MacNeil and Millstein repeat wins at Indianapolis

Another spectacular but warm day greeted the drivers of Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli as many were eager to get back into their cars to try to better their performance from Saturday.  The result was two excellent races where drivers demonstrated respect and awareness for each other as they navigated the historic Indianapolis circuit.

Trofeo Pirelli. Cooper MacNeil (Ferrari of Westlake) once again dominated the Trofeo Pirelli field and completed yet another perfect weekend – with pole position followed by fastest lap and the race win.  He blitzed the field, generating a 23 second gap by the time the checkered flag fell.  His progress was also unimpeded by any caution periods, so after carefully managing the start, he quickly generated a gap to the second place finisher, Jordan Workman (Ferrari of Central Florida).  Chris Cagnazzi (Ferrari of Long Island) scored his first podium result of the year on his way to third.  The results mean that MacNeil has taken off in the standings with 102 points.  But further back the field is as tight as ever, as Ross Chouest leaves the weekend with 56, just two ahead of Joseph Rubbo (Ferrari of Long Island) and eight ahead of Jordan Workman.

Trofeo Pirelli AM.  Jean-Claude Saada (Boardwalk Ferrari) took the top step in the category and an impressive third place overall as he demonstrated impressive and consistent pace to beat out Aaron Weiss (Continental Autosport) and Dave Musial (Ferrari of Lake Forest) who came in second and third respectively.  The championship implications, however, are significant as Dave Musial launches ahead of his previous championship rival, John Megrue, though his lead over Jean-Claude Saada, previously six points has dwindled to five.  Jason McCarthy (Wide World Ferrari) is currently in third, having carried over the points he scored in Coppa Shell into his new category.  He endured a tough weekend, however at Indianapolis, so will be looking to rebound at the next round in Austin.

Coppa Shell. Kevan Millstein (Ferrari of San Diego) repeated his performance from yesterday’s race with another win on Sunday, beating out Jim Booth (Ferrari of Atlanta), who did claim Gentleman’s Cup honors, by just over two seconds en-route to his second win of the weekend and the season.  In a much more clean race compared to Saturday’s action, Kevan was able to quickly pass the pole sitter – Jay Schreibman (Cauley Ferrari) before attacking the race and building up a significant gap.  Tire degradation, however, under the hot Indianapolis sun quickly reigned in his pace, allowing Jim Booth to close up, but it was not enough.  Schreibman, succumbed to Jim Booth’s attack and fell to third at the line.  Despite his less than optimal weekend, Schreibman takes the lead of the class championship, but leads by only a point over Jim Booth and Millstein’s results have vaulted him to within six points of the championship leader.

Coppa Shell AM.  John Lennon (Ferrari of San Francisco) inherited the win in the Coppa Shell AM category after a post-race penalty for Sureel Choksi (Ferrari of Denver) for incident responsibility demoted him to sixth place in a highly competitive category that saw plenty of action between the twenty two drivers who took the green flag.  He beat out Dave Musial Jr. (Ferrari of Lake Forest) by just three tenths of a second at the line.  Todd Coleman (Ferrari of Denver) was also promoted into third place after Choksi’s penalty was applied.  A rare omission from the podium was championship leader Justin Wetherill who was forced to retire three laps from the end, despite setting the fastest lap in the category.  That allowed much of the field to close up, with Dave Musial Jr. leading the charge and 20 points behind Justin’s total.  Chris Aitken (Ferrari of Houston) has also, mostly through sheer consistency, managed to take the third place in the standings after two fifth place results at Indianapolis.

Schedule. The North American leg of Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli will resume at the Circuit of the Americas on August 28-30.