The final event on the 30th Anniversary Ferrari Challenge programme at Imola was the Trofeo Pirelli World Final, which with 35 cars barrelling into the Tamburello, promised to be an exciting race, but nerves got the better of everyone at the start, which was total chaos and the safety car came out immediately.
Poleman Thomas Neubauer (Charles Pozzi-Courage) shared the front row with the 17-year-old Italian Eliseo Donno (CDP-Best Lap), but was not caught out this time and immediately powered into the lead. Manny Franco (Ferrari Lake Forest), who was seventh on the grid, was forced onto the grass for the first 200 metres of the race, losing a number of places in the process, but worse was to come as before everyone arrived at the Tamburello, Max Mugelli (CDP Eureka Competition), Dylan Medler (The Collection), Yudai Uchida (Rosso Scuderia), Nicolò Rosi (Kessel Racing) and Ange Barde (Cotes d’Azur Cannes) made contact with each other, and were all forced into retirement.
Twelve minutes later, the race was restarted and Neubauer powered into the lead again, with Donno giving the impression of being able to make it a two-way fight for the win. Unfortunately, his dreams of victory came to an end on lap 9 after the front left suspension on his 488 Evo gave way after two many trips over the kerbs and he parked the car at the Gresini Curve.
At this point it became an easy run to the flag for the leader, who had a good margin over John Wartique (FML D2P) in second. The European runner-up made one final effort to get close before the end, but Neubauer took the chequered flag with a gap of over 2 seconds to successfully crown his 2022 season.
One of the favourites Doriane Pin (Scuderia Niki-Iron Lynx) had a slightly underwhelming weekend at Imola. After dominating the season with nine wins to her name, the European champion had to settle for the final podium slot, but never really gave the impression of having the pace to trouble the leading duo.
Luka Nurmi (Formula Racing) finally came good in the battle for P4, the outgoing world champion and the ex-F1 driver Adrian Sutil (Gohm Motorsport) putting on a great battle. With a few laps remaining they were virtually side-by-side all the way from the Villeneuve to the Acque Minerali, but the young Finn found a gap that allowed him to get the better of Sutil.
The best of the Challenge North America drivers, Jason McCarthy, finished some way further back in sixth, and this final race of the season also crowned another world champion in Marco Pulcini, whose P7 overall finish meant that he took the title in the AM class.
The Italian dominated his category, as second-placed Nigel Schoonderwoerd could only cross the line in 11th place, more than 8 seconds behind. The third podium place went to Christian Brunsborg (Formula Racing), Pulcini’s closest challenger over the weekend, while the first Asia Pacific contender to the flag was Nobuhiro Imada (Rosso Scuderia) in P13.
FERRARI CHALLENGE - Imola: World Final Trofeo Pirelli
