Ferrari completed a weekend sweep in grand fashion Sunday at Road America, clinching the Am class championship in the GT World Challenge America powered by AWS. Onofrio Triarsi and Charlie Scardina led the class all the way in the No. 23 Ferrari of Central Florida / Ferrari of Tampa Bay / 1337 / Elev8 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 en-route to their eighth consecutive Am victory. It was the 23rd straight class win for Ferrari, which captured the Am title for the second-consecutive year. Triarsi started on the Am pole and was 10th on the overall grid. He held that position through the early stages of the race, as Scardina took over midway through the race, rejoining the race 13th overall with 44 minutes remaining. He then worked his way through Pro-Am traffic, finishing eighth overall while lapping the second-place Am competitor.
“It’s a great feeling [to clinch the championship],” Onofrio Triarsi said. “Being a new team in GT3 without experience was a big challenge, but to have this achievement for our first year in GT3, and our first year running out here, it feels really good. The team did a great job putting everything together. It was a lot of hard work to get here, and we’re happy with the results.”
While the Ferrari led every lap, the car sustained slight damage from contact on the opening lap, with the exhaust burning a black spot on the car’s red rear bumper. Despite the problems, Scardina was able to turn laps within six-10ths of his qualifying times late in the race.
“I’m glad we finished, but it was getting a little questionable at the end,” Scardina admitted. “It was great to secure a championship together with Onofrio. Props!”
The celebrations on Sunday followed an action-packed Saturday where Onofrio Triarsi and Charlie Scardina took the win in the Am category, the 22nd in a row for Ferrari in the category. Scardina qualified on the Am pole and sixth overall. He avoided a first-lap incident to take fifth overall, and was running sixth when he pitted with 48 minutes remaining. Triarsi took over in seventh on the pit stop. The team had a scare with 12 minutes remaining. Not getting the car fully fueled on the initial pit stop, Triarsi was forced to pit for a late-race fuel fill. The team had been planning to pit during anticipated rain, but the storm failed to materialize. Despite the extra stop, Triarsi still finished 11th overall, winning the class by 53.818-seconds.
While Triarsi Competizione also entered the GT World America Pro-Am category with the No. 13 Ferrari of Central Florida, Ferrari of Tampa Bay, 1337, DavidSW Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 Justin Wetherill and Ryan Dalziel, a heavy crash in Friday’s second GT America practice session led to the withdrawal of that entry for the duration of the weekend.
Defending Am champion AF Corse entered the Sonoma-winning No. 61 Cambridge Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 of Jean-Claude Saada and Conrad Grunewald, but withdrew from the event.