The early stages of Q2 saw the drivers of all four categories mixing it up for the top positions but as the track heated up Todd Coleman (Ferrari Denver) then Jason McCarthy (Wide World Ferrari) started to set the pace. McCarthy remained quickest until the final stages with a time of 1m43.9s, but the standings were destined to change as not all the drivers had come out of the pits.
With ten minutes remaining Manny Franco was down in P29 but the race 1 winner bolted on a new set of tyres on to clock a lap time of 1m43.3s in the final stages, which well ahead of the rest of the field and more than good enough for pole. With this sort of form, the Ferrari Lake Forest man is now 9 points behind the top slot and looks as if he could be in with a great chance of taking the title.
All eyes were on championship leader Jeremy Clarke (Ferrari Beverly Hills), who also remained idle until the last ten minutes and despite setting personal bests in his last couple of laps he could only post a time of 1m44.1s to take third in class and fourth on the grid, a result that will at least keep him in with a chance of the title this afternoon. The final contender for the overall win Matt Kurzejewski (Ferrari Westlake), who is 13 points behind, will start behind Clarke in fifth.
Dylan Medler (The Collection) was fastest in the Trofeo Pirelli AM grouping, taking a brilliant third place on the grid and qualifying well ahead of Aaron Weiss (Ferrari Central New Jersey) and Alfred Caiola (Ferrari Long Island), with Friday race winner Custodio Toledo (The Collection) down in fourth.
In the Coppa Shell NA category Omar Balkissoon (Ferrari Fort Lauderdale) finished in P11 overall with a time of 1m45.375s, half-a-second ahead of category champion Michael Petramalo (Ferrari Seattle) and Sureel Choksi (Ferrari Denver), who recovered from an early spin on cold tyres.
Down in the Coppa Shell AM group, Tony Davis (Continental Autosports) was P13 overall, over half-a-second quicker and five places on the grid ahead of yesterday’s winner Lisa Clark (Ferrari Beverly Hills) in P18.
FERRARI CHALLENGE - Imola: Q2 North America
