Today’s most eagerly awaited qualifying session, the one for the grid for tomorrow’s Ferrari World Final, saw the Trofeo Pirelli and Pirelli AM drivers take centre stage.
Expectations were high due to the quality of the drivers in the category, but Eliseo Donno (Radicci Automobili), already crowned champion of the 2023 Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Europe, decided to showcase his talent by scoring an amazing pole position.
The Italian stopped the clock in 1m49.775s, the only driver to break the 1m50s barrier. This was not the only data that proved Donno's superiority however, but rather the gap he inflicted on the first of his pursuers, Thomas Fleming, who as usual placed second 1.024s behind.
Over a second between the poleman and the first of his rivals was an exceptional performance from the 18-year-old who has also raced in the Italian GT Championship, which makes him the natural favourite for overall success in the class tomorrow.
Fleming, however, during the two races held in the past two days at Mugello showed that he can be a tough nut to crack, so the race will probably keep everyone glued to their screens to see who will come out on top in the battle between these two contenders.
The experienced and always fast Adrian Sutil cannot be excluded from the fight between the two young chargers. The German, a former Formula 1 driver, finished third, but only 46 thousandths behind Fleming ahead of him. Matt Kurzejewski was slightly further behind in the 488 Challenge Evo of the Ferrari Beverly Hills team, 1.3s the gap separating him from Donno.
Behind the driver of the #211 car, the gaps became progressively wider, with Szymon Ladniak 1.7s adrift, and the almost two second gap to Bence Valint and Roberto Perrina, who both had an excellent Race 2 yesterday in the Ferrari Challenge North America.
Brian Cook took the pole in the Trofeo Pirelli AM class, the Ferrari of Seattle driver putting his wheels ahead of Yudai Uchida by a few thousandths, but Franz Engstler, third half-a-second behind, will also probably be in the mix tomorrow.
