THERMAL, Calif. — Ferrari Challenge North America completed its opening weekend for 2026 at The Thermal Club, finishing with a pair of races under the southern California sun on Sunday.
Manny Franco (Ferrari Lake Forest) is already a multi-time winner in Ferrari Challenge North America, but he went to great lengths to win Sunday’s race at Thermal.
Showing his expertise, Franco placed his Ferrari 296 Challenge racecar in the tightest corners to make a move on polesitter and Race 1 winner Johnny Kaminskey (Ferrari of Long Island). That move came with six minutes remaining in the half-hour race despite Kaminskey’s valiant efforts to fend off the Ferrari veteran.
Kaminskey held onto second place one day after his first series victory and Roberto Perrina (Ferrari of Seattle) finished third by less than a half second over Brad Fauvre (Ferrari of San Francisco) in a last-lap battle.
In Trofeo Pirelli Am, Michael Mathes (Ferrari of Central New Jersey) and Yahn Bernier (Ferrari of Seattle) had a spirited contest for the lead in Race 2. Ultimately, Mathes took the top spot at the halfway mark and sailed away for the win by more than seven seconds. It was Mathes’ first victory since the penultimate event at Watkins Glen last season.
Bernier, the 2025 Coppa Shell championship runner-up, finished second for his first podium of 2026, and Matthew Diehl (Midwestern Auto Group) finished third for his first trophy in the series.
In the Coppa Shell and Coppa Shell Am classes, Mike Chen (Ferrari of Beverly Hills) and Blake Rosser (Ferrari of San Diego) went two-for-two, sweeping the weekend at Thermal in their respective classes. Both drivers started from pole position and finished seconds ahead of their next closest competitor.
For Chen in Coppa Shell, that was Gary Ott (Ferrari Philadelphia) who finished second after crossing the line fourth on Saturday. Capturing third place in the final five minutes was 2025 Coppa Shell Am champion Michael Owens (Ferrari of Alberta).
Meanwhile, rounding out the Coppa Shell Am podium behind Rosser was Fabian Sperman (The
Collection) in second and Tim Duit (Ferrari Dallas) in third.
