Ferrari Challenge Roars into the Brickyard

Ferrari Challenge will return to the world-famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26-28 for the fifth round of the 2019 North American Ferrari Challenge season.  The iconic speedway made its name for the 500 mile race that has taken place for over a century on Memorial Day weekend and as the host of the United States Grand Prix in the early 2000s.  The Ferrari Challenge competitors, however, will make use of the 2.439 mile Grand Prix road course that makes use of the iconic front straight and mixes in 13 turns within the infield space.

Trofeo Pirelli. Cooper MacNeil (Scuderia Corsa – Ferrari of Westlake) solidified his position as championship favorite in the Trofeo Pirelli category, taking back to back wins in Montreal and establishing nearly a 40 point lead over his nearest rival, Benjamin Hites (The Collection).  Thomas Tippl (Scuderia Corsa, Ferrari of Beverly Hills) holds a narrow lead of just two points over Martin Burrowes (Ferrari of Ft Lauderdale) after Thomas could not participate in race 2 at Montreal due to crash damage incurred in race 1.

Trofeo Pirelli AM. Ziad Ghandour (Boardwalk Ferrari) has also established his position as the championship leader in Trofeo Pirelli AM with just over half of the 2019 season complete.  He leads Neil Gehani (Continental Autosports) by 24 points, a gap that was generated after Ziad earned 24 points during the Montreal weekend compared to Neil’s 15.  Danny Baker (Ferrari of Palm Beach) will return to the Coppa Shell category at Indianapolis, so Dave Musial (Lake Forest Sports Car) will take his spot in third, but is facing immense pressure from Brent Holden (Ferrari of Newport Beach) off the back of the American driver’s first win of the season at Montreal.

Coppa Shell.  Mark Issa (Ferrari of Atlanta) continued his fine run of form at Montreal, further establishing him as the championship favorite in the Coppa Shell category.  Coppa Shell AM transplant Brian Davis (Ferrari of Palm Beach), however, has begun to find his feet in the more competitive Coppa Shell category.  After a streak of four consecutive wins in Coppa Shell AM, Brian was moved up to the Coppa Shell category and struggled at Laguna Seca.  At Montreal, however, the first-year driver regained his podium form, finishing third in the opening race.  He will look to continue this positive momentum as the season continues at the Brickyard.  Currently in third is Dale Katechis (Miller Motorcars) who is maintaining only a three point advantage over Claude Senhoreti (Ferrari of Ft Lauderdale).

Coppa Shell AM. Coppa Shell AM remains the most competitive and largest class in the Ferrari Challenge championship in 2019.  Jay Schreibman (Cauley Ferrari) has had a year at the sharp end of the category, but maintains only a 13 point advantage over Eric Marston (Scuderia Corsa – Ferrari of Westlake) with six races to go.  Eric, in turn, only holds a two point advantage over Gianni Grilli (Ferrari of Quebec) who is in turn only six points ahead of Brad Horstmann (Foreign Cars Italia).  With all four drivers regularly taking podium finishes, strong and consistent execution will be required to earn the Coppa Shell championship.

Club Competizione GT. Club Competizione GT will continue its maiden season at Indianapolis with dedicated track time on Sunday and the following Monday.  The event at Indianapolis comes off a strong debut event at Mugello when twelve clients took the opportunity to push their GT cars to the limit in a non-competitive setting.  Ferrari designed this program specifically for customers who wish to exploit the limits of their GT machinery without the stress or limited schedules offered in competitive racing events.

Eligible Models. Twelve Ferrari models are eligible for Club Competizione GT, ranging from the F40 Competizione of 1989 to the 488 GTE/ GT3 cars featured in today’s most notable sports car competitions.  For those historic GT racing models, the Club also offers a unique opportunity to reunite the car with its optimum environment, the racetrack.

Ferrari History at Indianapolis While the famed Prancing Horse has never turned a wheel at the Indianapolis 500, it did dominate the Formula 1 competitions held from 2000 to 2007, winning six times from eight attempts.  Michael Schumacher claimed five of those six wins, in 2000, and 2003-2006, with teammate Rubens Barrichello taking victory in 2002. Schedule. Ferrari Challenge cars will have their usual private testing day on Thursday, July 24, followed by practice on Friday.  Qualifying and racing action will take place on both Saturday and Sunday, all of which will be live-streamed on live.ferrari.com.  A final timetable will be shared when available.