Ferrari Challenge Europe – Wins for Prette, Tabacchi, Hanna and Christensen
Posted: 17.02.2019
Source: Ferrari
Sakhir, 17 Feb 2019 – Louis Prette, Emanuele Maria Tabacchi, Tani Hanna and Peter Christensen all won in the first round of the Ferrari Challenge Europe held at the Sakhir circuit.
Trofeo Pirelli. The race, held under artificial light, was very hard-fought with lots of overtaking, in part due to the grid handicaps based on the results of Race-1. Louis Prette (Formula Racing) won ahead of Niccolò Schirò (Rossocorsa) who passed Thomas Neubauer (Charles Pozzi – Courage) in the final stages after completing a formidable comeback from fourteenth on the grid. The race was only decided at the last, when Prette performed a spectacular manoeuvre to pass Neubauer and when Alessandro Bonacini (Kessel Racing), in second position a few seconds before the chequered flag, lost his podium place after a heavy contact with a kerb that damaged a suspension arm. After crossing the line in fifth, the Italian driver ended up in fourth due to the five-second penalty levied on Sam Smeeth (Baron Motorsport) for a contact with Manuela Gostner.
Pirelli AM. Emanuele Maria Tabacchi pulled off an encore in the Pirelli AM category, having to recover from the back of the field due to the grid handicaps. The Rossocorsa driver moved into the lead halfway at the halfway point, also taking advantage of the many duels that kept the group bunched up. He then controlled the pace all the way to the chequered flag. Behind him came Jack Brown (Ferrari GB – Graypaul Nottingham), repeating his result in Race 1, and the Swede Martin Nelson (Scuderia Autoropa). Fourth position went to Manuela Gostner (Ineco – MP Racing) who played a leading role in the race. After finishing third in Race-1, Christian Overgaard (Forza Racing) was fifth under the flag, ahead of John Dhillon (Ferrari GB – Graypaul Nottingham).
Coppa Shell. In the race held at dusk, Lebanon’s Tani Hanna (Formula Racing) enjoyed an authoritative win ahead of Christian Kinch (Gohm Motorsport) and Ernst Kirchmayr (Baron Motorsport). By lap 8, the runner-up in Race 1 had used his faster pace to complete a fightback from seventh place. The race saw the entry of the Safety Car due to some contacts in the middle of the group and offered a thrilling finale with five drivers battling for the podium. At the chequered flag, Kinch reaped the rewards for his steadiness and Kirchmayr for his tenacity, having beaten off the attacks of Ken Abe (Formula Racing) and Fons Scheltema (Kessel Racing). After Saturday’s accident, the Dutchman, rose from last position, thanks to a consistently face pace. US driver James Weiland (Rossocorsa), the winner of Race 1, retired.
Shell AM. Only two drivers made it to the line in the Shell AM category. In a real knockout race, Peter Christensen (Formula Racing) won ahead of Laurent De Meeus (Ferrari GB – HR Owen), who after an early collision only made it back on track and to the finish line thanks to his mechanics. Collisions knocked the other drivers out before the chequered flag.
Rankings and upcoming events. In the Trofeo Pirelli. Niccolò Schirò (37), Louis Prette (35), Sam Smeeth (27); in the : Emanuele Maria Tabacchi (44), Jack Brown (32), Christian Overgaard (21); in the Coppa Shell: Tani Hanna (38), Christian Kinch (28), James Weiland (23); Coppa Shell AM: Laurent De Meeus (32), Agata Smolka (23), Peter Christensen (21); Coppa Team: Rossocorsa (123), Formula Racing (110), Baron Motorsport (44).
The next round of the Ferrari Challenge Europe takes place on 29-31 March in Valencia, Spain.
Ferrari Challenge Europe – Hanna and Christensen triumph at Sakhir
Posted: 17.02.2019
Source: Ferrari
Sakhir, 17 Feb 2019 – Tani Hanna and Peter Christensen won their respective classes in Race-2 of the Coppa Shell, which took place at sunset. Hanna (Formula Racing), who pulled off a very spectacular comeback, enjoyed the perfect end to the weekend after his second place in Race-1. For Peter Christensen (Formula Racing) the victory came at the end of a race marred by lots of accidents.
Close-up contacts. The grid handicap scrambled the positions won by the drivers in the afternoon qualifying session. At the start, Ernst Kirchmayr (Baron Motorsport) slipped past Eric Cheung (Formula Racing) who suffered a contact from Thomas Gostner (Ineco – MP Racing) on exiting the first hairpin bend and ended up in a spin. Having lost touch with the group, the Canadian returned to the fray but was now out of the running. The action didn’t end there. A few turns further on ‘Boris Gideon’ (Formula Racing) came into contact with Agata Smolka (Rossocorsa) putting them both out of the race. The winner of Race-1, James Weiland (Rossocorsa), also suffered the same fate.
These accidents brought out the Safety Car, which only returned to the pit lane 20 minutes after the chequered flag. After the restart, Kirchmayr pulled away from his pursuers. Among these, Tani Hanna started to clock a series of fast laps, overtaking Christian Kinch (Gohm Motorsport) at practically the same time as the track display announced Thomas Gostner’s drive-through penalty following his contact with Cheung. Peter Christensen suffered the same penalty a few laps down the line.
Hanna on the attack. The Shell AM class saw Per Nielsen (Forza Racing) and Herve Mouly (Modena Motors – Sebastian Loeb Racing) in a struggle for first, while Hanna set off in pursuit of Kirchmayr. The Lebanese, determined to seal the win he just missed out on in Race-1, attacked the Austrian and passed him with a clean and effective manoeuvre. The Baron Motorsport driver locked onto Hanna’s tail, trying to lose as little time as possible and use the pace set by the Formula Racing driver to keep Christian Kinch at bay. The plan seemed to work well, but a tiny mistake allowed Kinch to pass and take second position. From the rear, in the meantime, Cheung successfully attacked Corinna Gostner, moving into sixth thanks to a beautiful pass on the outside of the Italian driver.
The finale saw an exciting fight for second between Kinch, Kirchmayr and the Japanese Ken Abe who joined the contest due to a loss of pace for the two drivers battling it out in front of him. The chequered flag prevented the Formula Racing driver from attacking the duo. He had to settle for fourth place while Christian Kinch and Ernst Kirchmayr celebrated on the podium with Tani Hanna.
In the Shell AM class, at the end of what was effectively a knockout race, the Danish Peter Christensen (Formula Racing) and the Belgian Laurent De Meeus finished on the podium.
Ferrari Challenge Europe – Prette and Tabacchi head the field in Qualifying 2
Posted: 17.02.2019
Source: Ferrari
Sakhir, 17 February 2019 – Louis Prette and Emanuele Maria Tabacchi set the fastest lap times for their respective classes in the second Trofeo Pirelli qualifying session. After his comeback in Race-1 the Italian Formula Racing driver said he was aiming for a better position in qualifying, which he pulled off in style in the 30-minute session.
Four hundredths. Thomas Neubauer (Charles Pozzi – Courage) followed him, qualifying four-tenths of a second behind the poleman, and also winning the Motegi Golden Wheel. The very competitive duo of Sam Smeeth (Baron Motorsport) and Alessandro Bonacini (Kessel Racing) will start from the second row. The gap between Neubauer and Bonacini is just four-hundredths of a second. Fifth place went to the winner of Race-1, Niccolò Schirò (Rossocorsa), who lagged only 575 thousandths of a second behind Prette.
Tabacchi again. Emanuele Maria Tabacchi was the fastest driver in the AM category with a time of 2:03.977, ahead of rivals such as Jack Brown (Graypaul Nottingham), second in Race-1, and Manuela Gostner (Ineco – MP Racing), who was determined to make up for her disappointment in the night race. The Italian got the better of Swedish Martin Nelson (Scuderia Autoropa) by just two-thousandths of a second and finished three-hundredths of a second ahead of Christian Overgaard (Forza Racing), who yesterday completed the podium in the AM category.
The second race will start at 7 pm local time.
Ferrari Challenge Europe – Weiland and Nielsen fastest in second qualifying session
Posted: 17.02.2019
Source: Ferrari
Sakhir, 17 Feb 2019 – James Weiland took pole position for Race-2 of the Coppa Shell, repeating his performance in the first qualifying session on Saturday.
The US driver, supported by Rossocorsa, stopped the clock at 2:04.652, beating Lebanese Tani Hanna (Formula Racing) by 107 thousandths of a second and Christian Kinch (Gohm Motorsport) by 407 thousandths. It was another very hard-fought session behind the top three, with six drivers – from fourth to tenth – placed within one second of each other.
Nielsen in AM. Ernst Kirchmayr (Baron Motorsport) clocked 2:05.748, just 54 thousandths of a second quicker than Eric Cheung while the fastest of the AM category drivers, Per Nielsen (Forza Racing), was a mere 1.545 seconds off the overall pole. Thomas Gostner (Ineco – MP Racing) is in the fourth virtual row in front of another AM driver, Herve Mouly (Modena Motors – Sebàstien Loeb Racing) who enjoyed a podium finish on Saturday. The Frenchman preceded Ken Abe (Formula Racing) and the third fastest of the AM drivers, ‘Boris Gideon’ (Formula Racing), who recorded a time of 2:06.571 and tenth place overall.
Changes to the grid. After yesterday’s disappointment due to the early end of the race, Corinna Gostner (Ineco – MP Racing) was eleventh fastest, a few hundredths of a second ahead of Peter Christensen (Formula Racing), with whom she had come into contact on Saturday. Behind these two, Agata Smolka (Rossocorsa), winner of Race-1, will need to mount a comeback. The starting grid at Sakhir won’t entirely reflect the qualifying times, due to the penalties imposed to boost the thrills and excitement. The winner of Race-1 will lose six positions, the runner-up four and the third-placed driver two. The race sets off at 5:20 pm local time
Ferrari Challenge Europe – Weiland and Smolka mount the top step
Posted: 16.02.2019
Source: Ferrari
The Coppa Shell race, held under the floodlights, started with James Weiland (Rossocorsa) in pole position and Tani Hanna (Formula Racing) at his side. Next came Agata Smolka (Rossocorsa) and Corinna Gostner (Ineco – MP Racing), who overtook Eric Cheung (Formula Racing) author of a cautious start.
First safety car. The Canadian regained fourth with an excellent pass, although many drivers behind him tried to take advantage of the scrap to grab a podium position. This confused situation led to the contact between Corinna Gostner and Peter Christensen (Formula Racing) that put an end to their races and forced the race officials to bring on the safety car because of the debris scattered along the track. The race restarted on lap 5, but an accident at the first turn between Kessel Racing teammates Fons Scheltema and Murat Cuhadaroglu brought the safety car out again.
Red flag. The position of the two cars and the impossibility of removing them in time to complete the race under the green flag led the race officials to wave the red flag. With three-quarters of the race run, the decision awarded victory to the US driver James Weiland (Rossocorsa), with Tani Hanna (Formula Racing) second and Christian Kinch (Gohm Motorsport) third. In the AM category, after many podium finishes, Agata Smolka clinched a well-deserved first victory in the Ferrari Challenge, becoming the third woman to win in the series after Fabienne Wohlwend and Manuela Gostner. Laurent De Meeus (HR Owen) and Herve Mouly (Modena Motors – Sebàstien Loeb Racing) finished behind the Polish driver.
Ferrari Challenge Europe – Victories for Schirò, Tabacchi, Weiland and Smolka
Posted: 16.02.2019
Source: Ferrari
Sakhir, 16 Feb 2019 – Niccolò Schirò, Emanuele Maria Tabacchi, James Weiland and Agata Smolka all triumphed on the first day of the Ferrari Challenge Europe in Sakhir. It was a clean sweep for Rossocorsa whose drivers celebrated from the top of the podium in all categories.
Trofeo Pirelli. The opening race of the 2019 season of the Prancing Horse one-make competition began at sunset and starred Niccolò Schirò in his series debut. After taking the lead, the Rossocorsa driver easily held off his rivals for a well-deserved win ahead of Sam Smeeth (Baron Motorsport) and Louis Prette (Formula Racing). After setting off from pole, the Briton had a tricky start from which he made an excellent recovery. Meanwhile, Prette fought back convincingly to win a spot on the podium after a qualifying session that had ended in fifth place. The Formula Racing driver first duelled with Emanuele Maria Tabacchi (Rossocorsa), then with Alessandro Bonacini (Kessel Racing) and finally with another rookie, Thomas Neubauer (Charles Pozzi – Courage). The podium battle was very heated with lots of thrills and excitement, even if the positions stayed the same with Schirò winning ahead of Smeeth and Prette.
Pirelli AM. Emanuele Maria Tabacchi won the Pirelli AM category at the end of a race marked by thrilling duels with Prette and Bonacini. Fifth place overall confirmed the competitiveness of the Rossocorsa driver, one of the fastest even during free practice sessions. Behind the Italian came Jack Brown (Ferrari GB – Graypaul Nottingham) ahead of Christian Overgaard (Forza Racing), who fought a steady race, decided in the end by the British driver with a pass executed on the tenth lap. At the foot of the podium the trio of John Dhillon (Ferrari GB – Graypaul Nottingham), Kent Chen (Formula Racing) and Ali Kamyab (Ferrari GB – HR Owen, debuting in the series) were involved in a close fought battle, with never more than a second between them.
Coppa Shell. The night race was affected by the safety car, which came out twice before the red flag brought proceedings to an end. The winner was James Weiland (Rossocorsa), ahead of Tani Hanna (Formula Racing) and Christian Kinch (Gohm Motorsport). At the start, Weiland defended his pole position from the Lebanese driver’s attacks while Agata Smolka took third place overall, later ceded to Eric Cheung (Formula Racing). A violent contact between Corinna Gostner (Ineco – MP Racing) and Peter Christensen (Formula Racing) brought the safety car out for the first time to allow the debris to be cleared from the track. At the restart on lap 5, an accident between Fons Scheltema (Kessel Racing) and Murat Cuhadaroglu (Kessel Racing) brought the safety car back out, before the red flag called a halt to the race with two minutes left on the clock. Weiland triumphed ahead of Hanna and Kinch. Cheung, Thomas Gostner (Ineco – MP Racing) and Ernst Kirchmayr (Baron Motorsport) completed the top six.
Shell AM. Agata Smolka (Rossocorsa) won the Shell AM category and finished seventh overall. With this result, the Pole became the third woman to win a Ferrari Challenge race, something that had only previously been achieved by Fabienne Wohlwend and Manuela Gostner. Agata Smolka crossed the line in front of Belgium’s Laurent De Meeus (Ferrari GB – HR Owen) and France’s Herve Mouly (Modena Motors – Sebàstien Loeb Racing). The Danish Per Nielsen (Forza Racing) and ‘Gideon’ (Formula Racing) finished behind them. The second round takes place on Sunday (at 5.20 pm and 7 pm local time, 3.20 pm and 5 pm CET).
Ferrari Challenge Europe – Winning debut for Schirò
Posted: 16.02.2019
Source: Ferrari
Sakhir, 16 Feb 2019 – Niccolò Schirò won the first race of the 2019 Ferrari Challenge Europe, which counts towards the Trofeo Pirelli. On his series debut, the Rossocorsa driver enjoyed a perfect race, handling each stage with skill.
The first start of the season went off without a hitch with Schirò immediately taking the lead ahead of Neubauer (Charles Pozzi – Courage) and poleman Smeeth (Baron Motorsport). However, in the middle of the group, Manuela Gostner (Ineco – MP Racing) suffered a contact that broke the front left suspension, forcing her to retire. Behind Schirò, who pushed the pace of the race hard, Smeeth passed Neubauer and set off after the Italian. In his wake Bonacini (Kessel Racing) and Louis Prette (Formula Racing) fought for fourth position, followed at a short distance by Emanuele Maria Tabacchi (Rossocorsa) first in the Pirelli AM category.
Prette unstoppable. The duel between Prette and Bonacini was lively and exciting with continual passes and counter-passes. The former eventually prevailed when the Kessel Racing driver went slightly long at the last corner on Lap 6. However, not content with fourth place, Prette set off on the heels of Neubauer. In the Pirelli AM category, Tabacchi held a comfortable lead over his nearest pursuers, Christian Overgaard (Forza Racing) and Jack Brown (Graypaul Nottingham) who enjoyed a private battle. An exciting duel also took place behind them, with Kent Chen (Formula Racing), Ali Kamyab (HR Owen), Martin Nelson (Scuderia Autoropa) and the 17-year-old Frederik Espersen (Forza Racing), bunched within a few tenths of a second of each other.
At the halfway point, Prette was in Neubauer’s wake and began to threaten, forcing the Frenchman into defensive trajectories that slowed down the pace of both drivers. This favoured Tabacchi who, in the meantime, had overtaken Bonacini. After 10 laps Schirò was in first, Smeeth 5 seconds behind him, Neubauer 11.7 seconds further back in third, Prette fourth, 12.3 seconds off first place, and Tabacchi fifth overall, 15.6 seconds behind the leader and first among the Pirelli AM drivers.
Top ten fight. Prette successfully concluded his climb to third place a lap later when he overtook Neubauer after a spectacular duel. However, the French rookie wasn’t entirely out of the woods, as Tabacchi seemed intent on imitating the manoeuvre performed by the Italian of Formula Racing. The positions behind the leaders also saw plenty of tussling for position. Brown took second place in the Pirelli AM after overtaking Overgaard who enjoyed a reassuring advantage over Dhillon. The British driver, on the other hand, was exposed to the attacks of a large group of drivers behind him, with Chen and Kamyab the most aggressive.
The closing stages saw several interesting manoeuvres that didn’t yield any changes of position, so Niccolò Schirò crossed the chequered flag to celebrate his first win in the series ahead of Sam Smeeth and Louis Prette. Thomas Neubauer, Emanuele Maria Tabacchi (first in the Pirelli AM category) and Alessandro Bonacini finished next after an exciting race. Then came Jack Brown and Christian Overgaard, respectively second and third in Pirelli AM, followed by Dhillon, Chen and Kamyab.
The second Trofeo Pirelli race starts on Sunday at 7 pm local time (5 pm CET).
Ferrari Challenge Europe – Weiland fastest in Coppa Shell
Posted: 16.02.2019
Source: Ferrari
Sakhir, 16 Feb 2019 – US driver James Weiland was the fastest in qualifying for Race-1 with a time of 2:04.707. The Rossocorsa driver beat Tani Hanna in a hard-fought session.
Smolka first in AM. The Lebanese, one of Formula Racing’s standard bearers in the Coppa Shell, closed the session 133 thousandths of a second off pole. Eric Cheung (Formula Racing), who clocked 2:05.321, will start from the second row alongside Agata Smolka (Rossocorsa), first in the AM category with a time of 2:05.594. The Polish woman finished ahead of a group of drivers bunched within a few thousandths of a second of each other.
Tight group. The first, Christian Kinch (Gohm Motorsport) recorded 2:05.915, a tenth of a second ahead of Murat Cuhadaroglu (Kessel Racing), who in turn was 60 thousandths of a second in front of Ernst Kirchmayr (Baron Motorsport). Thomas Gostner (Ineco – MP Racing) finished eighth, followed by teammate Corinna Gostner who will be joined on the fifth row by Peter Christensen (Formula Racing). With seventeen drivers all within 2.7 seconds of each other, the first Coppa Shell race promises to be lively.
Ferrari Challenge Europe – Smeeth takes first pole of 2019 in Trofeo Pirelli
Posted: 16.02.2019
Source: Ferrari
Sakhir, 16 Feb 2019 – Sam Smeeth was the fastest of the Trofeo Pirelli drivers in the first qualifying session of the 2019 Ferrari Challenge. The Baron Motorsport driver received the Motegi Golden Wheel, traditionally awarded to polemen.
By a whisker. At the end of the thirty-minute session, the British driver stopped the clock at 2:02.893, just 53 thousandths of a second in front of rookie Thomas Neubauer (Charles Pozzi – Courage) and 126 thousandths of a second ahead of Niccolò Schirò (Rossocorsa), also making his debut in the 488 Challenge.
Surprise in the Pirelli Am. The rookie Emanuele Maria Tabacchi (Rossocorsa) was fastest in the Pirelli Am category, finishing an excellent qualifying session in fourth place overall, just 386 thousandths of a second behind the poleman. The third row will see Louis Prette (Formula Racing) who finished four-tenths of a second behind Smeeth, and Alessandro Bonacini (Kessel Racing). Behind them were two Pirelli Am category drivers, Jack Brown (Graypaul Nottingham) with the seventh fastest time and Manuela Gostner (Ineco – MP Racing), the quickest of the Ladies. David Gostner (Ineco – MP Racing) and Kent Chen (Formula Racing) complete the top ten.
Ferrari Challenge, all the thrills live and streamed online
Posted: 14.02.2019
Source: Ferrari
Sakhir, 14 Feb 2019 – Once again this year, the exciting races of the Ferrari Challenge will be live-streamed, free of charge, on the Corse Clienti website.
First race of the year. The Bahrain weekend will see the opening race of the 2019 Prancing Horse continental series, now in its 27th edition. The first Trofeo Pirelli qualifying session is on Saturday from 2 pm to 2.30 pm (12 pm in Italy), followed at 3.30 pm by the Coppa Shell. The first Trofeo Pirelli race of the year gets the green light at 5.20 pm for Race-1, which last 30 minutes, while the Coppa Shell night race sets off at 7.30 pm.
Another night race. On Sunday, live coverage will start at 1.30 pm (11.30 am in Italy) with the second Coppa Shell qualifying session, while the Trofeo Pirelli time trial begins at 3 pm. The clock for the 30-minute Coppa Shell race will start at 5.20 pm while the Trofeo Pirelli night race sets off at 7 pm.
Ferrari Challenge Europe – Sakhir, a jewel in the dunes
Posted: 14.02.2019
Source: Ferrari
Sakhir, 14 Feb 2019 – The Ferrari Challenge will be paying its first visit to the Bahrain International Circuit, which has also hosted a Formula 1 World Championship race since 2004. Designed by architect Hermann Tilke, the 5.412 km track is on the outskirts of the capital Manama. A special resin is periodically used to treat the areas around the circuit, built among the desert dunes, to prevent sand from blowing onto the asphalt surface and compromising its grip.
Abrasive asphalt. The track’s layout makes it interesting to drive, both due to the variety of turns and to the height differences that work the chassis and tyres. The latter are also put to the test by the somewhat abrasive asphalt that, combined with the ambient temperature, only partly mitigated by the evening start, makes tyre management challenging.
495 light poles. The first part of the track sees long straights and lots of overtaking points, which test the brakes. In the second part, the most challenging, a sequence of differently sized turns gives a chance for the most technically gifted drivers to make a difference. The third and final part, offers a mix of the previous ones, with straights and technical turns that can provide or create opportunities for overtaking. Since its inauguration, the Bahrain International Circuit has stood out for its high quality modern facilities. The lighting system, for example, uses 4500 lamps on 495 light poles connected to over 500 kilometres of wiring.
Anonymous turns. Unusually, this track’s curves don’t have official names, except for Turn 1, the hairpin at the end of the main straight, dedicated to Michael Schumacher since 2014.