ALEX POPOW of Venezuela again won from the pole position, in the second Ferrari 458 Challenge race. He led every lap and won the Trofeo Pirelli category. Popow raced the No.2 chrome-wrapped Ferrari, for Ferrari of Fort Lauderdale.

Technically, the Safety Car took the checkered flag first, after the caution came out on Lap 11.

RYAN OCKEY of Canada was running second in the Coppa Shell class when he went too hot into Turn Eight and slid through the gravel and into the tires on his roof. He is fine. This brought out the caution flag for the next six laps and the race ended two minutes, 14 seconds early of the 35-minute timed race.

Second and third overall and in class were ONOFRIO TRIARSI of New Jersey

Ockey’s brother, DAMON OCKEY, finished second in the CS class, behind Class winner, ROBERT HERJAVEC of Canada in No.007, who was seventh overall. All three were racing for Ferrari of Ontario. Herjavec’s fastest lap was

Third in the CS class was MAURIZIO SCALA of Venezuela, racing for Ferrari of Fort Lauderdale in No.59.

The race ran for 17 laps, with 20 of the 26 drivers finishing all. Five other drivers finished a lap down, and Ryan Ockey was the only DNF.

After the race, Parc Ferme was full, with race cars for post-race inspections. So, for now, all results are provisional.

LARRY BOWMAN of CA/No.98 was penalized one lap for avoidable contact.

The finishing position of MIKE ZOI/No 8 of FL was swapped with CHRIS RUUD/No.4of WI, from fifth to sixth, for an improper pass by Zoi.

The F458 Series has drivers of varying levels. In addition to the official overall Driver Coach, DIDIER THEYS, more than a few of the drivers had individual driver coaches. Most of them keep a very low profile, are in ‘civvies’ and not easy to spot. Among those I saw and conversed were TERRY BORCHELLER, ANTHONY LAZZARO, RICH McCORMICK, RICHARD SPENARD, and ANDY WALLACE

There’s nothing quite like the sound of a Formula One car resounding around the track at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. It’s a gorgeous day for the third and final day of the Ferrari Racing Days event, and the 2003 Ferrari Formula One car – originally raced by RUBENS BARRICHELLO, has been running hot/exhibition laps. Sunday’s drivers were F1 Clienti car owner BUD MOELLER, with former F1 driver, MARC GENE, also having a turn. The observant could tell who was driving by the helmets. Moeller’s was a darker green, while Gene’s was multi-striped with white. Both had wide grins.

Up to this weekend, the  unofficial lap record was 1:05.880 set by SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS during Champ Car Spring Training in 2007. Sunday a new ‘unofficial’ track record was set by the F1 Clienti car. Moeller joked that since it was his car, it was his record. But he conceded that the honor fell to Gene, who turned a 1:05.770.

Saturday GUY COSMOS had “the best day ever of his life” driving the car. He races a Ferrari for Extreme Motorsports in the American Le Mans Series. The team is fielding a F458 this weekend. There were several ALMS drivers playing spectator this weekend.

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ALEX POPOW of Venezuela led from start to finish in the first of two Ferrari  458 Challenge Races Saturday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The stunning chrome No.2 F458 turned the fastest race lap overall and in the Trofeo Pirelli class – 1:28.572/90.963 mph, a new track record.

This was part of the three-day Ferrari Racing Days weekend.

Popow admitted afterwards that he went off course trying to pass another car, and upon re-entering he nicked his front, leaving behind some chromed body work. As is the policy in the San Francisco Region of Sports Car Club of America, the part was retrieved and returned to the owner. Popow made one fan a very happy camper, by not only autographing and dating the piece for the fan, but telling the story and engaging him and his pals for a long conversation.

The top three finishers ended as they qualified, 1-2-3 … Popow, ONIFRIO TRIARSI/No.23 and HARRY CHEUNG/No.77.

Fourth overall and in the Trofeo Pirelli class was ENZO POTOLICCHIO/No.22 who started last after replacing a wheel which was lost in practice.

Finishing first in the Coppo Shell class was pole sitter RYAN OCKEY/No.89, followed by brother DAMON OCKEY in No.31.Both are from Canada and race for Ferrari of Ontario, as does ROBERT HERJAVEC/No.007, who finished third in class.

Twenty-seven cars raced, with two DNF’s. KEVIN MARSHALL of Incline Village NV/No.458 Ferrari of Beverly Hills had a mechanical problem, finishing twenty-sixth. JON BECKER of LA CA was last, due to an accident, finishing ten of the 24-laps. Nineteen finished on the lead lap.

RICH BAEK of Beaverton OR was ecstatic just being in his first race ever. He bought his No.87 in February and has had six days in the car. He attended the previous Challenge Race at Infineon Raceway but admitted he’s not a good spectator and didn’t watch the entire race. This will be Baek’s first complete race, to watch as well as run. His driver coach is RICH McCORMICK. Baek finished twenty-fourth, three laps down, but he finished all in one piece. He races for Ferrari of San Diego.

The official driver coach for the series is retired Ferrari sports car driver, DIDIER THEYS.
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Guess which car took two days to wrap.

Ferrari Racing Days at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is a three-day fest of Ferrari’s, with many traditional red, black and yellow cars … and multi-colored Ferrari 458 Challenge cars,  some of which are wrapped rather than painted.

Twenty-eight F458 cars are entered, and all have been on track. Friday three broke suspensions, but all of them qualified. One of the three, ALEX POPOW of Venezuela in No.2 Ferrari of Ft. Lauderdale, has the pole – a new lap record. This despite his fastest qualifying lap being disallowed due to improper tire procedure, i.e. tire change during qualifying. Drivers must start race on Qualifying tires. His second fastest lap was 1:27.561/92.014 mph. Second fastest F458 driver was ONOFRIO TRIARSI of Short Hills NJ in No.23 at 1:28.252/91.293 mph.

Popow’s car is an all very shiny chrome with a red racing stripe down the middle. It looks fast standing still. He was racing last weekend at Laguna Seca where he droe a CORE AUTOSPORT ORECA FLM09 PC in the American Le Mans Series six-hour sports car endurance race. He finished sixth overall, third in the Prototype C class, co-driving with TOM KIMBER-SMITH. Popow is leading the PC points standings.

ENZO POTOLICCHIO of Venezuela in No.22 Ferrari of Fort Lauderdale lost a wheel in Turn Two on his second lap in Saturday morning practice, and had to replace the wheel. He will start the race in P27.

Another well-known driver in the 458 series, for those reality show fans of Shark Tank, is ROBERT HERJAVEC of Toronto Canada, racing No.007 for Ferrari of Ontario. He had an off Friday in Turn Eleven but survived and was back out Saturday, qualifying sixth in CS, twelfth overall.

The top four F458’s are in the Trofeo Pirelli class, the faster drivers. The other class is Coppo Shell, for less experienced drivers.

The top C driver was RYAN OCKEY of Calgary Canada in No.89. Twenty seven drivers of the 28 entries qualified.

Both Popow and Ockey race cars which are ‘wrapped’ rather than painted. They are among several flashy eye-catching designs. The average time to wrap these cars is a day. There was one car which took two days, and a couple others estimated time two to six hours.

Also on the program for the weekend are the lone F1 Clienti Ferrari, four 599xx Ferrari’s driven by fellows who use pseudonyms, one Ferrari XX Evo driven by ERIC CHEUNG YIN WAI of Canada, and a 1997 Esobizone IMSA 333 SP Prototype driven by MICHAEL SCHEIN. One tricked out red and white 599XX, No.36 was driven by OLIVIER BERETTA. It’s not on any list. He had some interesting lines through Turn Six.

Friday the F1 Clienti car, owned by BUD MOELLER was driven by him Friday and the top trap speed on the Start-Finish straight was 174 mph. This is after he slowed for Turn Eleven’s curve, and then up shifted five gears uphill towards Turn One. One of Italian crew members told me “there’s more.” The car is the 2003 F1 car raced by RUBENS BARRICHELLO, running on semi-treaded tires, rather than racing slicks.

Sharing the car with Moeller Friday was former F1 driver, MARC GENE. Saturday morning ALMS Ferrari sports car racer, GUY COSMOS got his very first ride in a F1 car.

This weekend Barrichello is at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Indy 500 Pole Day qualifying – the ‘Rookie’ who isn’t really a Rookie, qualified tenth. He races a Chevrolet Dallara DW12 for KVRT Racing.