Altoè and Hassid triumph again at Le Castellet

Giacomo Altoè (Emil Frey Racing) won again in Race-2 of the Trofeo Pirelli at the Paul Ricard circuit, the venue for round five of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Europe season. Henry Hassid (Kessel Racing) also scored a double win on his home track in the Coppa Shell. Claus Zibrandtsen (Formula Racing) and Zois Skrimpias (Ineco – Reparto Corse RAM) won both Trofeo Pirelli Am and Coppa Shell Am races over the weekend.

Fabrizio Fontana (Formula Racing) took the season’s first title in the Trofeo Pirelli 488, which also saw Joakim Olander (Formula Racing) win for the first time today. The young Frenchwoman Lilou Wadoux, a Ferrari official driver engaged in the Super GT circuit in Japan, acted as Race Advisor at Le Castellet.

Trofeo Pirelli. A vibrant race saw Giacomo Altoè get the better of Luca Ludwig with a decisive overtaking move at the last corner of the penultimate lap. The German made a better start at the green flag and took the lead, holding off Altoè, who had started from pole with a time of 2’00”635, throughout the race. The Italian, who also set the fastest lap of the race with a time of 2’03”047 in the 296 Challenge no. 2, only found the right opportunity to pass in the final moments, holding off Ludwig’s attempts to retake the lead. With a 10-second penalty imposed on the third man across the line, Timo Glock (Autohaus Ulrich), for gaining ground with an off-track excursion, an ever-positive Bence Valint (Ferrari Budapest – Rossocorsa) climbed the bottom step of the podium.

Claus Zibrandtsen claimed a fifth consecutive victory in the Trofeo Pirelli Am. Starting from first position, the young Dane led throughout the 30-minute race, also setting the best time in class and thus stretching his lead in the overall standings. Behind him came Hendrik Viol (Scuderia Praha Racing) and Hanno Laskowski (Emil Frey Racing) in that order. 

Coppa Shell. Henry Hassid enjoyed a perfect weekend, triumphing in Race-2, which he led throughout. Starting from pole position, the Frenchman protected his lead from Manuela Gostner’s (Ineco – Reparto Corse RAM) attempts to pass him in the first few corners before gradually gaining the advantage and crossing the line in first with the best lap time of 2’04”588. Tibor Valint (Ferrari Budapest – Rossocorsa) completed the podium behind the Italian woman, who finished second like yesterday. 

In the Coppa Shell Am, Zois Skrimpias turned his pole position on the grid into his second win of the weekend and his sixth of the season, successfully fending off Canadian Eric Cheung’s (Formula Racing) attempts to overtake him. Shintaru Akatsu (Ineco) claimed his first podium finish in third place. Unlucky Jan Sandmann (Kessel Racing) had to retire after posting the best lap time in class.

Trofeo Pirelli 488. With eight wins and ten podiums in ten races so far, Fabrizio Fontana clinched the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo series title two rounds before the end of the season. The Italian finished third today, behind Faysal Shair (Scuderia Lebanon) in second and Joakim Olander, who secured his opening win of the year with the fastest lap after taking pole position in qualifying.

Programme. The next round of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Europe will take place after the August break, on the weekend of 5 to 8 September, at the Nürburgring circuit in Germany, as part of the Ferrari Racing Days.