Monday Pit Stop #18

This past weekend has been a busy one for Pirelli tyres. Apart from the World Rally Championship round in Sardinia and the 24 Hours of the Nurburgring, which was red flagged after just over seven hours of racing on Saturday, because of terrible weather, before restarting on Sunday for a handful of laps behind the Safety Car and then being stopped, there were other important events for Pirelli-shod single-seaters and GT cars.

Imola hosted the second round of the Italian Formula 4 championship, with a field of new fewer than 38 cars. Japan's Hiyu Yamakoshi (Van Amersfoort Racing) was the star of the weekend, with two wins and three pole positions, while Britain's Freddie Slater (Prema Racing) won the last race, having failed to score in the first two. In fact, Slater's team have appealed a stewards' decision to disqualify him from race 1, after he was first past the chequered flag. After two rounds, Slater still leads the series on 100 points followed by Yamakoshi on 82.

Also at Imola, the Italian GT3 Sprint and GT Cup competitors were tackling their second round of the season. 55 cars took part with the Lamborghini Huracans winning two races. In the first on Saturday victory went to Michelotto-Stadsbader (VSR), while in Sunday's Race 2, the winners were Philippe Denes and Jack Bartholomew (Imperiale Racing). More success for Lamborghini in the GT Cup with cousins Giacomo e Matteo Pollini winning Race 1 in the Giacomo Racing Huracan, while in Race 2, Pegoraro-Patrincola took the honours in a Ferrari 488 Challenge, setting the fastest race lap.

The Ferrari Challenge, the Prancing Horse's one-make series that Pirelli has partnered since its inception in 1993, was racing for the very first time at Hungary's Balaton circuit in the second round of the European series. 

Giacomo Altoè (Trofeo Pirelli) and Alexander Nussbaumer (Coppa Shell) won Saturday's races, with Altoè, on his debut in the Challenge, following it up with another win on Sunday, while the Coppa Shell saw Andreas Ritzi (CDP - D&C Racing) take his maiden win in the series.