Maranello, 29th March

Bjorn Grossman (Pirelli Trophy) and Walter Forer (Shell Cup) are the winners of the first races in the European series of the 2008 Ferrari Challenge. In fact, both the German and Italian converted yesterday's pole positions into victory.

Race 1 of the Pirelli Trophy was dominated by the two drivers who started from the front row. In the end, Grossman (Autohaus Gohm) took the chequered flag just over 3" ahead of Austria's Philipp Baron (Baron Service,) while Switzerland's Ronnie Kessel (Kessel,) third in qualifying, dropped down the order in the opening moments and finished sixth. The third step on the podium was therefore occupied by Italy's Max Blancardi (Motor/Malucelli.)

The first Shell Cup race ended with an Italian one-two, as poleman Walter Forer (Rossocorsa/Pellin) won the sprint ahead of Gianluca Carboni (Kessel.) Third was Frenchman Jean Marc Bachelier (Ferrari UK Dealer Team) while worthy of note was a great climb up the order from Spain's Angel Santos (Cars Barcelona,) who started ninth and ended up fourth.



Today also featured the four remaining qualifying sessions to decide the grids for race 2 in the Pirelli Trophy and Shell Cup in the European series and the two Italian races. A highlight was pole in race 1 (outright fastest time of the day) and second fastest in race 2 of the Italian Pirelli Trophy for the veteran San Marino driver Andrea Belluzzi (Motor) and, in the same category, a fourth fastest time for the twenty year old youngster Marco Mapelli (Rossocorsa) in qualifying for the first race.

Here are the pole position times for the four races scheduled for tomorrow:

Pirelli Trophy Italy - Race 1: Andrea Belluzzi (Motor), 1.54.045
Shell Cup Italy- Race 1: Riccardo Ragazzi (Ineco/MP), 1.54.499
Pirelli Trophy - Race 2: Sandro Montani (Rossocorsa), 1.54.139
Shell Cup Italy - Race 2: Benedetto Marti (Motor), 1.54.551
Pirelli Trophy Europe- Race 2: Philipp Baron (Baron Service), 1.54.109
Shell Cup Europe- Race 2: Michael Cantillon (Ferrari UK Dealer Team), 1.55.516

Tomorrow's action from the Italian series will be broadcast live on Sky Italia, the Ferrari Challenge official broadcaster. It gets underway at 9.15 on Sky Sport 3 for race 1 and continues at 15.00 on Sky Sport 2 for race 2. Repeats are scheduled for 19.00 and 00.30 on Sunday and at 23.00 the following day, again on Sky Sport 2. Also on Monday 31st March fans of the Prancing Horse one-make series can see the European and Italian series races, livened up with exclusive interviews on the Internet: all one has to do is go to www.ferrariworld.com, where one can also get hold of Ferrari Challenge-related products. Access to the Circuit paddock is free, while grandstand seats cost 14 Euro.