Ferrari Challenge Set for 30th Anniversary Kick-Off at COTA

The 30th season of Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli gets underway this weekend when just over 60 Ferrari 488 Challenge Evos from the North America series compete in the opening round of the 2022 season at Circuit of The Americas.

Both the Trofeo Pirelli and Coppa Shell divisions are in action on separate grids, with 25 drivers taking part in the former competition and 37 in the latter.

The PRO class in Trofeo Pirelli features 14 entries including reigning AM 1 class champion Jason McCarthy and his nearest 2021 title challenger Martin Burrowes.

Marc Muzzo set the Trofeo Pirelli pace during open testing on Wednesday with a time of 2:08.071 in his Ferrari of Ontario machine, while Frank Chang headed up the Coppa Shell ranks with a slightly faster overall lap around the 3.4-mile COTA course.

The start of the North America season is a milestone for the Ferrari Challenge one-make series, which was launched during a presentation at Mugello back in 1992.

After the first racing took place in the European series, a North American championship was established in 1994.

A Japanese series was then created in 1995 before expanding in 2012 for the whole Asia Pacific region. In 2019, the UK national series for British drivers was launched.

Almost 900 Ferrari Challenge races have been held since the series’ inception, with more than 1,000 drivers taking part across the various regional championships.

Single-make Challenge models used by the series include the 348, F355, 360, F430, 458 and its Evo variant, leading up to the current 488 and Evo generation.

The first leg of the Ferrari Challenge North America season will be followed by the Europe opener at Portimao on April 1-3.

Ferrari Challenge UK kicks off Oulton Park over the weekend of May 6-7, while Ferrari Challenge Asia Pacific will take to the track at Fuji on May 20-22.