Cooper MacNeil will once again start ahead of everyone in the first race of the second round of the Ferrari Challenge, at Road Atlanta. The Ferrari of Westlake driver was the fastest at the end of the Trofeo Pirelli session, with Jean-Claude Saada in the Trofeo Pirelli Am. Jason McCarthy and Justin Wetherill will be on pole in the Coppa Shell and Coppa Shell Am.
Trofeo Pirelli. Cooper MacNeil confirmed to be the man to beat also at Road Atlanta. The reigning champion took pole in 1:22.135, 749 thousandths down on Joseph Rubbo (Ferrari of Long Island). For the Ferrari of Westlake driver this is the third pole of the season and twenty-third in the Prancing Horse single-make. The fight for second place, which saw Rubbo prevail, had Martin Burrowes as the other protagonist. The Ferrari of Ft. Lauderdale driver will have Ross Chouest (Boardwalk Ferrari) virtually at his side. Despite taking fourth in the class, he will have Jean-Claude Saada, poleman of the Trofeo Pirelli Am, ahead of him. Christopher Cagnazzi (Ferrari of Long Island) and Jordan Workman (Ferrari of Central Florida) closed the session in fifth and sixth but will start from eighth and tenth on the grid respectively.
Trofeo Pirelli Am. With a bang in the last few seconds of qualifying, Jean-Claude Saada (Boardwalk Ferrari) took pole with a time of 1:23.610. This put him just under three tenths down on John Megrue (Ferrari of Long Island) and Aaron Weiss (Continental Autosport). At the end of a hard-fought session Barry Zekelman (Ferrari of Ontario) contained the gap to Saada in less than a second, closing the second row. Behind him were Brian Davis (Ferrari of Palm Beach) and Brent Holden (Ferrari of Newport Beach), while Dave Musial and Frank Selldorff were called to a comeback.
Coppa Shell. Jason McCarthy was the star of the qualifying session for Coppa Shell, at the end of which he recorded the best time of 1:24.720, a result out of reach of the other protagonists of the category. The Wide World Ferrari driver was ahead of a group of drivers who fought hard for the front row throughout qualifying. Jay Schreibman (Cauley Ferrari of Detroit), although 851 thousandths down, was the fastest ahead of Jim Booth (Ferrari of Atlanta) who, in the last moments, preceded Osvaldo Gaio (Miller Motorcars) by just six thousandths. Brad Horstmann (Foreign Cars Italia) will start from fifth position but from sixth on the grid, behind Coppa Shell Am poleman, Justin Wetherill. Further out Mark Davies (Wide World Ferrari), Mike Louli (Ferrari of Ontario) and Ian Campbell (Ferrari of New England) round our the field.
Coppa Shell Am. At the end of the fifteen minutes dedicated to qualifying for the Coppa Shell Am to determine the starting grid for Race 1 of the second round of the Ferrari Challenge North America, Justin Wetherill was the fastest driver at the wheel of the 488 Challenge Evo of Ferrari of Central Florida. The time of 1:27.058 - which earned him fifth overall - was set in the final moments of a session where low air and tarmac temperatures advised the drivers to take a cautious approach, as demonstrated by the wide gap between the leaders. After the two wins at Daytona, Wetherill confirms his position as one of the best in his class. At his side Michael Watt (Ferrari of Atlanta), 576 thousandths down, was the protagonist of an interesting comparison for pole with Michael Quattlebaum (Ferrari of Houston) and Christopher Aitken (Ferrari of Houston) who, however, will be forced to start from the second row. John Lennon (Ferrari of San Francisco) managed to set the fifth fastest time ahead of Dave Musial Jr (Ferrari Lake Forest), the last of the drivers to drop below 1:29. The race also promises to be an interesting one in the middle group with Todd Coleman, Sureel Choksi, Michael Krekel and Frank Chang in a second and a half.