Fresh off a Twelve Hours of Sebring Triumph, He Begins Defense of his Trofeo Pirelli Title
ALTON, Va. – Inclement weather forced a revision to the schedule at VIRginia International Raceway, but Ferrari Challenge North America was able to complete its full weekend to open the 2021 season with a pair of exciting races in each class.
The original schedule called for qualifying and the first Coppa Shell and Trofeo Pirelli races to take place on Saturday, but heavy rain began falling in the middle of the Coppa Shell race and forced the Trofeo Pirelli race to be postponed until Sunday. That meant both Trofeo Pirelli races and the second Coppa Shell race were run on the final day of the weekend.
In the Trofeo Pirelli class, only Cooper MacNeil (Ferrari of Westlake) was entered at this round and thus the de facto class winner in both races, though he also notably took both overall wins in Trofeo Pirelli – the first in wet morning conditions and the second in dry afternoon conditions. MacNeil, the three-time defending Trofeo Pirelli champion in Ferrari Challenge North America, was also on the winning IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans team in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts on March 20.
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. McCarthy repeated the feat in Race 2, with Neil Gehani (Continental Autosports) securing the win in Trofeo Pirelli Am-1.
In Coppa Shell, Todd Coleman (Ferrari of Denver) took back-to-back victories, both in rain-affected conditions, while Brandon Kruse (Ferrari of Central Florida) accomplished the same feat in Coppa Shell Am.
While at VIR, drivers were able to get an up-close look at the Ferrari SF90 Spider which made its North American debut at a private evening event held Saturday. Following an entertaining Q&A session with Ferrari Competizioni GT factory driver Toni Vilander, the 50 drivers and guests gathered to see the wraps pulled off 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 open-air experience.
The Ferrari Challenge North America will be back on track at Sonoma Raceway in California for testing April 28-29, ahead of the next doubleheader race weekend April 30-May 2 at Sonoma.