Gittany and Cheng's double in Sydney

It was a perfect end to Round 3 of Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Australasia at Sydney Motorsport Park, with sunny conditions providing superb track action on Sunday. Track temperature rose as the day wore on with a stark difference between the beginning of Qualifying 2 in the morning and the second race of the weekend later in the afternoon. One advantage of this was the added rubber put down by the other categories contesting the Shannons SpeedSeries improving the grip of the circuit.

Trofeo Pirelli. Antoine Gittany (Ferrari Sydney) qualified on pole and remained untouchable in Sydney to score an emphatic Trofeo Pirelli victory in Race 2. Jim Pollicina (Ferrari Sydney) was unable to make any inroads into Gittany’s margin, but drove to second ahead of the improving Mark Hudders (Ferrari Sydney). After scoring a podium in Race 1, there was disappointment for Cameron Campbell (Ferrari Richmond) after a spin at Turn 7 resulted in a visit to pit lane for a systems check as he finished a lap down. Campbell was displaying good pace before his spin and a challenge to Gittany may have been on the cards. Gittany continues his unbeaten run in Trofeo Pirelli and as a bonus scored the lap record of 1’31”191 in the final race of the weekend.

Coppa Shell. Race 2 marked another impressive performance by Enzo Cheng (Ferrari Sydney) after closing within 0.508s of the top Trofeo Pirelli competitor in another dominant Coppa Shell performance. Cheng dropped into the 1’29” bracket to score another class pole and converted this into a superb victory in the Sydney sun.

Visiting Japanese driver Norikazu Shibata (Cornes Osaka) fought off the advances of David Trewern (Ferrari Gold Coast) to score second place, with Masahiro Taguchi (Ferrari Brisbane) finishing not far behind in fourth.

Trofeo Pirelli 488. Another to convert pole into victory was Michel Stephan (Ferrari Sydney) after setting the fastest time in Qualifying 2 and sealing a comfortable win. Stephan endured a straightforward race to lead Baby Kei (Cornes Osaka) and Hiroyuki Katayama (Cornes Osaka) to the chequered flag. Katayama recovered from a spectacular 720 degree spin at Turn 1 to complete the 30-minute race.

Next race. Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Australasia will return to Sydney Motorsport Park for its fourth round on 28-29 June for a standalone