Ferrari Challenge Europe – Grossmann wins again in Valencia and takes the title
Posted: 04.10.2015
Source: Ferrari
Valencia, 4 October – Second race day at Valencia’s Circuito Ricardo Tormo, where Bjorn Grossmann was the uncontested star, earning the Ferrari Challenge Europe Trofeo Pirelli title with one round left in the calendar. The Octane 126 German driver monopolised the Spanish weekend and legitimised his championship win. On the other hand, the Trofeo Pirelli Am remains as open as ever, while, in Coppa Shell, Jacques Duyver made further gains against his rivals and can go after the few points that he needs to secure the title at the Mugello’s Finali Mondiali.
Trofeo Pirelli. The 2015 Trofeo Pirelli has now a ruler: the German Bjorn Grossmann. The Octane 126 team driver settled the matter by earning the championship with one round to go. Therefore, at the Mugello World Finals, Grossmann can concentrate only on the world championship win. The race was filled with dramatic turns. Grossmann’s rival in the championship, Matteo “Babalus” Santoponte, had the better start, going from second to first position ahead of the German. However, on the third lap, Grossmann took things in his own hands, overtaking the car of the Scuderia Autoropa with great authority. The two 458 Challenge EVO came into contact and “Babalus” paid the price as he had to slow the pace due to car problems, finishing in fifth place. Things certainly did not get boring once the main duel was settled. Florian Merckx (Baron Service) and Max Blancardi (Octane 126) made contact and the Italian driver was forced to retire. Shortly after, a lively challenge developed between Kirill Ladygin (AF Corse) and David Gostner (Ineco-MP), who, in the end, climbed the third step in the podium behind Merckx.
Pirelli Am. Everything is still fully open in the Trofeo Pirelli Am, which experienced an elimination race. The main dramatic development occurred at the start, when the two main stars of the season, Martin Nelson (Scuderia Autoropa) and Alessandro Vezzoni (Rossocorsa-Pellin Racing) came into contact and took themselves out of contention. The final phases displayed the duel between the two drivers in the category left in the race, Alexis De Bernardi (Keesel Racing) and Tommaso Rocca (Rossocorsa). In the end, Rocca prevailed and earned his second race win of the season.
Coppa Shell. Once again, today the Coppa Shell provided non-stop upsets and excitement. At the start, Fons Scheltema, on pole, allowed Erich Prinoth (Ineco-MP) to squeeze ahead of everyone and get away. Scheltema himself helped out the South Tyrol driver by blocking the Kessel Racing teammates, Jacques Duyver and Gautam Singhania. On the sixth lap, Eric Cheung (AF Corse) challenged Christian Kinch (Lueg Sportivo) for fifth place, but spun out of control. Shortly after, Duyver started pressuring Scheltema, who made a mistake coming out of a turn on the 12th lap, allowing the Belgian driver to overtake him. Attacking the Shark then became the business of Singhania, who made contact with the Dutch driver more than once without being able to overtake him. Shortly after, there was an unforeseeable upset: Prinoth, ahead by almost ten seconds, experienced problems to a wheel which forced him to withdraw, giving way to Duyver himself. Singhania was able to overtake Scheltema with a determined move on lap 18 and the racers finished in this order as Rick Lovat vainly challenged his teammate Scheltema for third place. Manuela Gostner had a very good race coming home fifth. In the standings, Duyver gets away, but is not yet mathematically champion. His nearest challenger is now Singhania, 40 points behind. Prinoth lags by 43 points but is still leading the Coppa Gentlemen standings.
Ferrari Challenge Europe – Grossmann, Vezzoni and Duyver win Race-1 in Valencia
Posted: 03.10.2015
Source: Ferrari
Valencia, 3 October – The first day of competition at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia saw Jacques Duyver and Bjorn Grossmann stretch their lead over their direct rivals in the Coppa Shell and the Trofeo Pirelli, while a superb race by Alessandro Vezzoni blew the Trofeo Pirelli Am open again. Matteo “Babalus” Santoponte performed a great comeback in the Trofeo Pirelli, moving up from last to second, to stay in the title fight.
Coppa Shell. The Coppa Shell opened the day with a tight race full of emotions. Three of the four Kessel Racing drivers got away perfectly, with Jacques Duyver entering the first corner in command ahead of Gautam Singhania and Fons Scheltema. Respectively in fourth and fifth, Eric Cheung (AF Corse) and Erich Prinoth (Ineco-MP) began fighting it out. Duyver zoomed off notching up the fastest lap while Prinoth overtook Cheung with a great manoeuvre. However, both were then penalised with a drive through penalty for a jump-start. Prinoth served the penalty and returned in front of Corinna Gostner who caught up her teammate overtaking him on the first corner. However, Prinoth soon began his comeback, moving up from 12th to 8th. At the front Duyver won ahead of Singhania and Scheltema who was first in the Gentlemen’s Cup, for the over 55s. Thomas Gostner and Rick Lovat finished second and third in this class. Now Duyver has a 22-point lead in the standings ahead of Prinoth, leader in Gentlemen’s Cup, and 34 in front of Singhania.
Trofeo Pirelli. The Trofeo Pirelli offered a very entertaining spectacle too. The first twist came after qualifying when “Babalus”, in pole, was relegated to last place for an irregularity in the rear wing of the 458 Challenge EVO of Scuderia Autoropa. As a result championship leader Bjorn Grossmann (Octane 126) started in first and was able to pull away to victory also getting the fastest lap of the race. At the same point Grossmann’s teammate, the Italian Max Blancardi, and Belgian Florian Merckx (Baron Service) were caught up in a great tussle during which they came in contact wreaking havoc within the group. “Babalus” was there to take advantage of the confusion overtaking four cars to settle in third by the end of the first lap. On lap four he pulled past Blancardi into second, which all considered was the best he could achieve. However, on Sunday “Babalus” will need to beat Grossmann to take the fight for the title to the Finali Mondiali at Mugello (November 5-8). Blancardi finished third ahead of Kirill Ladygin (AF Corse) and Merckx.
Pirelli Am. The battle for the Trofeo Pirelli Am was blown open yet again. Indeed, poleman Alessandro Vezzoni (Rossocorsa-Pellin Racing) had a problem-free race while series leader Martin Nelson (Scuderia Autoropa), hampered by the first corner accident, dropped back into last place. The Swede did well to finish third, but victory with the fastest lap for Vezzoni and second place for Luxembourg’s Alexis De Bernardi (Kessel Racing) meant that his advantage was reduced to just three points. On Sunday Coppa Shell Race-2 takes place at 12.40 pm and Race-2 of the Trofeo Pirelli at 3 pm.
Ferrari Challenge Europe – Three-way fight for Coppa Shell
Posted: 02.10.2015
Source: Ferrari
Maranello, 2 October – The Coppa Shell enters its penultimate round this weekend with three drivers separated by just 27 points, three points between first and second, four races remaining, and all bets off as to the result.
A Belgian, Italian and an Indian. Belgian driver Jacques Duyver of Kessel Racing still tops the standings on 140 points after losing ground at Imola to the benefit of Italy’s Erich Prinoth who is now close on his tail with 137 points. India’s Gautam Singhania of Kessel Racing is in third, ready to take advantage of any misstep by the first two. Singhania was the author of an extraordinary weekend at Imola and is now 27 points behind the leader.
Gentlemen’s Cup. If the battle for Coppa Shell is still wide open, the Imola weekend revealed the likely winner of the Gentlemen’s Cup, for over 55s. Erich Prinoth’s double at Imola extended his lead over Fons Scheltema to 64 points and so it looks like Kessel Racing’s “Shark” will be forced to abdicate. However, in racing we know that until victory is mathematically certain you never can tell. Ahead of the race let’s relive all the excitement of Imola in this video.
Ferrari Challenge Europe – Babalus in Valencia to renew his challenge for the title
Posted: 01.10.2015
Source: Ferrari
Maranello, 1 October – The 458 Challenge EVOs are ready to take to the track again this weekend for the second-to-last round of the 2015 Ferrari Challenge Europe season. On the weekend, the drivers will vie with one another in Valencia, on the Circuito Ricardo Tormo, where four excitement-filled races are scheduled.
Trofeo Pirelli. In Trofeo Pirelli, Bjorn Grossmann, on the strength of his two wins in Imola and of the simultaneous slight slip of Matteo “Babalus” Santoponte (Scuderia Autoropa), will want to try to settle the issue before the Finali Mondiali (World Finals) at the Mugello track. The German driver of the Octane 126 team will have to deliver another perfect weekend to meet this goal, but it is certain that “Babalus” will not give him the slightest break. The race for third place in the standings also is still wide open, with Florian Merckx (Baron Service) just five points ahead of David Gostner (Ineco-MP), who already closed the gap by eight points at Imola.
Pirelli Am. In the Pirelli Am class, the fight between Martin Nelson and Alessandro Vezzoni is as open as ever. The standard-bearer of Scuderia Autorpa gained five points on his competitor during the Imola weekend, but filling the 13-point gap is easily within the grasp of the Italian driver of team Rossocorsa-Pellin Racing. Andreas Segler (StileF Squadra Corse) is currently in third place, while Tommaso Rocca is in fourth. This video shows the most captivating phases of the latest event in Imola.