Italian motorsport returned with the opening round of the Ferrari Challenge and appearances from the stars of the European series. With twenty-nine cars lining up, there was certainly plenty of action to enjoy at the “little Nürburgring”. Emanuele Maria Tabacchi was the star of the weekend, celebrating his promotion to the top class with a double win. Matús Vyboh did likewise, dominating the AM class with two evenly matched performances. It was a similar story for Michael Simoncic in the Coppa Shell AM, who was the only one of the three who took all the points up for grabs. However, the Coppa Shell was finely balanced with Ernst Kirchmayr and Roger Grouwels sharing the wins in a weekend that saw the European debut of the 488 Challenge Evo, an immediate favourite among drivers and insiders. There was also a fine all-woman duel in the Trofeo Pirelli between Fabienne Wohlwend and Michelle Gatting, who was making her debut in the one-make series.