Ferrari Challenge has returned to the bumps and undulations at Sebring International Raceway after a 20 year absence, with the field setting qualifying times in the cooler morning hours before getting ready for races this afternoon.
Trofeo Pirelli. Benjamin Hites (The Collection) claimed pole position, pipping Cooper MacNeil (Scuderia Corsa Ferrari of Westlake) by just over one tenth of a second. It was an excellent result for the young Chilean driver having trailed Cooper by nearly half a second in yesterday’s practice sessions. New arrivals to the Trofeo Pirelli category, Thomas Tippl (Scuderia Corsa, Ferrari of Beverly Hills) and Martin Burrowes (Ferrari of Ft Lauderdale) put on a great performance to qualify so close to their more experienced competitors. Ultimately, Martin took the third position, 1.5 seconds off of Cooper, but less than a tenth of a second ahead of Thomas Tippl, who sits fourth.
Trofeo Pirelli AM. Neil Gehani (Continental AutoSports) claimed pole position ahead of Brent Holden (Scuderia CAVA Ferrari of Newport Beach) and Chris Carel (Scuderia Corsa Ferrari of Silicon Valley). The trio were able to put together similar times to some of the Trofeo Pirelli drivers and were all in a clump of eight drivers who were within a single second of each other.
Coppa Shell. Danny Baker (Ferrari of Palm Beach) was able to put it all together and claim pole position again in the Coppa Shell category with a 2:06.768. His lap left no question who was the fastest Coppa Shell driver of the day, as he was the only driver to crack the 2 minute, 7 second barrier. He qualified ahead of Mark Issa (Ferrari of Atlanta) and Claude Senhoreti (Ferrari of Ft Lauderdale).
Coppa Shell AM. Brian Davis (Ferrari of Palm Beach) took pole position in Coppa Shell AM over Jay Schreibman (Cauley Ferrari of Detroit) and Lisa Clark (Scuderia Corsa, Ferrari of Beverly Hills). It was a remarkable qualifying performance for Brian as he separated himself from the rest of the Coppa Shell AM field by over a second. Lisa Clark also put in a strong performance with her best qualifying performance in the series.