FCS: Misano World Finals summary

Grala wins Ferrari Challenge!

Darius Grala won the first of two races at the Ferrari Challenge World Finals at Misano, Italy on October 19, and that win gave him the 2002 North American Ferrari Challenge Championship. Grala, driving a specially prepared Ferrari 360 for the Ferrari of Orange County team, had led the standings for much of the season.

Jose Luis Valera (Ferrari of Houston) and Doug Peterson (Shelton Sports Cars) joined Grala on the podium for the first race. Peterson had battled with Grala for the championship throughout the year, and was the only driver who could have beaten Grala for the title.

Peterson won the second race on Sunday, ahead of Brent Martini (Grala's teammate) and Grala. Grala, Peterson and Valera were the only three series drivers to win races during the 2002 Challenge season, and the trio finished first, second and third in that order in the final rankings.

Grala, Peterson, and Valera were presented special Girard-Perregaux watches to commemorate their finish as the top three drivers in the Challenge. The watches were presented by Ron Jackson, President of Girard-Perregaux North America, at the conclusion of the event at Misano.

A crowd estimated at 100,000 enthusiastic fans saw not only the Challenge races but exhibitions of the Championship-winning Ferrari 2002 Formula One cars, driven by World Champion Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello, and the team's test drivers.

-fcs-