Once again, the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Europe delivered excitement and adrenaline on the second day of racing, hosted at the Mugello circuit in Tuscany as part of the season opener. Winning the Trofeo Pirelli was Bence Valint (Ferrari Budapest - Rossocorsa) with Hendrik Viol (Scuderia Praha Racing) first in the Am class. Victories also went to Henry Hassid (Kessel Racing) in the Coppa Shell and Zois Skrimpias (Ineco – Reparto Corse RAM) in the Coppa Shell Am. Andreas Bøgh-Sorensen (Formula Racing) claimed the top spot in the 488 class. In the paddock, Oliver Bearman, Reserve Driver for Scuderia Ferrari HP, was in attendance, while Andrea Bertolini, Ferrari Development Driver, served as the Race Advisor.
Trofeo Pirelli. The race remained tightly contested until the exhilarating final lap for the top four contenders. Bence Valint emerged as the victor, securing his second triumph in the Ferrari Challenge after his win last year at Misano. Accompanying the young Hungarian on the podium, who also produced the fastest lap in 1'50"139, were former Formula 1 driver Timo Glock (Autohaus Ulrich), runner-up, and Philipp Baron (Gohm Motorsport - Baron Racing Team) secured third place, having set the pole position for the day with a time of 1'47"202, over two seconds faster than the previous best performance ever achieved by a 488 Challenge Evo. Fourth was Luca Ludwig (MERTEL Motorsport), who was first past the chequered flag but was penalised for repeatedly exceeding the track limits, as were Glock and Baron.
No less exciting was the battle in the Trofeo Pirelli Am, where the win was claimed by poleman Hendrik Viol, for his maiden triumph in the Ferrari Challenge, ahead of Marco Zanasi (CDP - Pinetti Motorsport) and Claus Zibrandtsen (Formula Racing), winner of Race-1, who also produced the fastest lap in the class in 1'50"841.
Coppa Shell. Henry Hassid – returning to the Ferrari Challenge after several years away – began from pole position courtesy of a qualifying time of 1'49"037, holding on to the lead throughout the race to eventually cross the finish line first. Behind him, after a hard-fought challenge, were James Weiland (Rossocorsa) and Manuela Gostner (Ineco - Reparto Corse RAM). Alexander Nussbaumer (Gohm Motorsport - Haupt Racing Team), despite setting the fastest lap time of 1'51"751, narrowly missed out on a podium finish.
In the Coppa Shell Am, Zois Skrimpias sealed the win and the fastest lap in the class of 1'51"065, ahead of Andrea Levy (Rossocorsa), who started from pole, and Henrik Kamstrup (Formula Racing). Paolo Scudieri's (Sa.Mo.Car) comeback from twelfth on the grid saw him fall just short of a podium finish.
488. In the showdown among the drivers behind the wheels of the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo, Andreas Bøgh-Sorensen (Formula Racing), came away victorious, taking the chequered flag ahead of yesterday’s winner Fabrizio Fontana (Formula Racing) and Christian Kinch (Gohm Motorsport - Herter Racing), seizing his second podium in as many days.
Challenge winning in GT. While the first round of the Ferrari Challenge 2024 was underway at Mugello, Eliseo Donno and Thomas Fleming – top protagonists of the 2023 season in the Maranello manufacturer's single-marque series – secured first and third place in the Silver class of the World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup at Brands Hatch, alternating at the wheel of the AF Corse 296 GT3.
Next date. For the second round of the season, the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Europe will debut at the new Balaton Park Circuit, situated near Lake Balaton, approximately a hundred kilometres from Budapest, Hungary, during the weekend of 2 June.