– Seven Victories, Ten Total Podiums Highlight Ferrari Challenge Weekend
– Eighth-Place Finish in IMSA Race Continues Championship Run
Running dual programs featuring 15 cars in two different states, Scuderia Corsa enjoyed another successful weekend in both the Ferrari Challenge North America and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, taking seven victories in the Challenge weekend and continuing championship momentum in the IMSA ranks.
Running at the famed WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Scuderia Corsa would conquer a home race in the Ferrari Challenge North America. Featuring 14 entries, the weekend would not only showcase a fun weekend for of Scuderia Corsa’s driver development program, but as a sister company to four dealerships all located in California, the team was able to deliver in front of a local crowd by taking ten podiums. Proving as competitive as it was entertaining, the event would see multiple successes. Cooper MacNeil, who was traveling between Monterey and Ohio to compete in both events, would literally arrive 30 minutes before Saturday’s Trofeo Pirelli race began, starting from eighth position and wasting no time to drive the car in to P1. Not to be outdone, Thomas Tippl would also enjoy a standout event in the Coppa Shell category, winning both Saturday and Sunday’s double-headers. Additionally, Mark Fuller, Chis Carel, and Michael Fassbender would take podiums in Coppa Shell and the team would sweep positions 1-4 during Sunday’s event. Lisa Clark would take top honors in the Ladies’ Cup, and overall Scuderia Corsa would receive three more Coppa Team awards for their efforts. Solid driving efforts were also seen by team newcomer Angie King, Brad Smith, Neil Langberg, Darren Enenstein, Jim Camp, Rich Papapietro and Mike Heagerty.
Meanwhile at the scenic Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the third round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Cooper MacNeil and Alessandro Balzan would run a steady race, never putting a foot wrong en route to eighth. As a race that never saw a caution period, strong race strategy and quick pit work by the team were tough to translate in to gaining position, and ultimately the team settled in to a strong pace focused on consistency.
For Cooper MacNeil, a team effort weekend was enjoyed.
“A huge thanks to everyone at WeatherTech, Scuderia Corsa and Ferrari for their hard work this weekend. We gave it everything we had and it was 100% a team effort. We’ll be back stronger at Detroit!”
For Alessandro Balzan, a championship focus continues on.
“We had more expectations for the race today,” Balzan said. “We finished ahead of the 33 Mercedes today, which is important for the championship. The top GTD cars were fast today. We will come back strong for the race in Detroit at the end of the month.”
For team owner, Giacomo Mattioli, the depth of the team on a weekend like this cannot be understated.
“It was a good weekend,” stated Mattioli. “We never compromise in our efforts even when we are running in multiple time zones, and our results today showed this. The team had a great weekend in Laguna Seca with tremendous results and a lot of friends visiting. Our IMSA program was solid, and with our challenges in this race we still showed that we are going to defend our championship ring with everything we have. Onto Detroit.”
The next event for the IMSA WeatherTech Championship will take place on the city streets of Detroit from June 1 through June 2, meanwhile the Ferrari Challenge USA will return to the scenic Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal from June 8-10, competing as a support event to the Formula 1 World Championship.
