Opening Weekend of Challenge NA Season Concludes

Alton, VA – Ferrari Challenge NA completed its North American season with a flourish on Sunday as drivers took their final laps on the immense and challenging Virginia International Circuit.  After the deluge of rain on Saturday that forced the postponement of the Trofeo Pirelli races, the series made use of a modified schedule to complete both that race as well as the races originally scheduled for Sunday.  In addition to the tremendous on-track action, drivers also enjoyed the hospitality and comforts expected of any Ferrari Challenge weekend, including a special unveiling of the Ferrari SF90 Spider at a private evening event on Saturday, done by Ferrari Competizioni GT factory driver, Toni Vilander.

With two races in the books for each of the five classes of Ferrari Challenge NA, drivers are starting to get a sense of their key rivals in the 2021 championship.

Shell Egypt

In the Trofeo Pirelli class, only Cooper MacNeil (Ferrari of Westlake) was entered at this round and thus was the defacto class winner, though he also notably took the overall wins in both Trofeo Pirelli races.  Meanwhile Martin Burrowes (Ferrari of Ft. Lauderdale) and Jason McCarthy (Wide World Ferrari) took the race 1 wins in Trofeo Pirelli Am-1 and Am-2 respectively while McCarthy repeated the feat in race 2 and Neil Gehani (Continental Autosports) secured the win in Trofeo Pirelli Am-1 in race 2.  In Coppa Shell, Todd Coleman (Ferrari of Denver) took back to back victories, both in rain-affected races, while Brandon Kruse (Ferrari of Central Florida) accomplished the same feat of back to back wins in Coppa Shell Am.

Making its North American debut, Ferrari Challenge drivers got an up close view of the Ferrari SF90 Spider at a private evening event held on Saturday.  Following an entertaining Q&A session with Toni Vilander, the 50 drivers and guests gathered to see the wraps pulled off of the most powerful series-production spider. Boasting 1000cv, the SF90 Spider is the first Ferrari hybrid with a retractable hard top, bringing together awe-inspiring performance and an unparalleled en plein air experience.

In addition to the Ferrari Challenge action of the weekend, the drivers of the series were also joined by Club Competizioni GT.  The Club offers a unique opportunity to drive current and historic Ferrari GT machinery at some of the best race tracks around the world and also with the opportunity for instruction from some of the great GT drivers in Ferrari’s history, in this case Ferrari Competizioni GT factory driver, Toni Vilander.  The round at Virginia International Raceway marked the first stop for the Club in 2021 though the drivers will soon make their way to Monza for their next event before returning to North America where they will again join the Challenge NA series at Watkins Glen in May.

The North American series of Ferrari Challenge has just begun, and will be back on track for official testing April 28 and 29 and then official practice and races from April 30 – May 2 at Sonoma Raceway.

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