14 August 2017
Plymouth Wis., 14 August 2017 - The final day of the fourth round of the 2017 season of Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli concluded on Sunday afternoon at Road America. Drivers returned to the 4.048 mile circuit on Sunday morning for qualifying, followed by racing action in the afternoon under sunny skies.
458 EVO. James Walker claimed his first victory of the 2017 Ferrari Challenge season in race two at Road America on Sunday after a wild race that saw him progress from a seventh place start to the top step on the podium. Chaos at the front of the pack shuffled the starting order, throwing Joseph Rubbo, who also set fastest race lap, backwards to 17th. Joseph's pain was Naveen Rao's opportunity, as his third place drive earned him enough points to take the lead in the championship. Despite missing a round, James Walker's performances have catapulted him to third place in the standings, ten points ahead of Oscar Paredes-Arroyo.
Coppa Shell. Karl Williams continued his dominating form in Coppa Shell, taking pole in his class by over half of a second compared to Barry Zekelman, who was an additional second clear of Dave Musial. Competing in the first race of the day, Karl maintained his advantage, taking victory by a margin of over eight seconds over Barry Zekelman. Barry, however, was able to set the fastest lap of his class, a 2:13.022, just over a tenth faster than Karl's best effort. Jerome Jacalone and his Ferrari of Long Island 488 Challenge finished a further six seconds behind. The results had significant championship implications. Karl is now our Coppa Shell championship leader.
Trofeo Pirelli AM. Hometown favorite, Joel Weinberger and his Continental AutoSports 488 Challenge completed a perfect day, taking pole position, fastest lap and the race win. After taking pole by nearly a half-second, Joel went on to claim victory by nearly four seconds. The pair led home Todd Morici, participating in his second Ferrari Challenge race of the 2017 season. The Wide World of Cars driver fended off a stern challenge from Frank Selldorff, with the two separated by just over a second at the line.
Trofeo Pirelli. Wei Lu of Ferrari of Vancouver, also completed a perfect Sunday, taking pole position by 0.15 seconds over Cooper MacNeil, setting fastest race lap by over a half-second, and taking home the win. Cooper pushed Wei the whole way, finishing just over three seconds behind, but he had bigger problems behind from Nick Mancuso. Participating in his first race, Nick, pushed Cooper hard, finishing just four tenths of a second behind. Championship leader Peter Ludwig suffered a difficult race, finishing eight seconds down from the leader. Despite this, he maintains his championship lead of thirty points over Martin Fuentes.
Next Race. The next round of Ferrari Challenge will be at the Circuit of the Americas in conjunction with the World Endurance Championship on September 14-16.
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