If the first weekend of the 2010 Ferrari Challenge season is any indication, then this year will be filled with excitement and have a closely contested championship. 

Drivers from around the world descended upon the tropical Florida location to test their skills against other gentlemen racers. Homestead-Miami Speedway is only 30 minutes away from Coral Gables and Miami, and will host the IndyCar and NASCAR series later this year. But on this weekend, instead of Japanese and American horsepower, the Speedway was home to Italian stallions.

The 2010 season began on the March 12 to 14 weekend at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. In addition to the Ferrari Challenge races, the weekend also contained track time for FXX and 599XX cars. The real treat, though, was when the F1 Clienti ran hot laps. The F1 Clienti program allows privateers to purchase retired F1 cars from Ferrari. Ferrari provides support for the F1 cars both at the track and back at the garage, making for a relatively relaxing weekend for the owners. Since the current Formula One series does not visit the United States, events such as this one at Miami are ideal for enthusiasts to witness F1 performance and technology.

Even with other exotic Italian race cars, the main event was still the Ferrari Challenge race, and the drivers showed what a difficult competition it was. The first qualifying event was on Saturday, and Enzo Potolicchio (The Collection) demonstrated that he was serious about winning by taking pole. Next to him on the front row of the grid was Scott Tucker (Boardwalk Ferrari), runner up to the 2009 Championship. Mike Zoi (The Collection) and Sun Ho Lee (Ferrari of Beverly Hills) made up the grid’s second row.  In the race, Tucker chased Potolicchio around the track until he finally managed a pass at about the 30 minutes mark. Tucker remained in front to the very end, but unfortunately, avoidable contact resulted in a 1 minute penalty to him. As a result, Potolicchio was awarded first, Ted Skokos (Boardwalk Ferrari) second, and Zoi third.
On Sunday, Tucker set a new lap record en route to establishing his position on pole. This time, it was Zoi accompanying tucker on the front row, with Potolicchio and Skokos on the second row. Unfortunately, mechanical problems prevented Skokos from providing a repeat podium performance.

Tucker led the race from start to finish, never giving an inch to Potolicchio, who challenged the entire way. Unable to pass the leader, Potolicchio settled for second place, and Zoi received third. Harry Cheung (Ferrari of Silicon Valley) was assessed a stop-and-go penalty and dropped to the back of the pack after the first lap, but he was resolved to drive well even from behind. He passed an impressive eight cars on his way to a 7th place finish, and received the Hard Charger award for the day.

The Ferrari Challenge series is just underway, but so far, Potolicchio has a significant leg up on the competition. It will be interesting to see who can catch him in the upcoming races.

The next Ferrari Challenge event will be at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah on April 9 to 11, 2010.

 Homestead Miami Race 1 Results
 Homestead Miami Race 2 Results