a five-point advantage over Lance Cawley (Ferrari of Atlanta). Both have been remarkably consistent throughout the season, with the difference really coming at Homestead where Ruimy was able to take two second-place finishes while Cawley only managed a third and fourth place, but Ruimy has elected not to participate in this weekend’s event leaving the championship wide open. Meanwhile, John Cervini (Ferrari of Ontario) lurks in third place, a further 8 points behind Cawley.