A stunning performance by FF Corse drivers at Silverstone and Donington over the weekend saw the team take 5 overall and class wins. The results helped the team secure class Championships in both the Britcar Endurance Championship and the GT Cup Championship.

At Silverstone in the Britcar Endurance Championship David Mason & Calum Lockie took a class win in race 1, before a dominant win in race 2 secured the Class 2 Championship. The team are leading the overall Championship with the last round taking place as a night race at Donington in the beginning of November.

Meanwhile, at Donington this weekend, Wayne Marrs & Charlie Hollings took a class win in the pit-stop race on Saturday. On Sunday a pair of second place finishes secured the GTC Class Championship, the second Championship won for FF Corse over the weekend. The pairing now head to the final round at Oulton Park next month with a healthy lead in the overall GT Cup Championship.

In the battle for the overall honours, FF Corse driver Darren Nelson took a pair of dominant sprint race wins in the Ferrari 458 GT3. In race one Darren caught and passed the leader before going on to set fastest lap (securing pole-position for race 2) and ease out a 3.3 second winning margin. In the second race Darren fought hard and held off the attention from fellow competitors, before controlling the race from the front to win with a 2.8 second gap.

 

FF Corse’s driver pairing of Wayne Marrs & Charlie Hollings secured the overall 2015 GT Cup Championship at a fascinating Oulton Park finale at the weekend.

Wayne was driving his Ferrari 458 Challenge GTC car solo at the final 2 races and capped the season off in style with solid drives in both. The races were the mark of his consistency, which has seen him and Charlie finish every practice, qualifying and race session throughout the gruelling 23 race strong season.

Winning the GT Cup on his debut season was a fantastic achievement and gave Wayne the GTC class honours, as well as the overall Championship. Wayne commented “Coming into the season I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect and also I was surprised at the level of competition throughout the field. I am just really pleased we have managed to secure the Championship and I would really like to thank Charlie (Hollings), who has driven superbly all season and been a great help with his driver coaching. Also the team, FF Corse, who have done a great job preparing the car and making sure it performed well throughout”.

Darren Nelson also had a strong finish to the season and helped FF Corse secure the GT Cup Teams Championship and finish second in the GTO Championship, just 1 point behind the leader.

Continuing on from his winning success at Donington Park, Darren took pole position for the first race and led most of the race before having to settle for second in the closing stages. The second race saw Darren again start on the front row, before a 1st lap spin dropped him to last. A spirted fightback, against teams competing with professional drivers, saw him claw his way back to a 4th place finish and secure second place in the Championship.

Remaining 2015 Races

Britcar Endurance Championship: Donington Park Finale (Nov 7th).
David Mason & Calum Lockie
Ivor Dunbar & Johnny Mowlem

Europen Ferrari Challenge: Mugello – World Finals (Nov 5th – 8th)
Sam Smeeth

Gulf 12hrs: Abu-Dhabi, Yas Marina (Dec 9th – 11th)
Ivor Dunbar & Johnny Mowlem

Photos courtesy of Phil Rainford & Simon Arron (@simonarron)

FF Corse drivers David Mason & Calum Lockie drove consistently at the weekend, culminating in winning win the Overall Britcar Endurance Championship for the second year running in their Ferrari 458 Challenge GTC. They also made history along the way by becoming the only driver pairing to successfully defend the Britcar Championship in consecutive years.

The weekend’s final rounds at Donington consisted of two 90 minute races, the second of which into the darkness.

David & Calum were joined by the FF Corse driver pairing of Ivor Dunbar & Johnny Mowlem, who were making a one-off appearance in their Ferrari 458 Challenge GTC as preparation for the FF Corse GT3 entry into the Gulf 12 hours in Abu Dhabi next month.

Ivor Dunbar & Johnny Mowlem were immediately on the pace, qualifying on the front row, with class pole position. In the races they finished both a highly commendable 2^nd place overall, having had to concede second best to a GT3 BMW after a valiant battle. Next stop Abu Dhabi!

Sam Smeeth made a dramatic impact on the final two rounds of the European Ferrari Challenge at Mugello over the weekend. The FF Corse driver finished second in the first race before going on to win the second race.

The races were held as part of the Ferrari World Finals and can be seen on Motors TV the week beginning November 16th.

The results were ever the more impressive by the fact Sam has not raced the Ferrari since his victory in the European series at Silverstone in September 2014.

The team are now focused on a full-time return back into the European Challenge for 2016 and are working hard to attract other UK drivers to partner alongside Sam for the campaign.

The World Finals at Mugello saw the announcement of the full 2016 European Ferrari Challenge calendar, with the headlines being the Le Mans support race in June and the World Finals at the historic Daytona circuit in Florida.

 

The 2016 European Ferrari Challenge

Venue	Date
Monza (Official Test)	March 10th
Rd 1: Monza	April 1st – 3rd
Rd 2: Mugello	April 29th – May 1st
Rd 3: Le Mans (24 heures du Mans)	June 15th – 18th
Rd 4: Sochi (Ferrari Racing Days)	July 29th – 31st
Rd 5: Hockenheim (Ferrari Racing Days)	September 9th – 11th
Rd 6: Jerez de la Frontera	October 7th – 9th
Rd 7: Daytona (Finali Mondiali)	December 1st – 4th

Launched at Mugello, was the new Ferrari 488 GT3. The new car sees a departure from the car being in the same family as the Challenge car and the new car shares the platform and major components with the GTE Le Mans car (also launched at the World Final).

The ethos being to keep the same driveability that is a feature of the 458 Italia, but evolve the car technically to meet the demand for an even greater level of performance.

 

FF Corse clients will be amongst the first to experience the cars with two cars currently on order for the start of the 2016 season.

 

A short film commemorating the achievements of 2015 GTC group and overall champions Wayne Marrs and Charlie Hollings and the winning team – FF Corse.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc-2-bEKu74&feature=youtu.be