After thirty minutes of thrills and spills, Ernst Kirchmayr (Baron Motorsport) and Peter Christensen (Formula Racing) were crowned Coppa Shell and Coppa Shell Am world champions, respectively, during the 2021 Finali Mondiali at Mugello in Tuscany, watched by members of the Scuderia Ferrari Clubs.
Coppa Shell. Setting off from pole, the newly crowned Coppa Shell Europe champion defended his position from the attacks of an aggressive Todd Coleman (Ferrari of Denver), winner of the season’s last two races held over the Mugello weekend. The first ten minutes saw two outings by the Safety Car due to various collisions that knocked several drivers out of the title race. While Kirchmayr kept top-spot at the restart, Manny Franco (Ferrari Lake Forest) managed to shake off the Am leader, Christensen, and aim for the third position held by Fons Scheltema (Kessel Racing). In the battle between the two the American driver pulled off the decisive pass six minutes from the end, with a skilful manoeuvre concluded at the end of the pit straight.
With a few minutes to go, another collision at the back of the field brought the Safety Car out again to clear the track. The race resumed on the very last lap, with all the drivers bunched back up. Kirchmayr skilfully held off Coleman’s final assaults, crossing the finish line in first to take the world title. Coleman was second and Franco third.
Coppa Shell Am. The tussle at the start put poleman Giuseppe Ramelli (Rossocorsa – Pellin Racing) out of the race following a contact with Claudio Schiavoni (Scuderia Niki – Iron Lynx). Christensen took advantage. He secured the class lead with a series of fast laps, also moving into the top overall positions. Behind him, a series of exciting duels and challenges involved all the drivers in the class. Joakim Olander (Scuderia Autoropa) led the chasing pack. In the final thrilling stages after the restart on the last lap, he held onto second place down to the line, ahead of Josef Schumacher (Eberlein Automobile) in third and an aggressive Maurizio Pitorri (CDP – Best Lap) in fourth.
Kirk Baerwaldt (Baerwaldt Concessionaries) had an amazing race, pulling off a fantastic recovery from last place on the grid to 14th overall and ninth in the Am, an almost unprecedented feat.