The upcoming weekend for Ferrari Challenge North America is doubly special as the series visits the “Racing Capital of the World,” and also sees the series’ 488 Challenge era come to an end.
This will be the fifth year that Indianapolis Motor Speedway has hosted Ferrari Challenge, with the first being in 2019 and the most recent being in 2022. Prior to welcoming Ferrari Challenge, Indianapolis hosted the U.S. Grand Prix from 2000 to ’07 and six of those eight races were won by the Italian marque.
Indianapolis is a fitting location for the 488 Challenge’s conclusion, as the car has been present at each Ferrari Challenge race at the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course. In total, since the 488 Challenge’s debut in 2017, the car has competed in nearly 100 races in North America alone with just as many drivers taking a turn behind the wheel.
Remaining battles rage on
While the 488 Challenge Evo classes conclude their championship at Indianapolis, the Ferrari 296 Challenge classes will still lead the pack, as Trofeo Pirelli and Coppa Shell compete in their penultimate event of the season.
With a win and runner-up finish at Sonoma Raceway last month, Roberto Perrina (Ferrari of Seattle) broke his tie with Dylan Medler (The Collection) to stand alone atop the Trofeo Pirelli championship. The two are now separated by eight points and Perrina holds another advantage — having run at Indy in 2022 while Medler did not.
In Trofeo Pirelli Am, the battle lies between Brian Cook (Ferrari of Seattle) and Tony Davis (Continental AutoSports). While the two split victories at Sonoma, Davis got tagged in a Race 2 incident that cost him precious points. Cook enters Indy with an 18-point lead.
The leaders in Coppa Shell and Coppa Shell Am both have breathing room in the title hunt, but cannot rest on their laurels. Eric Marston (Ferrari of Westlake) holds a 25-point advantage in the former class over Yahn Bernier (Ferrari of Seattle), while Roger Monteforte (Ferrari of Central New Jersey) is first by 23 points in the latter. Neither driver captured a podium finish at Sonoma and will look to rebound at Indy.
488 Challenge Evo reaches its end
This year of competition marked a transition from the 488 Challenge Evo to the Ferrari 296 Challenge, which made its global racing debut this spring. As 2025 will only feature the latter on track, Ferrari fans will see the 488 Challenge Evo’s final laps around the world this weekend, both Indianapolis for Ferrari Challenge North America and at Silverstone for Ferrari Challenge UK.
There will be two driver championships awarded at Indy by the weekend’s end, one for Trofeo Pirelli competitors and one for those in Coppa Shell.
In Trofeo Pirelli, Massimo Perrina (Ferrari of Seattle) saw his undefeated winning streak come to an end at Sonoma. However, the young driver’s season-long success has granted him a nearly untouchable lead in the point standings.
In Coppa Shell, it will be a final showdown between Matthew Dalton (Ferrari of Long Island) and Gerdas Venslovas (Continental AutoSports). The two drivers have swapped wins throughout the year, and even traded paint while battling in Race 1 at Sonoma. The pair are separated by just six points, with Dalton having the advantage going into the final two races.
Schedule
Racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway begins on Saturday, Sept. 14, with Coppa Shell at 2:30pm ET. The 488 Challenge Evo classes follow at 3:20pm with Trofeo Pirelli at 4:10pm.
On Sunday, Coppa Shell begins the day again with a green flag at 1:30pm, with Trofeo Pirelli at 2:20pm and the final race for 488 Challenge Evo at 3:10pm.
All Ferrari Challenge races will stream live on the Ferrari YouTube channel and FerrariRaces.com.