The Ferrari Challenge Europe heads to Brno towards the mid-season

Just two weeks after the Hockenheim event, the 296 Challenge cars are back on the track for the fourth round of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Europe season. The captivating, historic Brno circuit will host the Prancing Horse one-make series, four years after its last appearance. The weekend races in the Czech Republic will take the championship to the halfway point of its 33rd season, with the standings still uncertain in all four classes and some very exciting challenges expected at the top.

Trofeo Pirelli. On the 5,403 metres of the Moravian track, with its 12 corners and major ups and downs, it will once again be a head-to-head between Swiss drivers Jasin Ferati (Emil Frey Racing) and Felix Hirsiger (Ineco – Reparto Corse RAM), who, thanks to four consecutive wins, now leads the overall standings four points ahead of his fellow countryman. Behind them, Gilles Renmans (Francorchamps Motors Brussels) and Vincenzo Scarpetta (Radicci Automobili – Sanasi Racing Team) will try to make up the gap, while young Italian Luigi Coluccio (Rossocorsa) returns after skipping the German round.

In the Am class, there is also a close contest between Marco Zanasi (Motor Service – Pinetti Motorsport), who has three wins to his name this season, and local driver Hendrik Viol (Scuderia Praha Racing), leading the standings by just five points. Among others in the class, Japanese driver Nobuhiro Imada (Formula Racing) makes his return after appearing at Misano.

Coppa Shell. With Fabrizio Fontana (Formula Racing) absent from Hockenheim, Greek driver Zois Skrimpias (Ineco – Reparto Corse RAM) took the lead in the class, albeit without making a major impression in Germany. The standings remain very tight, however, with no fewer than nine drivers bunched within 21 points and many contenders for the title. Among these, returning to Brno after missing the previous rounds are American Rey Acosta (The Collection), who finished second at Monza, and expert driver Christian Kinch (Formula Racing), who has a win at Brianza and a second place at Misano to his name. Willem van der Vorm (Scuderia Monte-Carlo) will instead be making his season debut, having notched up a prestigious double-win on the Czech circuit four years ago.

With one victory and five podium finishes at the start of the season, Sven Schömer (Penske Sportwagen Hamburg) is trying to pull away in the Am class, but here too the competition is fierce, starting with “Boris Gideon” (Autohaus Ulrich), who remains his closest rival, and Jan Sandmann (Kessel Racing), who won both races at his home weekend in Germany.

Programme. At Brno, the action on the track will start on Thursday the 5th with testing, continuing on Friday the 6th with free practice. Saturday, 7 June will be time for qualifying sessions, starting at 9 a.m. with Coppa Shell, followed by Trofeo Pirelli and Trofeo Pirelli Am at 9.50 a.m. and Coppa Shell Am at 11.40 a.m. Race-1 will start on the same day, Saturday: at 2 p.m. Coppa Shell Am, at 3.15 p.m. Trofeo Pirelli and Trofeo Pirelli Am and at 4.30 p.m. Coppa Shell Am. The programme for the second day, Sunday 8 June, is identical. The qualifying sessions and races will be livestreamed, free to access, with commentary in English, at live.ferrari.com and on the official Ferrari YouTube channel.