British GT & Ferrari Open Reports

 

FF Corse have had a busy couple of weeks with the Ferrari Open at Silverstone and British GT at Snetterton taking place at the same weekend, before heading directly off to Le Mans for the European Challenge

The Tarrant-Willis brothers, Toby and Robin, along with Shamus Jennings, Christian Andersson and David Mason all ran at the Silverstone Ferrari Open race on the GP circuit. Toby achieved two pole positions and two podium finishes, along with Robin taking pole position for both his races in the Ferrari F430 Class. Shamus finished 4th in race one and Christian 5th, a position they reversed in race 2 with Christian finishing ahead of Shamus and followed home by David Mason.

At Snetterton Gary Eastwood and Rob Barff competed in the Snetterton round of the British GT Championship, qualifying in wet conditions to achieve a season best of 5th and 6th positions for the two 1-hour races. Both races were held in the dry and the best result coming in race 1 with a points scoring 9th position, to maintain their position as the leading 2013 Ferrari in the Championship.

For further information contact Anthony Cheshire at FF Corse on 01327 857601 or email [email protected].

European Challenge Race Report

 

FF Corse driver Alex Martin finished on the podium in second position at the Le Mans round of the the European Challenge Championship. The race, held in damp, but rapidly drying conditions saw Alex elect to start from the pit-lane after a last minute call for slick tyres. The same strategy was adopted by FF Corse driver Jacques Duyver, who also chose to start from the pit-lane on slick tyres for his debut Ferrari Challenge race.

Alex and Jacques then proceeded to charge through the 45 car field from the back of the grid. Meanwhile Rupert Martin, starting the race on wet tyres, made strong progress, making his way up to 22nd position overall before pitting for his compulsory pit-stop and taking slick tyres at the end of the 3rd lap.

Alex and Jacques proceeded to carve through the field and were quickly up into the top 10. Alex then proceeded to stay out as long as possible before taking his stop from the lead of the race. Once resumed he was running third before moving up to second in the later stages and chasing the leader home. Jacques meanwhile moved steadily up the order before finishing in 6th place overall, the leading debutante and ahead of the first-placed Coppa Shell driver.

The next round of the European Ferrari Challenge is at Portimao (PT) July 19th-22nd. For further information contact Anthony Cheshire at FF Corse on 01327 857601 or email [email protected].

Ferrari Owners Club – Track Day

 

FF Corse drivers spent the day in the sun today at Donington on the Ferrari Owners Club track-day.

The East Midlands circuit was bathed in sunshine as the day went without a hitch for the five FF Corse drivers driving in the Race-Car sessions.

Drivers outside FF Corse also had the opportunity to hire a Ferrari F430 Challenge for sessions throughout the day.

For further information contact Anthony Cheshire at FF Corse on 01327 857601 or email [email protected].

Oulton Park GT Cup Race Report

 

FF Corse driver Alex Martin extended his lead in the GT Cup Championship at Oulton Park last weekend with a brace of Class wins. Alex, driving the Ferrari 458 Challenge GTC, also managed to take pole position overall for the first race ahead of stronger opposition, before bringing the car home second overall in the first race and third overall in the second race.

Peter Jenning’s finished in a solid second place in both races, despite never having competed at the circuit before. The strong performance saw him finish a best position of 5th overall in race 2, beating some well established names along the way.

Rupert Martin & Shamus Jennings finished off a superb weekend for the FF Corse team by sharing the final step of the GTC podium, with Rupert taking 3rd place in race one and Shamus taking 3rd in race two.

The next round of the GT Cup is at Silverstone on August 17th & 18th. For further information contact Anthony Cheshire at FF Corse on 01327 857601 or email [email protected].

Spa-Franchorchamps (B): Ferrari Open Race Report

 

The Ferrari Open Series made it’s annual pilgrimage to Spa-Franchorchamps for 2 races over the weekend.

FF Corse driver Robert Macfarlane took the opportunity to race for the first time on the fantastic Ardennes circuit.

Robert was driving his F360 Challenge for the first time this year and recorded 3rd in class and 7th place overall finishes (from 27 starters) in both races.

For further information on the Ferrari Open Race Series please contact Anthony Cheshire at FF Corse on 01327 857601 or email [email protected].

Brands Hatch Charity Day

 

Brands Hatch Indy circuit was the venue for the “Not Forgotten Association’s” charity event for injured soldiers, sponsored in part by Gary Eastwood’s LKM company.

FF Corse joined the event for the fourth year running, offering their services to FF Corse drivers wishing to give passenger rides in their race cars throughout the day. The day was a resounding success and was enjoyed by the service personnel and FF Corse drivers alike and will hopefully continue again next year.

For more details on “The Not Forgotten Association” charity and their work with the Armed Forces visit www.nfassociation.org

Brands Hatch : British GT Championship

 

Jacques Duyver & Charlie Hollings took the GTC class victory in their Ferrari 458 GTC at the Brands Hatch round of the British GT Championship. The FF Corse pairing were strong throughout the 2hour race, rising up through field and getting ahead of many GT3 cars.

Gary Eastwood & Rob Barff in the GT3 were also fast throughout the weekend and looked set for a possible podium position after qualifying as the fastest Ferrari and running inside the top six before a collision and puncture forced the pairing into an early retirement.

The next round of the British GT Championship is at Zandvoort on 6th – 8th September. For further information contact Anthony Cheshire at FF Corse on 01327 857601 or email [email protected].

Remaining 2013 Track Dates

 

Aug 22nd (Thu) – Silverstone GP
Sep 3rd (Tue) – Brands Hatch GP
Sep 9th (Mon) – Silverstone GP
Sep 16th (Mon) – Brands Hatch GP
Sep 18th (Wed) – Silverstone GP
Sep 23rd & 24th (Mon & Tue) – Spa Franchorchamps (B)
Oct 1st (Mon) – Monza (I)
Oct 3rd (Wed) – Mugello (I)
Oct 14th (Mon) – Silverstone Int
Oct 14th & 15th (Mon & Tue) – Spa Franchorchamps (B)
Oct 23rd (Wed) – Silverstone GP
Nov 2nd (Sat) – Silverstone Int
Nov 10th (Sun) – Silverstone GP
Nov 30th (Sat) – Snetterton
Dec 1st (Sun) – Silverstone GP
Dec 8th (Sun) – Silverstone GP

Subject to availability a Ferrari F430 Challenge is available with instructor for hire at the track-day events for the all-inclusive rate of £2,940 (inc VAT) per person. (Based on sharing a car and subject to an insurance accident excess)

Monza & Mugello

 

FF Corse members will be visiting two famous Italian circuits in October with track-day organisers Book-a-Track. There are still a couple of places left for the 3 day extravaganza taking place from October 1st – 3rd.

Hotels are available through FF Corse along with flight and transfer assistance.

For further information please contact Andy O’Dowd on 01327 857601 or email [email protected].

Silverstone GP : GT Cup Championship

 

FF Corse driver Alex Martin extended his GT Cup Championship lead after winning both of Sunday’s sprint races and enabling the team to achieve a clean sweep of the weekend’s GTC Class victories. The Silverstone GP race meeting started well with Saturday’s pit-stop race being won by FF Corse drivers Jacques Duyver & Charlie Hollings. The pair narrowly defeating another strong FF Corse driver combination of Peter Jennings & Gary Eastwood.

In the first of Sunday’s sprint races the order was Alex Martin, Jacques Duyver and Peter Jennings, with Shamus Jennings finishing 4th. Toby Tarrant-Willis lost time in a first lap incident and fought back from the tail of the field to finish 5th, with Rupert Martin just behind. Robin Tarrant-Willis, running a Ferrari F430 Challenge in GTB, finished a strong third in class.

The second sprint race was almost a repeat of the first with Alex finishing 1st and Jacques again finishing 2nd, although this time Toby ousted Peter on the podium with a 3rd position. Robin meanwhile had developed a healthy lead in the GTB class and looked set for a win on his Championship debut until a wiring issue forced a pit-stop and the car to limp home, crossing the line in 3rd place.

 

Photos Courtesy of Peter Brown

The next round of the GTC Cup Championship is at Snetterton on 7th & 8th September. For further information contact Anthony Cheshire at FF Corse on 01327 857601 or email [email protected].