Kaminskey Extends Points Lead With Saturday Win at Laguna

Photo: Fabian Lagunas/SRO

Championship leaders continued to show their strength during Ferrari Challenge North America’s fourth event of the season. Laguna Seca welcomed more than 50 Ferrari 296 Challenge race cars for Saturday’s opening pair of races, and they will return on Sunday to close out the weekend.

Trofeo Pirelli

Johnny Kaminskey (Ferrari of Long Island) added to his tally of victories on Saturday afternoon, while starting first and finishing first in Trofeo Pirelli Race 1.

The teenage driver has now clinched five wins in the last seven races of Ferrari Challenge, and further extends his championship lead. He has yet to finish off the podium this season.

A pair of local entries from Ferrari of San Francisco completed the Trofeo Pirelli podium. George Grinzewitsch III and Brad Fauvre, finished second and third, respectively.

In Trofeo Pirelli Am, Michael Mathes (Ferrari of Central New Jersey) scored his second win of the season by more than three seconds.

It was a straightforward win for Mathes as the 30-minute race ran under green flag for the full duration.

Michael Porter (Ferrari of Seattle) finished second on the podium, his best result of the year, by four tenths ahead of Mitchell Green (Ferrari Westlake) in third. Green’s podium was exceptional given that he had a qualifying incident earlier in the morning.

Coppa Shell

Blake Rosser (Ferrari of San Diego) stole a last-lap victory from Coppa Shell race leader Charlie Menard (Twin Cities Performance) to capture his fourth win of the season.

The side-by-side move came in the final turn, and Menard crossed the finish line shortly behind Rosser for second place.

Menard has finished on the Coppa Shell podium in each race after joining the field at Sebring International Raceway in April. Andrew Parker (Ferrari of Naples) finished third.

The Coppa Shell Am victory went to Tim Duit (Ferrari Dallas) – his first of the season after a strong qualifying performance earlier in the day.

Duit’s pole position was more than three-tenths quicker than the field, and he defended his lead against Melissa Kozyra (Ferrari of Naples), who is carrying momentum with three class wins in the last four races.

Kozyra kept second place on Saturday, while Fabian Sperman (The Collection) followed in third for his fifth podium of the year.

Sunday’s activities at Laguna Seca begin with qualifying at 10:05 a.m. PST (1:05 p.m. EST), prior to the final races of the event. The Coppa Shell race goes green at 2:30 p.m., followed by Trofeo Pirelli at 3:30 p.m.

Ferrari Challenge races throughout the season stream live on the Ferrari YouTube channel.

RESULTS: Tofeo Pirelli Race 1/Coppa Shell Race 1

Source: Sports Car 365