Perrina Reclaims Victory, Green Sweeps at Sonoma

Sunday saw the stacked Trofeo Pirelli and Coppa Shell fields fight for position after the Ferrari 296 Challenge racecars took their first turns of the year on Saturday. Following the weekend, it is evident that each of the four class championships will be hotly contested as the year goes on.

Trofeo Pirelli. Massimo Perrina (Ferrari of Seattle) executed a flawless race on Sunday to capture the first 296 Challenge Trofeo Pirelli victory of his career. The youngster narrowly missed his inaugural win on Saturday if not for a jump start penalty, but Perrina made sure to race without error en route to success in Race 2. 

Perrina finished by more than six seconds ahead of last year’s class champion, Dylan Medler (The Collection) in second and by more than 20 seconds ahead of series newcomer Johnny Kaminskey (Ferrari of Long Island) in third. 

Brad Fauvre (Ferrari of San Francisco) emerged victorious in Trofeo Pirelli Am for the second time of the weekend, albeit with a little luck on Sunday. Fauvre ran second behind leader Ofir Levy (Ferrari of Silicon Valley) who slowed and ran off-track with 10 minutes remaining in the race. 

Fauvre quickly passed for the lead and eventual win, although Michael Mathes (Ferrari of Central New Jersey) ran his fastest laps of the race trying to close the gap from second place. Ultimately, Mathes remained runner-up with Eric Pan (Ferrari Beverly Hills) finishing third.

Coppa Shell. Mitchell Green (Ferrari Westlake) capped off his dominant Coppa Shell weekend in Sonoma with another winning performance from the pole position. Green’s flag-to-flag win on Sunday mirrored that of Saturday’s, and he begins the season undefeated after a winless year in 2024.

The fight for the remaining two podium positions was up for grabs, but ultimately went to Yahn Bernier (Ferrari of Seattle) and Jarrett Bilicek (Ferrari of Central Florida) in second and third, respectively. Bernier held second throughout the race – all while darting around lapped traffic – and Bilicek was running fifth before making two passes in one lap to leap onto the podium with less than 10 minutes in the contest. 

In Coppa Shell Am, Paul Lin (Ferrari of Newport Beach) was declared the winner after the initial victor was issued a post-race penalty. 

Lin finished second behind Race 1 winner Jeffrey Nunberg (Ferrari of Central New Jersey) and ahead of eventual second- and third-place finishers Michael Owens (Ferrari of Alberta) and Gabe Hrib (Ferrari of Atlanta). 

However, Hrib started from the pole position and led until the halfway point before being spun by Nunberg as the latter made a pass for first. The maneuver dropped Hrib to fourth-in-class before the standings were reassessed after the race.

Up Next. Ferrari Challenge North America goes coast-to-coast, opening its season at Sonoma Raceway and then traveling for Round 2 at Daytona International Speedway in April. The World Center of Racing – which has hosted the Finali Mondiali in previous years – welcomes back the one-make series for the first time since 2022. 

This year’s event is scheduled for April 9 – 13, and all races, including replays from this weekend in Sonoma, are available on the Ferrari YouTube channel.