Ferrari Challenge

For the video game, see Ferrari Challenge: Trofeo Pirelli.

The Ferrari Challenge is a single-marque motorsport championship that was created in 1993, initially catering to owners of the 348 Challenge who wanted to race their cars.^[1][2][3][4] The first European season took place in 1993, with a North American series added in 1994.^[5] It now encompasses five official series in Europe, North America, Japan, The United Kingdom & Australasia.^[1] Competitors from each series are brought together at the annual World Finals (Finali Mondiali) event.

Ferrari Challenge

Category	One-make racing
Country	Europe North America Japan United Kingdom
Inaugural season	1993
Constructors	Ferrari
Tyre suppliers	Pirelli
Official website	Official website

Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo

In the course of more than 30 years of history, the one-make championship has featured nine cars from the Maranello marque: the 348 Challenge, F355 Challenge, 360 Challenge, F430 Challenge, 458 Challenge, 458 Challenge Evo, 488 Challenge, 488 Challenge Evo and currently the 296 Challenge.

Series

A Ferrari F430 Challenge car used in the North American series.

Currently there are four distinct series, in Europe, in North America, in the UK, and in Japan.^[1] The Ferrari Challenge is managed by Ferrari's Corse Clienti department.

Ferrari Challenge Italy

The now defunct Ferrari Challenge Italy used a two-class format in which distinguished between professional competition drivers in the Trofeo Pirelli (lit. "Pirelli Trophy") and amateur "gentleman drivers" in the Coppa Shell (lit. "Shell Cup").^[6][3] This format has now been transferred to the Europe Challenge series. It was originally launched in 1993, with backing from Pirelli.

Ferrari Challenge Europe

The European series is a four-class championship, the classes are:^[7]

• Trofeo Pirelli
• Trofeo Pirelli Am
• Coppa Shell
• Coppa Shell Am

Ferrari Challenge North America

Ferrari F430 Challenge racer at New Jersey Motorsports Park, North American series (2008 season).

The North American also features the Trofeo Pirelli and Coppa Shell class system.^[8][9] This championship was inaugurated in 1994. It is organized by Ferrari North America and sanctioned by IMSA.^[10][11]

Ferrari Challenge UK

Starting with the 2019 season, the regional Ferrari Challenge UK series has been launched, contested at some of the UK's most iconic tracks, from Silverstone to Brands Hatch, Oulton Park to Snetterton.

Ferrari Challenge Japan

Starting with the 2023 season, the calendar of the Prancing Horse single-make series has been enriched with the second regional series, the Ferrari Challenge Japan, which includes five rounds taking place at the tracks of Fuji (two rounds), Autopolis, Suzuka and Sugo.

Ferrari Challenge Asia-Pacific

The Asia-Pacific was organised from 2011 to 2022, inaugurated in combination with the growing interest and sales for Ferrari in Asia. The seasons included events in Japan, China, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. The Asia-Pacific also featured the Trofeo Pirelli and Coppa Shell class system.

Ferrari Challenge Australasia

2025 saw the launch of an Australian-based series with five rounds held at Australia's four largest motorsport venues. The series launched with a mix of 296 Challenge and 488 Challenge EVO equipped teams.

Finali Mondiali

From 2013, the major Ferrari Challenge series have combined to host a World Final common event for all championships. This event culminates in a race containing as many of the competitors across all series in both Trofeo Pirelli and Coppa Shell as can fit, with Ferrari declaring the winners to be "world champions".^[12] The following table has the winners of each event:

Year	Circuit	Trofeo Pirelli	Coppa Shell	Source
2013	Mugello Circuit	Pro: Philipp Baron	Am: Giosue Rizzuto	[13]
2014	Yas Marina Circuit	Pro: Max Blancardi Pro-Am: Ricardo Pérez de Lara	Am: Massimiliano Bianchi	[14][15][16]
2015	Mugello Circuit	Pro: Matteo Santoponte Pro-Am: Alessandro Vezzoni	Am: Erich Prinoth	[17][18][19]
2016	Daytona International Speedway	Pro: Carlos Kauffman Pro-Am: Sam Smeeth	Am: Thomas Löfflad	[20]
2017	Mugello Circuit	Pro: Fabio Leimer Pro-Am: Jens Liebhauser	Am: Johnny Laursen	[21][22]
2018	Autodromo Nazionale Monza	Pro: Nicklas Nielsen Pro-Am: Fabienne Wohlwend	Pro-Am: Christophe Hurni Am: Ingvar Mattsson	[23]
2019	Mugello Circuit	Pro: Adam Carroll Pro-Am: Emanuele-Maria Tabacchi	Pro-Am: James Weiland Am: Ingvar Mattsson	[24][25][26]
2020	Misano World Circuit	Pro: Florian Merckx Pro-Am: Han Sikkens	Pro-Am: Roger Grouwels Am: Michael Simoncić	[27][28][29]
2021	Mugello Circuit	Pro: Luka Nurmi Pro-Am: Christian Brunsborg	Pro-Am: Ernst Kirchmayr Am: Peter Christensen	[30][31]
2022	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari	Pro: Thomas Neubauer Pro-Am: Marco Pulcini	Pro-Am: Franz Engstler Am: Joakim Olander	[32][33][34][35]
2023	Mugello Circuit	Pro: Thomas Fleming Pro-Am: Franz Engstler	Pro-Am: Axel Sartingen Am: Martinus Richter	[36]

Champions

Year	Europe		North America		Asia-Pacific		UK
	Trofeo Pirelli	Coppa Shell	Trofeo Pirelli	Coppa Shell	Trofeo Pirelli	Coppa Shell	Trofeo Pirelli	Coppa Shell
2003	Pro: Ange Barde[37]						not held
2004	Pro: Ange Barde[38]
2005	Pro: Michael Cullen[39]
2006	Pro: Ange Barde[40]	Am: ??
2007	Pro: Michael Cullen[41]	Am: Loyd La Marca[42]	Pro: Mike Zoi[43]
2008	Pro: Max Blancardi[44]	Am: Michael Cantillon[45]	Pro: Roberto Fata[46]
2009	Pro: Nicolas Misslin[47]	Am: Jean-Marc Bachelier[48]
2010	Pro: Philipp Baron[49]	Am: Wido Rößler[50]
2011	Pro: Max Blancardi[51]	Am: Jean-Marc Bachelier[52]				Am: Alex Au[53]
2012	Pro: Alessandro Balzan[54]	Am: Aleksey Basov[55]		Am: Damon Ockey[56]		Am: Alex Au[57]
2013	Pro: Sergiy Chukanov[58]	Am: Dirk Adamski[59]		Am: João Adibe[60]	Pro: Pasin Lathouras[61]	Am: Eric Cheung[62]
2014	Pro: Daniele di Amato[63] Pro-Am: Ezequiel Pérez Companc[64]	Am: Massimiliano Bianchi[65]		Am: Christopher Ruud[66]	Pro: Eric Cheung[67]	Am: David Tjiptobiantoro[68]
2015	Pro: Björn Großmann[69] Pro-Am: Martin Nelson[70]	Am: Jacques Duyver[71]	Pro: Emmanuel Anassis[72] Pro-Am: Mike Zoi[73]	Am: Jean-Claude Saada[74]	Pro: Stephen Wyatt[75] Pro-Am: Wei Xu[76]	Pro-Am: Xin Jin[77]
2016	Pro: Björn Großmann[78] Pro-Am: Sam Smeeth[79]	Am: Thomas Löfflad[80]	Pro: Carlos Kauffman[81] Pro-Am: James Weiland[82]	Am: Joe Courtney[83]
	report		report
2017	Pro: Daniele di Amato[84] Pro-Am: Jens Liebhauser[85]	Am: Johnny Laursen[86]	Pro: Brett Curtis[87] Pro-Am: Chris Cagnazzi[88]	Am: Richard Baek[89]	Pro: Philippe Prette[90] Pro-Am: Ken Seto[91]	Pro-Am: Makoto Fujiwara[92]
	report
2018	Pro: Nicklas Nielsen[93] Pro-Am: Chris Froggatt[94]	Pro-Am: Christophe Hurni[95] Am: Murat Cuhadaroğlu[96]	Pro: Cooper MacNeil[97] Pro-Am: Ross Chouest[98]	Pro-Am: Thomas Tippl[99] Am: John Megrue[100]	Pro: Philippe Prette[101]	Pro-Am: Tani Hanna[102] Am: David Dicker[103]
	report		report
2019	Pro: Louis Prette[104] Pro-Am: Emanuele-Maria Tabacchi[105]	Pro-Am: Tani Hanna[106] Am: Henrik Jansen[107]	Pro: Cooper MacNeil[108] Pro-Am: Neil Gehani[109]	Pro-Am: Mark Issa[110] Am: Bradley Horstmann[111]	Pro-Am: Philippe Prette[112]	Pro-Am: Makoto Fujiwara[113] Am: "Andrew" Moon[114]	Jamie Clarke[115]	Toby Flannagan[116]
	report		report		report
2020	Pro: Emanuele-Maria Tabacchi Pro-Am: Frederik Paulsen	Pro-Am: Roger Grouwels Am: "Alex Fox"	Pro: Cooper MacNeil Pro-Am: David Musial	Pro-Am: Bradley Horstmann Am: Justin Wetherill	not held		Lucky Khera	Jamie Thwaites
	report		report				report
2021	Pro: Michelle Gatting Pro-Am: Sergio Paulet	Pro-Am: Ernst Kirchmayr Am: Willem van der Vorm	Pro: Jeremy Clarke Pro-Am: David Musial, Jr.	Pro-Am: Michael Petramalo Am: Tony Davis
	report		report		report
2022	Pro: Doriane Pin Pro-Am: Ange Barde	Pro-Am: Franz Engstler Am: Alexander Nussbaumer	Pro: Jeremy Clarke Pro-Am: David Musial, Jr.	Pro-Am: Michael Petramalo Am: Tony Davis	Am: Yudai Uchida	Pro-Am: Kazuyuki Yamaguchi Am: Shigeru Kamiue	Lucky Khera	Jason Ambrose
	report		report		report		report
2023	Pro: Eliseo Donno Pro-Am: Franz Engstler	Pro-Am: Axel Sartingen Am: Motohiko Isozaki	Pro: Matthew Kurzejewski Pro-Am: Justin Rothenberg	Pro-Am: Cameron Root Am: Lisa Clark
	report		report

One-make racing

The cockpit of a F430 Challenge carries only basic racing necessities.

The Ferrari 360 Modena Challenge was the Ferrari Challenge racer replacing the F355 Challenge.

The Ferrari Challenge uses a single model from the manufacturer's road car range, suitably modified to make them safe for competition use. The lineage began with the 348 Challenge in 1993, followed by its successor, the F355 Challenge, and the 360 Modena was introduced in 2000. The F355 remained eligible during 2000 and 2001.^[117] The 360 Challenge version was the first competition-orientated version to be marketed to the public. The F430 Challenge was phased in during a transitional year in 2006, with the same being the case for the 458 Challenge in 2011.^[118] The F430 introduced carbon-ceramic brake discs for the first time and gained 80 hp (60 kW) over the 360CS, which has reduced lap times to approximately three seconds shy of the F430 GT2.^[6] The 458 Challenge is the first to have driver controlled aids such as traction control, stability management and adjustable ABS brakes.^[119]

Ferrari Challenge racing cars

The 296 Challenge is the most recent in a line of Ferraris used in the Ferrari Challenge series. The lineage is as follows:^[120][121]

• Ferrari 348 Challenge (1993–1995)
• Ferrari F355 Challenge (1995–2000)
• Ferrari 360 Modena Challenge (2000–2006)
• Ferrari F430 Challenge (2006–2011)
• Ferrari 458 Challenge (2011–2013)
• Ferrari 458 Challenge Evo (2014–2016)
• Ferrari 488 Challenge (2017–2020)
• Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo (2020–2023)
• Ferrari 296 Challenge (2024-Present)

All the cars used in the series are track only, although some 360 Challenges have been made road legal in Australia, with extensive modifications. However, due to new legislation, this is not possible anymore. The 360 Modena Challenge used in the series should not be confused with the 360 Challenge Stradale, which was a road-legal, track day oriented version of the 360, similar to the 430 Scuderia.

Racing simulators based on the series

In 1999, Sega's producer Yu Suzuki created Ferrari F355 Challenge: Passione Rossa, a video game based on the Ferrari F355 Challenge series.

In 2008, System 3's Mark Cale created Ferrari Challenge: Trofeo Pirelli, the official game of the Ferrari Challenge featuring the licensed Ferrari F430 Challenge Italian, European and North American 2007 series.^[122]

In 2012, Ferrari Challenge appeared in Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends.

See also

• Lamborghini Super Trofeo
• Mustang Challenge
• Porsche Carrera Cup
• Audi R8 LMS Cup
• Trofeo Maserati