Beretta kicks off with a Pirelli World Challenge win

Ferrari's start to the Pirelli World Challenge season could not have got off to a better start. Olivier Beretta claimed victory in the inaugural race at the Austin circuit in the R. Ferri entered number 61 458 Italia. There was also a third place in the GTA category, aimed more at the amateur racer.

The start. The race built up to a crescendo over its 23 laps. At the start, poleman Nick Catsburg held firm in the Lamborghini, while Kevin Estre was slow off the mark in the McLaren and was passed by Ryan Dalziel’s Porsche and Olivier Beretta, who went past at turn 1 to go up to third. On lap 2, Catsburg led from Dalziel and Beretta, but the stewards gave the Dutchman, who was leading, a drive-through penalty for going over the track limits, which promoted Dalziel and Beretta to first and second respectively. Third was now the 2014 champion, Johnny O’Connel in the Cadillac, from eighth on the grid.

Tight duel. The fight for the lead was down to just Dalziel and Beretta, who were glued together from laps 13 to 21, with the Monegasque driver waiting for his rival to make a mistake in order to take the lead. However, the American didn’t put a foot wrong, so Beretta had to take matters in hand. He produced an amazing performance on lap 21 to sit on the Porsche’s gearbox and on the main straight, he pulled off a text book passing move, which saw him take the lead at the first uphill turn at the Circuit of the Americas. Dalziel tried to counterattack but to no avail, as lap 22 saw Beretta run at qualifying pace, giving the Porsche no chance.

A job well done. Beretta was thus first across the line, much to the delight of team owner, Remo Ferri and all the guys involved in preparing the number 61 car. He also took the “Move of the Day” award, for the best overtaking manoeuvre. “The race went well right from the end of the first lap and the car was perfectly set-up,” said Beretta afterwards. “So I want to thank the guys in the team for that as they did a great job. I waited for my rival to make a wrong move for quite a while, but he was driving very well. So, when it was clear the end of the race was approaching, I decided to push. I did practically two qualifying laps. In the first one I closed on Dalziel and passed him and on the second, I pulled out enough of a gap to be sure of the win in the closing stages.”

GTA Podium. Apart from Beretta's win, Ferrari also had a third place to celebrate in the GTA class. Rookie Ricardo Perez, winner of the 2014 Ferrari Challenge North America and Trofeo Pirelli Am world champion at the Abu Dhabi Finali Mondiali, drove a great debut race. He was beaten only by Michael Lewis, fifth overall in a Porsche and Frank Montecalvo in a Mercedes (seventh,) both of them more experienced than him in the Pirelli World Challenge.The Mexican, driving for Risi Competizione was eighth overall at the flag and can now look ahead to the forthcoming rounds with great confidence. Behind him came another Ferrari 458 Italia, the number 07 car of Scuderia Corsa, in the hands of fellow countryman Martin Fuentes, who finished ahead of the number 30 car of NGT Motorsport, driven by Venezuela’s Henrique Cisneros.


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