Franco, Green Finish on Top in First Ferrari Challenge Race of 2025

Sonoma Raceway provided the perfect backdrop for a Saturday afternoon of racing for Ferrari Challenge North America. 

Wine country opened the season for the single-make series, which saw nearly 70 cars take part in two races for the Trofeo Pirelli and Coppa Shell classes. Following Saturday’s first two rounds, another doubleheader remains on Sunday to determine who holds the edge after the first of six events in 2025. 

Trofeo Pirelli. Manny Franco (Ferrari Lake Forest) did not cross the finish line first, but still captured the inaugural Trofeo Pirelli victory of the year.

Throughout the 30-minute race, Franco and Dylan Medler (The Collection) battled for second and third behind leader Massimo Perrina (Ferrari of Seattle), not knowing it would be the battle for the win.

Perrina was issued a jump-start penalty that pushed him to fourth-in-class by the checkered flag and Franco to first after securing the position from Medler early in the race.

While Medler finished runner-up by less than half a second, Johnny Kaminskey (Ferrari of Long Island) finished third in his Ferrari Challenge debut.

In the Trofeo Pirelli Am class, Brad Fauvre (Ferrari of San Francisco) won the first race of the season after starting second on the grid. Fauvre passed polesitter Eric Pan (Ferrari Beverly Hills) at the start, while the latter finished second ahead of Sebastian Mascaro (Ferrari of Central Florida) in third.

Coppa Shell. Mitchell Green (Ferrari Westlake) emerged the unanimous victor of Saturday’s Coppa Shell race, although the spots to follow were left to sort.

Yahn Bernier (Ferrari of Seattle) maintained his runner-up finish, despite fighting a potential time penalty, while Gary Ott (Ferrari Philadelphia) held on for the third position ahead of Sunday’s race.

In Coppa Shell Am, Jeffrey Nunberg (Ferrari of Central New Jersey) made the winning pass on Gabe Hrib (Ferrari of Atlanta) with less than 10 minutes remaining to capture the first win of the season. The two battled throughout the race, and Steve Check (Ferrari of Rancho Mirage) followed closely behind in third.

Sunday Schedule. Qualifying for Sunday’s races gets underway 12:50 p.m. ET. The Coppa Shell race goes green at 5:05 p.m., while Trofeo Pirelli follows shortly at 5:55 p.m.

All Ferrari Challenge races will stream live on the Ferrari YouTube channel and FerrariRaces.com.