Race 1 of the Ferrari Challenge Asia Pacific Round 2 took place today under the floodlights of the Sepang International Circuit. This is the very first night race for the 21 Ferrari 488 Challenge drivers racing at Sepang, who pitted themselves against the challenging 5.543 kilometre circuit with 15 twisting turns to see who could come up top. The sky opened just before the race started but with the hot conditions on track, the racetrack dried up very quickly and there was no need for wet tires.
Trofeo Pirelli AM. In the Trofeo Pirelli AM class, it was Philippe Prette’s (Blackbird Concessionaires) race to win. A blistering qualifying round allowed him to set the pace over a strong field in a performance that will make him the driver to beat in the subsequent race. It was rather a closer battle between Nobuhiro Imada (Rosso Scuderia), who qualified 2nd, and Go Max (M Auto Hiroshima) who qualified 5th overall. When the lights turned green, Max had a very good start and soon found himself overtaking 3 cars during the 1st lap before settling in 2nd position, a spot he kept till the end of the race. Although Imada tried several times to overtake Max, he then had to settle for 4th after being passed by James Weiland (Ferrari of Cincinnati) who clinched the final podium position with a last-lap attack.
Coppa Shell. The Coppa Shell class saw the domination of Yanbin Xing (CTF Beijing) who lead his class from start to finish. Kazuyuki Yamaguchi (Cornes Osaka), who qualified 9th overall, also had a good start as he was able to overtake 3 other drivers in his class to finish in 2nd position. Michael Choi (Blackbird Concessionaires) took the last step on the podium.
Coppa Shell AM. In the Coppa Shell AM class, Andrew Moon (Forza Motors Korea) was the clear victor and kept his lead all the way to the chequered flag after a good move on Kent Chen (Modena Motori Taiwan) on the opening lap. Chen crossed the line in 2nd followed by Atsushi Iritani (Cornes Osaka). Yansheng Liang of CTF Beijing was the winner of the Gentlemen Cup while Kanthicha Chimsiri of Cavallino Motors Bangkok took the Ladies’ Cup.
Schedule. Track action continues tomorrow for Race 2 of the Ferrari Challenge weekend at Sepang International Circuit. This will take place at 1.40PM local time.