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Ferrari Challenge Weekend Recap

Published on Tue, Sep 29, 2020

By: The LACar Editorial Staff

The Ferrari Challenge Weekend has finished up at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and we have the results.

The 2020 race season kicked off this past weekend with the Ferrari Challenge event at WeatherTech Raceway. With the strange absence of spectators this year, campers along the hillsides got a rare sight of the cars whipping around the track. Even without the crowd, the energy and competitiveness of racing blossomed.

“We are so pleased to see our kickoff event go so well,” noted WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca’s President and General Manager John Narigi. “Seeing cars race is only part of what makes these events so exciting, it’s really the spectators that complete the whole picture. I believe next year’s season is going to be a good one for race fans and I’m looking forward to it.”

The 2020 Ferrari Challenge Weekend at WeatherTech Raceway was an exciting event, even without the crowds.
The 2020 Ferrari Challenge Weekend at WeatherTech Raceway was an exciting event, even without the crowds

The races at WeatheTech Raceway served as round 5 of six races for Ferrari Challenge. Sebring looms ahead in early October before the November finale in Misano, Italy. All four classes competed in races both Saturday and Sunday – Trofeo Pirelli, Trofeo Pirelli Amateur (AM), Coppa Shell and Coppa Shell AM. By the time the dust settled, eight different winners were crowned.

On race day 1 on Saturday, Cooper MacNeil started on pole and had a tight grip on the lead for Trofeo Pirelli’s first race. However, after his power steering failed, Ross Chouest secured the victory. Brent Holden earned first place in race 1 for Trofeo Pirelli’s AM class, while the Coppa Shell race ended with Jim Booth as the first-place driver. For Coppa Shell’s AM class, Dave Musial Jr. was the race winner.

Sunday’s Trofeo Pirelli race 2 winner was none other than Cooper MacNeil, who came back strong in the face of the previous day’s challenges. Trofeo Pirelli’s amateur class winner was Dave Musial, while Coppa Shell’s winner for race 2 was Bradley Horstmann. Michael Watt boasted the Coppa Shell AM victory for race 2. 

Scuderia Corsa, one of several teams that race in the Ferrari Challenge Series, fields several cars that span the various professional and amateur classes. Cooper MacNeil races the No. 63 car for Scuderia Corsa in the Trofeo Pirelli professional class. This series is also appealing to the many “gentlemen and lady drivers” as a way to hone their skills on some of the most technical tracks in North America. 

Neil Langberg has been a Coppa Shell amateur racer in the North American series with Scuderia Corsa since 2016. Neil’s passion for racing is matched only by his dedication to the Race for RP (Relapsing Polychondritis) platform. RP is an incredibly rare and under-studied autoimmune disease that devastates cartilaginous structures like the nose, ears, skin, eyes, brain and heart valves.

Langberg’s wife, Nancy Linn, was diagnosed with RP in 2011. In an effort to raise awareness, the very first “Race for RP” decal was put on her husband’s race car back in 2015 and soon after, other drivers, such as teammate Cooper MacNeil followed suit.   

“Motorsports is what really blew it up for us,” said David Bammert, President and Director of the Relapsing Polychondritis Foundation. “We originally started as a smaller awareness campaign, but it was motorsports that really flipped the script for us. People across the world were suddenly aware of what we’re doing and wanted to know what they could do to help.”

With such support, earlier this year they were able to establish the University of Pennsylvania Relapsing Polychondritis Fund which will help develop more effective guidelines for diagnosis, treatments and work towards a cure. Reflecting their motto, the Relapsing Polychondritis Foundation is racing for awareness and accelerating research. 

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