Ferrari Challenge completed its opening race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve under stormy, rainy skies. The challenging temporary circuit is long-known for giving the drivers of the Challenge championship a particularly tall task, and the opening race of the 2023 visit proved no exception, as drivers contested the elements and over forty fellow competitors in a single thirty-minute contest.
Trofeo Pirelli
Drama struck right from the start as championship leader and polesitter Matt Kurzejewski (Ferrari of Beverly Hills) lost control of his Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo and speared into the wall on the backstraight, bringing out a full-course yellow and snapping his winning streak dating back to Circuit of The Americas. From there, it was a dramatic affair in Trofeo Pirelli as Jason McCarthy (Wide World Ferrari) briefly assumed the lead before being tipped into a spin also at the hairpin corner. Ultimately, it was Canadian Martin Burrowes (Ferrari of Quebec) up against Roberto Perrina (Ferrari of Seattle) as the duo scrapped for the final ten minutes of the race, maneuvering around several slower cars along the way.
But Burrowes would not be denied, and secured his first home win, ahead of Perrina in second and Carlos De Quesada (Ferrari of Quebec) in third.
In the Am category, it was Justin Rothberg (Ferrari of Palm Beach) who continued his momentum from Atlanta with the win in his first visit as well. He led home Brian Cook (Ferrari of Seattle) and Tony Davis (Continental Autosport) who finished second and third respectively, having also endured a hard-fought race. The order left the standings largely unchanged, except of course to give Rothberg a slightly larger margin heading into Sunday’s race.
Coppa Shell
David Voronin (Foreign Cars Italia) took his third consecutive win in his maiden season of Ferrari Challenge racing, leading championship leader Cameron Root (Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo) in the category while Frank Szczesniak (Ferrari of Austin) rounded out the top three. In the melee of over 40 cars on track simultaneously, the Coppa Shell drivers were rapidly separated by cars in other categories, leading to hard fought but ultimately less essential battles as the race ran to its conclusion, though Voronin and Root remained close throughout, separated by just under 0.8s at the checkered flag.
Meanwhile in Coppa Shell Am, Lisa Clark (Ferrari of Beverly Hills) made her return to the top step of the podium after an absence stretching back to the opening round of the season. She led Bruce Cleveland (Ferrari of Silicon Valley) by just half a second at the line, while Paul Lin (Ferrari of Newport Beach) secured the third position a further two seconds down the road.
Schedule
Ferrari Challenge will return for its final race of the weekend on Sunday at 10:55am ET and the complete race will be available on live.ferrari.com.