All Ferrari Challenge titles decided at Misano

Misano Adriatico, 27 Sept. 2020 – Emanuele Maria Tabacchi (Rossocorsa) celebrated victory in Trofeo Pirelli Race-2 on the top step of the podium, after the red flag had called a halt to the race five minutes from time due to torrential rain. In the Trofeo Pirelli Am, Frederik Paulsen (Formula Racing) won both the race and title, while in the Coppa Shell, Roger Grouwels (Race Art – Kroymans) and “Alex Fox” (SF Grand Est Mulhouse) did likewise with a round to spare, after a battle full of twists and turns.

Trofeo Pirelli. Emanuele Maria Tabacchi (Rossocorsa) celebrated his series title won at the end of Race-1 on Saturday with another victory today in terrible weather. The intensity of the downpour forced the race officials to start proceedings behind the Safety Car and to display the red flag to call a halt to the race five minutes before its natural conclusion. The Italian and Gatting who had secured pole in the morning qualifying session fought a duel at mid-race. Tabacchi, who set off from third place, first passed Paulsen and then Gatting before continuing unmolested to victory. Rookie Tim Kohmann (Kessel Racing) completed the Trofeo Pirelli podium, while Florian Merckx (Baron Motorsport) crossed the line in fourth after an excellent recovery from the back of the grid.

Trofeo Pirelli Am. Frederik Paulsen (Formula Racing) recorded a seventh win of the season, to seal the class title in his debut year. The Dane finished the race in third place overall, ahead of an excellent Vicente Potolicchio (Rossocorsa) and teammate Olivier Grotz. After starting from pole position and the overall front row, Paulsen handled the 488 Challenge Evo superbly in terrible conditions. He sealed the title courtesy also of Matús Vyboh’s (Scuderia Praha) fourth place.

Coppa Shell. Roger Grouwels (Race Art – Kroymans) secured the Coppa Shell title in his debut season after a seventh championship victory. The Dutch driver followed a now-familiar script for this year, driving cautiously in the first part of the race before going on the attack in the second. In a race that started in the dry and ended in the wet, Grouwels waited for the restart after a Safety Car phase with thirteen minutes left to make a decisive move against poleman Christian Kinch (Formula Racing). In an electrifying finale, the new champion repelled the assaults of Ernst Kirchmayr (Baron Motorsport) who finished in second position, ahead of Kinch.
Coppa Shell Am. “Alex Fox” (SF Grand Est Mulhouse) capitalised on pole position by winning the race and title in the Am class. The French driver took advantage of a contact between Fons Scheltema (Kessel Racing) and Laurent De Meeus (H.R. Owen) that provoked the entry of the Safety Car to close in on victory. Only his championship rival Michael Simoncic (Baron Motorsport) was there to worry him, as is clear from the 397 thousandths of a second between them at the flag. Third position went to Giuseppe Ramelli (Rossocorsa – Pellin Racing) who got the better of a quartet of drivers who all crossed the line within two seconds of each other.

Titles. Now the drivers’ titles are done and dusted only the team championship is left to play for. This will come down to the two races at Misano from 5 to 8 November, ahead of the Finali Mondiali. Baron Motorsport currently tops the standings on 370 points ahead of Formula Racing (312) and Rossocorsa (290).