MIAMI – Under the South Florida sun, Ferrari Challenge North America drivers stared down the demanding Miami International Autodrome circuit for the first race of the weekend on Saturday afternoon.
The Magic City lived up to its name for several drivers, while others will strive for better luck in Race 2 on Sunday.
Trofeo Pirelli. Manny Franco (Ferrari of Lake Forest) was victorious for the second time in Trofeo Pirelli this season, emerging first in a hard-fought battle amongst the class’ fiercest competitors.
Franco started fourth, and jumped quickly into third position at the start. He then had a front row view of the duel between polesitter and Miami native, Dylan Medler (The Collection), and Massimo Perrina (Ferrari of Seattle) in second. When the two collided at the race’s halfway point, Franco slipped by into the lead and kept the position for the remainder of the race.
Rookie Johnny Kaminskey (Ferrari of Long Island) captured his best finish of the season in second, besting his previous top performance of third place twice at Sonoma Raceway in March. As much as he chased Franco, Kaminskey was also forced to hold off a charging Roberto Perrina (Ferrari of Seattle) who settled for third.
In Trofeo Pirelli Am, Ofir Levy (Ferrari of Silicon Valley) happened into lead in the final minutes of the race to collect not only his first win, but also his first podium of 2025. Levy made great gains early, starting seventh and making his way to second place by the four-minute mark. It was then that race leader Rey Acosta (The Collection) pulled into pit lane, relinquishing his lead.
As a result, Sebastian Mascaro (Ferrari of Central Florida) was elevated to second – tying his best finish of the season – and Benoit Bergeron (Ferrari of Quebec) to third for his first podium of 2025.
Coppa Shell. Two full-course cautions proved to be the deciding factor in Saturday’s race for Coppa Shell competitors, with the first leading to a hectic restart and the second resulting in the race’s checkered flag.
Walking away victorious, however, was John Viskup (Boardwalk Ferrari) for his first Ferrari Challenge win of the season. Viskup started eighth, but worked his way up the charts to prepare himself well for what would be the final restart. He leapt from fourth to first after the green flag dropped and led when the caution flag flew again at the 13-minute mark. The yellow flag ultimately ended the race.
Following behind Viskup was Gary Ott (Ferrari of Philadelphia) for his best finish of the season after finishing third at Sonoma. Meanwhile, Yahn Bernier (Ferrari of Seattle) was the only driver who started in the top three to finish there as well, rounding out the Coppa Shell podium.
In Coppa Shell Am, Canadian Michael Owens (Ferrari of Alberta) made the right move at the right time to win for the first time this season. Owens captured the top spot over Jeffrey Nunberg (Ferrari of Central New Jersey) just as the incident that led to the final yellow flag occurred only car lengths ahead of them.
Nunberg slotted into second place and Gabe Hrib (Ferrari of Atlanta), the class championship leader, finished third.
Sunday Schedule. Qualifying starts Sunday morning in Miami at 8:35 a.m. ET prior to the final races of the event. The second Coppa Shell race goes green at 2:55 p.m., followed by Trofeo Pirelli at 4:10 p.m.
To round out Ferrari Racing Days, sessions are also scheduled on Sunday for Sport Prototipi Clienti, the XX Programme, Club Challenge and Club Competizioni GT.
All Ferrari Challenge races and various Ferrari Racing Days activities throughout the weekend in Miami stream live on the Ferrari YouTube channel and FerrariRaces.com.