R.Ferri Motorsport RACING WITH FERRARI raced into the record books on Saturday as team driver Olivier Beretta made a dramatic last-lap pass to win the season-opening Pirelli World Challenge race at Circuit of the Americas in the #61 Ferrari 458 Italia GT3. Making just his second career World Challenge start, the former Formula 1 timed the start to perfection and held on to third place as the 49-car field made a clean start through the iconic elevated turn one at the Circuit of the Americas.
After Beretta slotted in to third, the pole sitting car was judged to have jumped the start and was penalized, leaving Beretta to chase down the leading Porsche. Making the most of his Pirelli traction, Beretta stalked the leader and closed the gap each lap. After taking the white flag, he made an impressive move to take the point on the final lap and cross the finish line 1.6-seconds clear of the field after 49 minutes of green-flag racing.
The season-opening win marked a strong foot forward for the team, which scored third in the 2014 World Challenge championship standings and will look to once again be a competitive force in 2015. With some 19 races yet to run before a champion is crowned, the experienced team owner knows that his group will need to stay focused on the future as the team prepares to return to competition again in race two on Sunday.
