Grey skies and cool temperatures had dominated the weekend to date, but just as the races were scheduled to get underway, the clouds parted and notably the temperature and humidity rapidly rose as the drivers set off in their Ferrari 488 Challenge Evos.
While both races were interrupted by safety car periods, drivers were notably more respectful of the daunting and demanding circuit, especially its fast essess section where only a single file of cars is truly possible. But as the series concluded its racing for the day, David Voronin (Foreign Cars Italia) stood out as a first-time winner in the series.
Trofeo Pirelli
Matt Kurzejewski (Ferrari of Beverly Hills) continued his torrid run in Ferrari Challenge action, taking another win, his third on the season thus far. Finishing two seconds ahead of Dylan Medler (The Collection), Kurzejewski was never under serious threat once he got by pole sitter Medler in the opening stanza. Jason McCarthy (Wide World Ferrari) rounded out the podium in third, an important result as it prevented Kurzejewski from leaping too far ahead in the standings, even at this early stage. Even still, the California-based driver has a 12 point advantage at the moment.
Trofeo Pirelli Am
In the Am category, Tony Davis (Continental Autosport) led his chief rival, Justin Rothberg (Ferrari of Palm Beach), but by the narrowest of margins, as just seven tenths of a second separated the drivers as they took the checkered flag. That margin was the story of the race as both drivers pushed to the limit for the full duration of the 30-minute contest, but ultimately Davis was able to remain mistake-free and not give an opening to Rothberg. Michael Mathes (Ferrari of Central New Jersey) secured his first podium of the season, but finished several seconds back from the leader. This was a race that was marked by a single yellow-flag period within the first few minutes, but even after the green flag resumed racing with just over 20-minutes to go, drivers demonstrated the correct ratio of competitive zeal and respect for their fellow drivers, with no further pauses in the action.
Coppa Shell
David Voronin (Foreign Cars Italia) took his first win of his nascent Ferrari Challenge career on Saturday with the victory in the Coppa Shell category, leading current championship leader Cameron Root (Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo) home while Matt Dalton (Ferrari of Long Island) secured his first podium of the 2023 season in third. The battle between Voronin and Root took much of the thirty minute contest, until Voronin was able to leverage lapped traffic to sneak by on the front straight in a daring maneuver. Root went on the chase to try to recover the lost lead, but just a few minutes later the action was halted by a safety car period for an incident. The race subsequently concluded under yellow, giving Voronin the win.
Coppa Shell Am
In Coppa Shell AM, Lance Cawley (Ferrari of Atlanta) secured a home-town victory after recently arriving in the category after a brief stint in Coppa Shell at the start of the season. Cawley led Bruce Cleveland (Ferrari of Silicon Valley) and Roger Monteforte (Ferrari of Central New Jersey), both of whom made their first visits to the Ferrari Challenge podium in 2023.
Schedule: Ferrari Challenge will be back on track on Sunday for qualifying and racing action. Watch all of the action live on live.ferrari.com.
