Ferrari Challenge Indy Toronto Race Report

July 10, 2011

Ferrari of Silicon Valley driver Harry Cheung took the pole position and the win in both races of the Ferrari Challenge support race for the Honda Indy® Toronto™ on the July 9-10 weekend. In the first-ever Ferrari Challenge street race, drivers faced a new kind of challenge on the concrete lined temporary circuit along the Lake Ontario shore.

Following Cheung across the first race finish 1.332 seconds later was Cooper MacNeil (Ferrari of Houston), and then Mark McKenzie (Ferrari of Houston) 6.287 seconds behind Cheung. Still the current points leader after the weekend (184), Enzo Potolicchio (Ferrari of Ft. Lauderdale) fell back to 17th in the first race after an incident also involving Scott Tucker’s car (Boardwalk Ferrari) on lap 19. Tucker was unable to compete in Sunday’s race.

The narrow 1.75-mile Toronto course made passing difficult. Highlighting the course’s demanding nature was the first place finish in the 430 Challenge class by Juan Hinestrosa (Ferrari of Fort Lauderdale) after class pole sitter Rob Metka (Ferrari of Ft. Lauderdale) was eliminated from competition by an opening lap crash.

For the Sunday race, rainy skies cleared and Cheung once again maintained his lead to take the win. The Challenge drivers became more comfortable on the demanding street circuit as the race progressed, intensifying the competition with every lap. This time, MacNeil was less than one second behind the winner to take second place, while third went to Toronto native John Farano (Algar Ferrari), 11.594 seconds behind the winning pace. Mark Mckenzie (Ferrari of Houston) took fourth place and Potolicchio took fifth.

The Toronto crowd had extra reason to cheer; in addition to Farano’s 458 Challenge podium finish, the 430 Challenge winner’s circle became an all-Canadian affair with the Calgary duo of Damon and Ryan Ockey (Ferrari of Ontario) finishing first and second just in front of Oakville, Ontario’s Frank Fusillo (Algar Ferrari).