Cooper MacNeil took the first pole position in the 2020 season of the Ferrari Challenge North America in the Trofeo Pirelli category. The reigning champion was the fastest at the end of qualifying at Daytona this afternoon thanks to a time of 1:47.126, ahead of John Megrue, a real surprise in the session and first among the Trofeo Pirelli Am drivers. In the Coppa Shell it was Jason McCarthy who secured the pole, imitated by Todd Coleman in the Coppa Shell Am category.
Trofeo Pirelli. The intense weekend that will see Cooper MacNeil busy between the Ferrari Challenge races and the 24 Hours of Daytona gets off to a good start. The Scuderia Corsa-Ferrari of Westlake driver will start from the first spot on the grid, ahead of Ross Chouest (Boardwalk Ferrari) who will start from third as Trofeo Pirelli Am driver John Megrue set the second fastest time overall. Next up to Chouest was Joseph Rubbo (Ferrari of Long Island) while reigning Trofeo Pirelli Am champion Neil Gehani (Continental Autosport) finished fourth, ahead of Christopher Cagnazzi (Ferrari of Long Island) and Jordan Workman (Ferrari of Central Florida).
Trofeo Pirelli Am. Thanks to a spectacular qualifying session, John Megrue (Ferrari of Long Island) contested pole position overall from the expert Cooper MacNeil, just 334 thousandths off the best time of the day but with Dave Musial (Ferrari Lake Forest) and Jean-Claude Saada (Boardwalk Ferrari), his closest pursuers. Behind them were four drivers in four tenths and protagonists of a battle on the edge of hundredths: Brent Holden (Ferrari of Newport Beach), Alfred Caiola (Ferrari of Long Island), Brian Davis (Ferrari of Palm Beach) and Mark Muzzo (Ferrari of Ontario).
Coppa Shell. Jason McCarthy (Wide World Ferrari) had no rivals in the fight against the clock on the Daytona track, relegating the closest of rivals to over a second. McCarthy stopped the clock at 1:49.741, while Osvaldo Gaio, second in the class but third overall behind the Coppa Shell Am poleman, Todd Coleman, was able to beat a large number of drivers within seven tenths of each other. Jay Schreibman (Cauley Ferrari of Detroit), Jim Booth (Ferrari of Atlanta) and Brad Horstmann (Foreign Cars Italy) battled it out throughout the session while Rich Baek (Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo) struggled to close the gap to the drivers in this category.
Coppa Shell Am. Todd Coleman’s (Ferrari of Denver) lap of 1:50.878 was good enough for pole in the largest and most competitive category of Ferrari Challenge competitors in Daytona. His time bested Rich Baek (Ferrari of Beverly Hills) by only 273 thousandths of a second. The duo bested fellow competitors Michael Watt (Ferrari of Atlanta) and John Cervini (Ferrari of Ontario) who closed the session on the second row, ahead of Justin Wetherill (Ferrari of Central Florida) and Stephen Lawler (Ferrari of Seattle) who finished the top six.
Night Race. Just few hours away from the chequered flag in the qualifying session, the 488 Challenge will be back on track for the first of the two races of the Daytona round. The 30-minute opening round of the 2020 Ferrari Challenge North America season is scheduled to start at 9:05PM local time (ET).