Daytona tests Ferrari Challenge drivers in Race 1
04/13/2025 08:22 AM
Competitors threw caution to the wind — perhaps too much — in Ferrari Challenge North America's second event of 2025 at Daytona International Speedway.
Under the Florida sunshine, the Trofeo Pirelli and Coppa Shell classes opened with a pair of races featuring nearly 70 Ferrari 296 Challenge cars. Drivers tested not only each other, but also the slippery 3.56-mile circuit – yielding victors and others less fortunate.
Watch highlights below:
Trofeo Pirelli
After walking away winless in the opening round at Sonoma Raceway last month, Dylan Medler (The Collection) was particularly eager to capture a win, and his driving showed it on Saturday.
Medler – the reigning Trofeo Pirelli class champion – started alongside polesitter Johnny Kaminskey (Ferrari of Long Island) and did not let the youngster out of his sights. A lengthy yellow flag led to a restart with less than 10 minutes remaining, and Medler capitalized with a power move past Kaminskey for the lead on the outside of Turn 4. Medler immediately drove away to his first win of the year.
Kaminskey found his car out of sorts following the move and quickly fell to Massimo Perrina (Ferrari of Seattle) as well by the race's end. Perrina, the 2024 Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo Trofeo Pirelli champion, added the runner-up finish to his Race 2 victory at Sonoma, while Kaminskey tallied his third consecutive third-place result of 2025.
In Trofeo Pirelli Am, Christopher Cagnazzi (Ferrari of Long Island) would be the only driver in the starting top five to finish the half-hour race.
In his first contest of the season, Cagnazzi found himself in the right place at the right time and ultimately, in victory lane after his top-five rivals spun off course or collected each other in incidents. One of the incidents led to a race-ending yellow flag and Cagnazzi inherited the lead by the checkered flag for his first win since 2023.
Promoted to second was Jay Logan (Ferrari of Austin) and to third was David Musial (Ferrari of Lake Forest), with both drivers earning their first podiums of the year.
Coppa Shell
Ernst Kirchmayr (Twin Cities Performance) used his previous Ferrari Challenge experience in Europe to make a splash in Ferrari Challenge North America. The Austrian started from pole position and led flag-to-flag en route to the Race 1 win at Daytona. Mitchell Green (Ferrari Westlake) – who swept both Coppa Shell races at Sonoma in March – finished second to add another solid finish to his championship endeavors.
After starting fifth, Yahn Bernier (Ferrari of Seattle) made moves early and advanced to third – where he would finish – by the race's first yellow flag at the 27-minute mark. Another yellow flag followed 10 minutes later for a car off-track in the infield road course, followed by race-ending caution for a car in the barriers just prior to the Turn 2 banking.
In Coppa Shell Am, Fabian Sperman (The Collection) was another first-time winner in Ferrari Challenge North America to give the dealer two of four wins up for grabs on Saturday. Sperman also started from pole and led until the checkered flag despite heavy pressure behind him.
Steve Check (Ferrari of Rancho Mirage) made a pass on Gabe Hrib (Ferrari of Atlanta) for second after the penultimate restart, and the pair would finish second and third, respectively. Hrib now enters Race 2 with the Coppa Shell Am class championship lead.
Sunday schedule
Qualifying starts Sunday morning in Daytona Beach at 9:35am ET prior to the final races of the event. The second Coppa Shell race goes green at 12:55pm, followed by Trofeo Pirelli at 1:45pm.
All Ferrari Challenge races will stream live on the Ferrari YouTube channel and FerrariRaces.com.
