Melissa Kozyra claims first wins, sweeps Mugello round in Ferrari Challenge NA
- RACERS
- Oct 30
- 5 min read
Melissa Kozyra completed her first full season in car racing with a stellar double victory in the Shell Am category during the Ferrari Challenge North America final round at Mugello, where she dominated her class in extremely challenging weather conditions to secure her first wins in the series and third in the championship standings.
Melissa Kozyra completed her first full season in car racing with a stellar double victory in the Shell Am category during the Ferrari Challenge North America final round at Mugello, Italy, where she dominated her class in extremely challenging weather conditions to secure her first wins in the series.
At the previous round at Laguna Seca, the Ferrari Challenge North America concluded its season on the American continent, with Kozyra sitting fourth in the Shell Am championship standings after a remarkable campaign with two podium finishes, several strong points-scoring results, and consistent performances that set her up for the finale at the iconic Mugello Circuit in Tuscany.
Kozyra, still in her first full season at this level of competition, had already shown promising speed in select rounds last year — particularly during the Las Vegas event supporting Formula 1 — and arrived in Italy displaying top-three pace in practice. The weekend, however, was marred by wet weather and treacherous conditions that caught out several more experienced drivers.
In practice, Kozyra set a 2:35.556, the third-fastest time in class. In wet qualifying, she recorded a 2:33.531, which placed her 14th overall and on Shell Am pole position — an excellent performance for the #308 Ferrari of Naples 296 Challenge driver. Her second-best lap (2:35.624) secured another class pole for Race 2, placing her 13th overall and once again the top female driver ahead of Stephanie Herfield and Lisa Clark. However, Kozyra was handed a 10-place grid penalty for Race 1, promoting Herfield to pole in Shell Am.
The first race of the weekend took place in barely drivable conditions, with heavy rain and poor visibility. Race control opted for a start behind the safety car for the 30-minute contest.
After two laps behind the pace car, Johnny Kaminskey led the field to green and battled Perrina for the overall lead, but went off into the gravel at Turn 1 on the second lap. Kozyra made a stellar start, climbing to P16 overall, and quickly caught and passed Herfield for the class lead by the end of the first racing lap, moving up to P14 overall before another safety car interruption.
When racing resumed with 11 minutes remaining, Perrina came under pressure from Medler for the overall lead. Kozyra, who had set the fastest lap in class, managed the restart carefully but briefly lost the class lead to Louis Flory, as Herfield slipped to 19th overall and Lisa Clark moved up to 18th, sixth in Shell.
When Mitchell Green ended up in the gravel on lap 8, the safety car was deployed again, with Kozyra running P16 overall and second in class, behind Flory in P13. Clark held fifth in Shell, while Herfield was 18th overall and third in Shell Am.
The race went green again with 90 seconds to go — just two laps remaining: in a chaotic restart, Meddler ran wide at Turn 1, and Flory also went off. Kozyra survived the mayhem and regained the class lead, finishing P14 overall and claiming her first Shell Am victory in treacherous conditions. The result also marked a female 1–2 finish, with Herfield second in class. Lisa Clark took sixth in Shell and 16th overall after a strong recovery drive for the Ferrari of Beverly Hills entry.
Friday’s second race — the final round of the North American championship — was held in dry conditions at last. Starting from the seventh row, Kozyra was well positioned to build on her maiden victory.
She made a great start from the mid-pack, staying close through Turn 1 and running inside the top three of all Shell-class entries. When Rafael Duran slowed and stopped on the opening lap, Kozyra moved up to P13 overall, leading the Shell Am class ahead of Michael Owens, with Lisa Clark 17th (fifth in class) and Stephanie Herfield 21st (fourth in class).
Kozyra set the fastest lap in Shell Am, but her charge was temporarily halted when the safety car was deployed with 24 minutes to go after Louis Flory suffered a high-speed tyre failure at the end of the straight, crashing heavily but luckily walking away unharmed.
The race resumed with 13 minutes left. Kozyra, on the fringe of the overall top ten, retained the class lead and continued to show excellent pace. As battles unfolded ahead, Esteban Beckmann spun, promoting Kozyra to P12 overall, with Chuck Whittall close behind. Whittall and Orsini eventually passed her while fighting for third in the Shell class, but Kozyra maintained a healthy margin over Owens for class position.
In the closing laps, Lisa Clark climbed to 15th overall, fifth in Shell, while Herfield passed Gabe Hrib for third in Shell Am. On the final lap, Clark was catching up and overtook Kozyra for P14 overall, but Kozyra still claimed a dominant Shell Am victory, finishing 20 seconds clear of Michael Owens. Tom Petramalo completed the class podium after passing Herfield on the final lap.
It was a perfect double win for Kozyra, who ended her debut full season of racing on a high — demonstrating significant progress and maturity across the year and finishing third in the championship standings.
One more race awaited: the Ferrari World Finals, held on Sunday at Mugello and bringing together competitors from all Ferrari Challenge regional championships.
In Saturday’s qualifying session, again run in wet conditions, Kozyra set a 2:11.278, placing her 17th overall among a strong international field dominated by European and Japanese entries.
The final race was once again marked by wet and treacherous conditions. After starting under the safety car, the green flag waved at the end of the first lap, but several cars spun off immediately, including Norikazu Shibata, while Kozyra also spun in the poor visibility. Despite light contact with the barriers, she rejoined the race before another safety car and subsequent red flag halted proceedings.
Racing resumed after the stoppage, with 17 minutes remaining: starting P23, Kozyra recovered well — passing Pitorri, Komarov, Scudieri, and Charles Chan to move up to P20 before another safety car interruption.
On the final restart with six minutes left, Kozyra gained two more positions, holding her own in the chaotic final laps to finish P17 overall, completing the World Finals in style.
It was a remarkable weekend at Mugello for the US-American driver, who wrapped up her first full season in car racing with two class victories and a strong showing in the global finale, as she will aim to build upon the valuable experience collected in 2025 to continue her development as a racing driver.
