Show at Mount Panorama in the opening race of the Ferrari Challenge Australasia

Contenders at the first-ever Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Australasia event have conquered their nerves on debut and produced an exciting opening race at Mount Panorama, Bathurst.

The drivers were met with fine conditions and bright, warm sunshine delivering a temperature of 26 degrees Celsius for the race start in front of a growing crowd.

A grid of 16 entrants took to the challenge of taming the formidable 6.2km circuit with its steep elevation, close concrete barriers and fast descent. Maximum speeds exceeded 290km/h through the speed trap on Conrod Straight.

Three Ferrari Challenge categories ran together, and each one had its own storyline with close running throughout the field. A Safety Car period in the second-half lead to a dramatic single-lap sprint to the chequered flag.

Trofeo Pirelli. Quick reactions from Ernst Kirchmayr (Kessel AUTO) saw the Austrian jump pole-sitter Antoine Gittany (Ferrari Sydney) at the start of the race to take an early lead from second on the grid. The two competitors raced nose-to-tail for the opening sequence of the race and pulled a gap on the rest of the field with Gittany applying consistent pressure on the visiting Austrian, who travelled to Bathurst specifically to race in Ferrari Challenge.

Gittany found his way into the lead at the mid-point of the race after his constant pressure forced a small mistake from Kirchmayr, who ran deep The Cutting and brushed the wall before stopping on track.

A subsequent Safety Car period brought the field back together before the drivers were released for one final flying lap to the finish line. Gittany held his ground at the restart to finish in P1 ahead of sixth-place qualifier Rod Wilson (Ferrari Richmond) who finished P2 and Jim Pollicina (Ferrari Sydney) in P3, who moved his way up from ninth position.

Coppa Shell. The two quickest qualifiers in Coppa Shell were separated by just 0.005 seconds at the end of the qualifying session, and they still could not be separated when it came to Race 1. David Trewern (Ferrari Gold Coast) started in front and managed to hold the position to the chequer despite firm competition from Enzo Cheng (Ferrari Sydney) who stayed extremely close behind throughout.

Third-place qualifier David Frish (Ferrari Sydney) was on the receiving end of a small miscalculation from a following driver at the entry of Hell Corner, which saw Frish navigating his way through the gravel trap at the first corner on the first lap. He continued his race but lost position.

Masahiro Taguchi (Ferrari Brisbane) made up two places over the 30-minute race to finish P3.

Trofeo Pirelli 488. A tremendous performance from Jarrod Ferrari (Barbagallo Ferrari) in the Trofeo Pirelli 488 category saw the Western Australian driver start first of the 488 Challenge Evo entries and take a further two positions during the race to finish P1 in the category and P5 overall. His nearest competitor was Club Challenge graduate Michel Stephan (Ferrari Sydney) who found his way past four competitors from his starting position to come home in P2 for the category.

Fellow Passione Ferrari Club Challenge graduate Chris Huang who stepped up to race his 488 Challenge Evo in Ferrari Challenge this year completed the podium for the category, finishing P3 in his first race.

Tomorrow will see Qualifying 2 and Race 2 decide the final championship points tallies for the weekend, ahead of the Bathurst 12 Hour endurance race on Sunday featuring the Ferrari 296 GT3.