Ferrari Challenge Europe Silverstone Race Report

 

Xpel Ferrari Challenge Evo

The Ferrari Challenge Europe Championship is exclusive to 488 Challenge Evo cars, making for a competitive series with teams and drivers entering from all over Europe. As the circuits change each year, it is a rare occasion that it comes to our home circuit, Silverstone, having last raced here in 2018.

Our driver Jack Brown, supported by Xpel Ltd, have previously competed in Ferrari Challenge but not since 2019 having spent some time in a BMW GT4 in the British GT Championship. Keen to make a return with the FF Corse team, a late entry gave us just one day of testing prior to the race, in what was the heatwave we will all remember. A successful shakedown of car and driver, but due to the heat, not demonstrative of our potential pace.

As the myriad of Ferrari structures are built around us, we start the Friday test and Jack is immediately showing good pace finishing third fastest of his class, Pirelli Trofeo AM, although scuppered by a red flag mid-session resulting in the session not restarting. Later that day, Jack is out again putting in good times until a power steering issue ended our session early. No quick fix, the team set to work replacing the entire power steering system overnight. Interestingly, cars either side of us in the garage were conducting the same repair!

Xpel Ferrari Challenge Evo on the grid at Silverstone

Come Saturday morning, the car is setup and given a clean bill of health, ahead of morning qualifying and race later in the afternoon. With some small setup changes made and pointers from our team, we sent Jack out for his first qualifying session. We know Jack has the raw pace but would his very limited time in the car be enough to ensure a good result? No need for concern as early in the session, Jack goes P1 in class and fifth overall, over a second clear of the next car in class. Technical Manager for FF Corse Jason Cull makes the decision to bring Jack in and save the tyres having surely done enough to secure pole. As the session end, Jack remains P1 – a perfect result and stellar performance by Jack and the team.

Just a few hours later, its race one of the weekend. As the car rolls onto the grid, we are confident of retaining P1 one in class and hopeful Jack may even be able to pick up an overall podium. It’s a rolling race start and as the car head over the line, Jack gets boxed in and drops to P2. Jack keeps a steady pace and consistently closes the gap but is sadly runs out of time and as the flag drops, finishes P2 just 8 tenths of a second behind the leader. Perhaps not what we had hoped for but a very strong result on Jack’s first weekend back. The car is again prepared by the team, setup and tucked in the for the night ahead of race two.

Sunday repeats the same format, morning qualifying and afternoon race. Qualifying sees Jack put in a steady performance to save his tyres for the race, hoping to push hard to the front, qualifying him sixth overall and P3 in class. With fresh tyres, the car well setup and hungry for a good result, the car again rolls out for the second and final race of the weekend. As Jack conducts his lap to the grid, he immediately radios into the team, “Down on power. Down on power…”. The team rush to the grid but with only minutes to spare, we are forced to push the car off the grid and miss the race start. A heart-breaking moment for all and once back in the garage, it is evident that is where our weekend ends as the issue is diagnosed as a turbo failure, not something we could have foreseen or repaired in time to get back into the race.

A tough way to end the weekend but we are all pleased with Saturday’s result which shows great promise for future rounds of Ferrari European Challenge. It was great to have Jack back racing with FF Corse and thanks to Xpel Ltd for their support.

Jack Brown Racing on the podium

GT Cup Brands Hatch – Race Report

Ups and Downs. Literally and Metaphorically.

Brands Hatch GP Circuit can be intimidating to the most experienced of racers with its undulating topography, blind corners and barriers set in your peripheral vision. When faced with a gentleman driver who has only completed 20 minutes on this circuit, in the wet, in a road car, two years ago, you can forgive them for not ‘being on the pace’. And then there is the pro-driver who despite his blistering pace and experience, last raced on the GP configuration of Brands Hatch in 2014 – what could we expect from the weekend?

Saturday morning, as day-glow caps adorned with ‘46’, lined the catch fencing and grandstands (thanks to a certain Moto GP legend making his debut in GT World Challenge) our Gentleman driver Roy is strapped into the 488 Challenge Evo and has just 10 minutes to familiarise himself with the GP circuit and put in a qualifying time reflective of his class win at Donnington last month – a big ask. Too much so for his first outing and he qualifies an uncharacteristically last in class – it can only get better.

Saturday’s sprint race, Roy starts last in class but remains optimistic. “I think I know my way around now, I just need to focus on where to gain the time”. During the 25 minute race Roy takes stock of the 488 Challenge Evo on the demanding GP circuit, learning and analysing his performance with his eyes set on the 50 minute pit stop race that afternoon. Post-race he’s confident and knows what he needs to do.

Up comes Saturday’s 50 minutes pit stop race and starting 22 overall, Roy makes up 5 places over his stint before handing over to pro driver Benny Simonsen who makes up a further 6 places, and taking fastest lap in class, climbing to 3rd in class but a lap later a red flag concludes the race and the result is set to the standings of the previous lap, which classifies us 4th in class – a cruel end.

Sunday races repeats Saturday’s, and Roy is out to qualify again ahead of the sprint race. On his first hot lap, it is all clicking into place and he is two seconds up on Saturday’s time. The sprint race starts under the safety car owning to a Mercedes trying to warm its tyres up, in a barrier, at Pilgrim’s Drop. The incident takes some time to clear and as the race goes green, only 10 minutes remain. As always Roy put in a fast a consistent stint to maintain his position. 3rd in class and 12th overall.

Onto the final race of the weekend – a 50 minutes pit stop race to be shared with Benny and with just 20 minutes until the start of the race, the lingering mugginess in the air final breaks and it’s raining at Brands Hatch. Light rain and a mildly damp surface makes a difficult call for race engineer Jason Cull – do we start on slicks and hope the track dries or start on wets and assume it will keep raining…

As we watch other cars leaving the paddocks, “wets, wets, slicks, wets, slicks…” it seems no one really knows and it’s a bit of a gamble. Roy starts the race and we send him out on wets. The right call but on a quickly drying surface, Roy just needs to hold out long enough on the wets to make it to the pit stop to hand over to Benny who will change to slicks. “I hated every minute of it!” says Roy with a smile. “It was really challenging. Some parts are wet, some are dry. It’s not one or the other which is harder than if it was properly wet.” Nevertheless Roy puts in a solid and consistent stint to hand over to Benny on fresh slicks with just 19 minutes to go. A flawless pit stop by the FF Corse team saw the car exit the pit lane right on the minimum time allowed as set by the regulations however we leave the pit lane 6th in class owing to wet tyres on a drying track.

Benny is on a mission and we watch as he carves his way through the field, again putting in the fastest laps of the class, by some margin. Benny navigates past the slower cars on track and those in our class, climbing the standings to finish 9th overall and 3rd in class. “Perhaps I would have started on the slick tyres but it was the right choice for Roy given his limited running on this circuit configuration, in both wet and dry!” says Benny as he hops out the car. “Car felt good and I think we nailed the pit stop, bang on time. Not a bad result!”

Race and Track Operations Manager Mark Armstrong reports, “I’m delighted for Roy. He’s done a great job considering how little running he’s done on the GP circuit. It’s not an easy track to learn and a harder one to master. I think it shows great promise for the rest of the season.”

“Two podiums out of 4 races is a good result from this weekend. It would have been 3 of 4, had race the second race not finished on a red flag. Roy and Benny did a great job and the team ran the car perfectly. A good weekend for all.” says Development Manager, Ed Barton-Hilton.

As Roy and Benny leave the circuit with a bags full of trophies (including those owed from the previous round at Donington) FF Corse’s Technical Manager, and race engineer for the weekend Jason says, “Today was a good day. Podium and the car is back in one piece. However, we do have a problem…….the opposition beat us packing up the trucks, and that won’t do.”

Next round Snetterton, 11-12 June.

 

 

 

 

FF Corse Confirm Entry To British Endurance Championship

2022 British Endurance Championship

FF Corse has confirmed entry to the British Endurance Championship with a 488 Challenge, for a full season campaign.

The British Endurance Championship (formerly Britcar) now runs on a true Endurance basis, featuring warm-up, 30-minutes qualifying, and one two-hour race, with a mandatory pit stop, and open to one or two-driver teams.

The one-day event format has proved extremely popular over the years, and this will remain, as will the convivial paddock atmosphere, renowned in the sector, complemented by friendly, experienced raceday staff. Now featuring an enhanced level of hospitality for drivers and guests, the Championship will visit all of the UK’s premier circuits, with TV coverage for each race.

2022 Calendar

  • 12th March - Silverstone GP
  • 2nd April - Oulton Park
  • 14th May - Snetterton18th June - Silverstone GP
  • 20th August - Donington National
  • 22nd October - Donington GP

We now invite clients to field an additional car in the BEC, either for a complete season or select races.

For further details of BEC, or other championships we can support you in, please get in touch with a member of the team. Support and testing packages are available, with driver coaches, data engineers, team manager and technicians.

If you would like to join us at any of the races as a guest, we have a limited number of places to share with clients so please register your interest.

Race Cars For Hire

 

Audi TT GPR Trophy

Updated for 2022, our Audi TT GPR Trophy race cars are available for hire – perfect for track days, race meetings or to be used in conjunction with our driver training programme.

Audi TT GRP Trophy

Ferrari 488 Challenge

For those wishing to experience Ferrari’s latest Challenge car, our 488 Challenge is available for driver training with one of our qualified coaches or for hire in any UK or European racing series.

Please contact a member of our team for availability and prices. [email protected] or 01327 857601

2022 Membership and Track Programme

Updated Membership Programme for 2022

In response to client feedback, we have updated our Membership packages for 2022, most notably with a new package, aimed at providing great value to those wanting to get out on track more often. A monthly direct debit will cover the membership, storage and support costs for track days or testing.

Request Full Details

 

 

 

 

 

 

Championship Entries

Continuing our commitment to racing, we have designed programmes for a number of championships, both in the UK and Europe. Interested in competing this year? We can make it happen, for novices or experienced racers.

GT Cup l British Endurance Championship l Ferrari Club Challenge l Ferrari Challenge Europe l GT Open

See 2022 Race Dates

 

 

 

 

 

 

Testing and Track Day Dates Announced

We are pleased to have confirmed our track and test day schedule for 2022, with over 100 days available, across the UK and Europe. For a full calendar or to make a booking, please contact a member of the team.

See 2022 Track and Test Days Calendar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clean sweep of wins for FF Corse in GT Cup at Snetterton

Graham de Zille scored his first race win for 27 years as FF Corse dominated a largely wet weekend GT Cup action at Snetterton to make a clean sweep of the GTC division.

The Silverstone-based team claimed an overall race win as well as locking out all four GTC results; Graham and Dan de Zille triumphing in Sunday’s endurance race in their Ferrari 488 Challenge and Laki Christoforou and Adam Carroll doing likewise the previous day.

It was Dan de Zille who hit the ground running at the Norfolk circuit in a damp Saturday qualifying session as he took an outright pole position for Race One; making the most of the decision to upgrade from a Ferrari 458 Challenge to a newer 488 ahead of the weekend.

Leading for much of the opening sprint race, but eventually being passed by a faster GTO car, Dan won the GTC division by over 20 seconds to take his first victory since returning from a six-year-layoff earlier this season.

Joined by father Graham; who quit racing in 1993 only to return this year with FF Corse, Dan drove superbly in Sunday’s wet endurance race before handing over to Graham; the elder of the pair completing a double-success for their Ferrari. Graham was third in the morning sprint.

Team-mate Laki Christoforou won from pole position in Sunday’s sprint race, the championship-leader’s first solo race win in contemporary race machinery and his fourth GTC success of the season.

His win with co-driver Adam in Saturday’s enduro had been a dominant one. Spinning on the damp at Turn Four as the field prepared to form up for the start, he dived for the pitlane instead of forming up to watch for the green lights.

With rain beginning to fall and the field on slick tyres, Laki called for wets to help increase the level of grip available in such conditions.

His new rubber fitted, he immediately began lapping 30 or more seconds faster than those that had began the race on slick tyres.

Despite being nearly a lap behind as he exited the pits, he found himself in the overall lead by the end of the second tour as the rest dived for the pits.

A 1m45s victory; backed up when professional racer Adam climbed into the Ferrari at the mid-race driver swaps, was the largest of the season.

Laki was third in Saturday’s sprint and second in Sunday’s enduro with Adam; meaning the pair have never finished outside the top two in the longer races this year.

Laki and Adam now have an increased 24-point lead at the head of GTC. Graham and Dan hold third place while FF Corse are third in the overall Teams’ Championship.

Graham de Zille said: “I’m so pleased with how the weekend’s gone. My first win since the Renault Clio Cup in 1993 and a double-win for the car. Dan drove his socks off in tricky conditions and scored a great victory in the Saturday sprint race, while we had a really strong race to stay ahead of Adam [on Sunday evening]. The 488 Challenge isn’t that different to drive than the 458 we’d previously had, but it’s just a lot more sorted in every area and there’s definitely more ability to put the front end exactly where you want it. Silverstone is next up; a new layout for me, and Brands GP, which I haven’t raced on since 1987!”

Dan de Zille said: “The new 488 Challenge we’ve got is amazing. It puts you on the same level as the other guys inside the FF Corse team and you could see on Sunday morning when Dad and Laki had a great battle that we’re right in the hunt for wins all the time now. We were at Snetterton for the last event and although I finished second, I couldn’t keep pushing at the same speed. Here, I’ve had a great battle myself with Richard Chamberlain for the overall win – and he’s in GTO, which should be quicker than the GTC cars! I’m really looking forward to the next rounds.”

Laki Christoforou said: “I’m absolutely delighted. I’ve taken my first solo pole position and my first solo win in a modern racing car; my background being mostly in historics, and for some reason I always seem to go better in the wet than the dry with the Ferrari. I’m getting more and more confident with the car every time I drive it and the team continues to do a great job. I spun on the green-flag lap in Race Two, knew I needed wet tyres, so told them team ‘I’m coming in’ and went to first place within a couple of laps. Without the spin, I’m not sure I’d have been so decisive, but it definitely worked out because Adam and I won that one and now we have a nice little lead in the points.”

Adam Carroll said: “It’s been another good weekend and the season is definitely going to plan. The weather has been bizarre, going from the high thirties on Thursday to very cold over the weekend, but Laki drove extremely well to win the Sunday sprint and made the right call on the green-flag lap that led to our win in the Saturday enduro. The last race on Sunday was the toughest because it started spitting just as I went on-track, but there didn’t seem any benefit to coming in for wets, so I just had to manage the pace, not take any risks to catch Dan – who was driving very well – and make sure I brought the car home on the podium.”

Tim Mullen, Sporting Manager, said: ‘It’s been another very good weekend for us. Four wins from four isn’t easy to do, especially in such tough track conditions, so you have to celebrate it when it comes. We had an added challenge this weekend in running a new car for Graham and Dan and trying to get them up to speed with the 488 as fast as possible, which we managed as they matched Laki and Adam win for win. It was great to see Graham and Dan win after each stepped away from racing for quite a while, and to see Laki continue his great progress with his first solo win with us. The most encouraging thing to take away is that we now have both cars able to challenge for GTC and even overall wins and this will be incredibly important as we continue our fight for the championship.”

 

(Image Credit – Richard Styles)

 

Double GT Cup win for FF Corse on home ground at Silverstone

FF Corse drivers Laki Christoforou and Adam Carroll maintained their GTC series lead with a last-gasp GT Cup class victory at Silverstone, while team-mate Dan de Zille made it a double win for the local team.

Laki, who had taken his Ferrari 488 Challenge to fifth spot in the Saturday morning sprint race, started the enduro fourth and ran a solid opening stint for the Silverstone-based team.

Pro driver Adam took over half-way through the 50-minute race, but was faced with a tough task to claim the victory due to the pair’s Snetterton victory earning them a 20-second success penalty at their stop.

The Northern Irishman dug deep and reeled in his rivals; catching the sister FF Corse Ferrari of Ross Wylie – who was making his series debut alongside guest entrant Richard Guy – with two laps remaining.

Catching traffic at an inopportune time, Ross and Adam went either side of the slower car to put it a further lap down with Adam emerging in front.

Their victory was the 11th in GTC for FF Corse in 2019 and the fourth for he and Laki.

Another second place for Laki in Sunday’s sprint was followed by third for the pair in the enduro.

Having just changed drivers – and incurred another 20-second penalty because of their Saturday win – the safety car was deployed for an incident on-track, meaning any rivals who had not yet stopped, could do so while Adam was limited to a crawling speed on-track.

He recovered to second place to maintain the pair’s record of finishing on the podium in every enduro this year. They now lead the class by 13 points with three rounds left and 25 available for each race win.

Dan de Zille made it two sprint race wins in a row on Saturday; adding to the success he’d achieved at Snetterton in July.

In just he and father Graham’s second event driving their Ferrari 488 Challenge, Dan qualified second and snatched the GTC advantage just beyond half-distance. He and Graham finished fifth in the enduro.

Graham, who is still recovering from a short illness, elected not to race in Sunday’s sprint, meaning Dan was instilled for qualifying and the 25-minute event.

Sadly, first-corner contact with another car spun him into the side of team-mate Richard – fourth in Race One – who was attempting to avoid the incident at the time.

Both 488 Challenges were out on the spot and too-badly damaged to take part in the afternoon enduro.

The next event takes place on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit on August 31-September 1.

Laki Christoforou said: “We’ve had a good weekend, got a win and still lead the GTC points, so they’re the big positives to take away. I made a bad start in the Saturday sprint, but the enduro went much better and both Adam and I drove well to win. I was lucky to avoid the carnage in the Sunday sprint race at the start, but I could feel something was going to happen when I saw five cars trying to go side-by-side into Copse, so I backed off and managed to get around. Second in that race was good and we definitely could have won the enduro before the safety car came out and effectively gave our rivals a free pitstop.”

Adam Carroll said: “It was great to get another enduro win; we seem to be making a habit of gaining spots late in the race after what happened at the last corner at Snetterton, and it shows that you always have to keep pushing because you never know what might happen. I caught Ross [Wylie] and with a lap to go he went one way in traffic, I went the other, and I got by, but it was good, fair racing all the way. On Sunday we lost the chance to fight for the win because the safety car came out seconds after we made our pitstop and it meant our main title rivals could change drivers while we were running at slow speed. Laki did a great job again and we’ve maintained a good championship lead.”

Dan de Zille said: “It’s great to get another sprint race win under my belt. Since switching from the Ferrari 458 to the 488 it’s like every bit of extra effort you put in behind the wheel is rewarded, and it’s brought us onto a level playing field against the other FF Corse pairings. It’s great fun now and having someone like Adam Carroll in the other car is a great yardstick for me. The incident at Copse on Sunday was disappointing for both Dad and I, and for the whole FF Corse team.”

Graham de Zille said: “I’ve spent a long time in motor racing, so it’s inevitable you’ll have weekends like this. Going from the high of Daniel’s win in the Saturday sprint through to the accident in Sunday’s race just means we’ve been through the full spectrum. I haven’t felt 100 per cent in the past week and was struggling a bit for stamina in the Saturday enduro, so we changed the plan for Sunday and put Daniel in the car for the sprint. Unfortunately the first-corner incident happened, the car was badly damaged and we’re now unsure if we’ll be out for Brands Hatch in two weeks.”

Richard Guy said: “It’s been great to come back to the GT Cup for the first time since the season-opening round, and to have a co-driver of the experience and quality of Ross Wylie was fantastic. He has so much experience of the 488 Challenge that he knows instantly what tweaks need to be made to get the set-up absolutely spot-on. The FF Corse team did a great job to get the car completely in the sweet spot for Race Two on Saturday and we came so close to winning before Ross caught the slow traffic by the end. Sunday was a case of ‘wrong place, wrong time’. I was just innocent victim of the aftermath of what happened between Dan and another car ahead of me.”

Ross Wylie said: “It was a bittersweet weekend for my GT Cup debut. It was great to be back racing, but things didn’t go quite to plan. Richard did a very good job in qualifying and the sprint race and it was great to share a car with him. I thought we could hang on for the win in the Saturday enduro, but Adam was catching me and when I got boxed-in with lapped traffic on the penultimate lap, I wasn’t able to stay ahead. I’m sure we’d have been in the hunt for the win on Sunday, but obviously that never happened because of the damage the car took in the first-corner incident in Race Three.”

Tim Mullen, Sporting Manager, said: “While naturally it’s great to get another pair of victories at our home circuit, it’s a huge shame to lose two cars from virtually all of Sunday’s racing because of the first-corner incident. Dan’s done a brilliant job to win the Saturday sprint for the second weekend in a row and both he and Graham have really adapted well to the 488 Challenge. Laki and Adam have had another strong weekend results-wise and it was great to have Ross back with us too. He’s been a regular in our Britcar line-up for the past 18 months and it was good to see he and Adam having an exciting battle in the first enduro. It’s only two weeks to Brands Hatch and we’ll be working flat-out to get the #19 car ready.”

 

 

FF Corse claim GT Cup enduro victory at Brands Hatch

FF Corse duo Graham and Dan de Zille scored another dominant GTC class victory as the fight for the GT Cup title continued on an action-packed weekend at Brands Hatch.

The father-and-son duo produced a magnificent display with Graham reaching the mandatory driver-change window with the class lead in his Ferrari 488 Challenge and handing over to Dan.

The younger de Zille then held his nerve during a stint that included a late switch to wet tyres – following a downpour – to reach the chequered flag in the top spot.

It was the fourth win of the year for the duo’s #19 Ferrari 488 Challenge, which replaced the 458 Challenge car they’d begun the season with at Snetterton in July, and has provided Dan with two sprint-race wins in addition to the two enduro victories.

It was also a great reward for the Silverstone-based FF Corse team, whose mechanics had worked flat-out to fix event-ending damaged sustained by the de Zilles at the last event in a multi-car, first-corner accident.

Dan qualified and finished second in Saturday morning’s sprint while Graham repeated that result on Sunday before the pair claimed third in the enduro; their chances thwarted by a 20-second ‘success penalty’ at their pitstop; a result of their previous victory.

Laki Christoforou and Adam Carroll arrived at Brands Hatch leading the GTC points following five victories earlier in the season.

Laki qualified third for the opening sprint and finished there too as he was experiencing his first race on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit for almost a decade.

Unfortunately, his hopes of another victory in the enduro evaporated with a power-steering issue that put him out on the second lap.

He finished third in Sunday’s sprint and reached the enduro’s mid-race driver swap in the same position as he handed on to Adam, who was 5.5 seconds away from the lead once all the cars in the class had stopped with 18 of the 50 minutes remaining.

The Northern Irishman relentlessly reeled in the leader and reached the chequered flag just 0.8 seconds away from victory.

Laki and Adam hold second place in the GTC points and third in the overall standings. They are 34 points behind the leaders in each classification with 216 available from the remaining two rounds.

Graham and Dan hold third place in GTC and seventh overall, a further 54 points back, while FF Corse are second in the overall Teams’ Championship, 26 points away from the lead.

The penultimate round of the season takes place at Donington Park on September 21-22. The final event is at Snetterton on October 26-27.

Graham de Zille said: “It feels great to win again and on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit – a track I’ve not raced on since 1987. We’re so grateful to the team at FF Corse, who have worked flat-out to get our car ready after the damage we sustained in the crash at Silverstone, and while there were a couple of little things that were probably a carry-over of that damage, we sorted everything out. I was pleased with my pace in Sunday qualifying and the sprint race and I’d say this is the most competitive I’ve been after I was getting used to things at Snetterton and then was ill at Silverstone. I’m looking forward to the last two events.”

Dan de Zille said: “I’m pleased with the pace we’ve shown all weekend. We now have two enduro wins to go with my two sprint victories and there are lots of positives to take from the weekend. Just the fact that we were there was an achievement after what happened at Silverstone. The only nervy moment really was on Saturday when it started raining in the last 10 minutes of the enduro. I had quite a healthy advantage in the class so it was a no-brainer to pit for wet tyres. I knew I could hold on for the win that way, while I could easily have crashed if I’d stayed on slicks. The lap times were pretty similar to Adam [Carroll’s] in Sunday’s enduro too, which is pleasing.”

Laki Christoforou said: “I’ve been pretty pleased with my progression this weekend. I haven’t raced on Brands GP for many years, and last time it was in a Ford Escort. I improved my pace relative to Adam by a couple of seconds over the weekend and I reckon I’m as close as I can reasonably expect to be for an am driver against a true pro. Ultimately I leave with mixed feelings because we had the issue that put us out of the second race on Saturday, but the team fixed the car and Sunday was good with a third and a second. We’ve lost a bit of ground in the GTC title battle, but we’ll give it a good go at Donington.”

Adam Carroll said: “Ultimately, Brands GP suits other cars better than the Ferrari because it’s naturally quite a low-downforce car, and I think the results reflected that. Brands is quite an interesting circuit with a very abrasive surface and it’s not as easy as somewhere like Silverstone for a pro driver to make a difference, or to overtake, because it’s quite narrow. We’ve lost the points lead, but that’s motor racing. The important thing is that we’re in the hunt for the GTC and overall titles and the two tracks left are circuits we’ve won at already this season. I think it’s going to be an exciting climax for this championship.”

Tim Mullen, Sporting Manager, said: “Full credit has to go to the team, not just for what they’ve done this weekend in repairing Laki’s car after the issue on Saturday, but for working flat-out to get the #19 Ferrari fixed after the big accident at Silverstone. We knew Brands Hatch was going to suit some of the other GTC cars better than the Ferrari, so getting the win with Graham and Dan on Saturday was very good, and calling them in for wets when the rain came was absolutely the right call. We’ve had seven podiums from the eight races this weekend so that’s almost a perfect result, but the championship fight is getting more and more tense, so we’ll aim for even better at Donington.”

FF Corse’s Dan de Zille scores outright GT Cup win at Donington

FF Corse scored a magnificent overall win in the GT Cup at Donington Park last weekend as changeable weather conditions made for an ultra-challenging weekend in the East Midlands.

Dan de Zille’s exceptional drive in a wet sprint race on Sunday morning in his GTC-class Ferrari 488 Challenge gave him victory over the faster GTO cars and secured a fifth win of the season.

Paired with father Graham for the longer enduro, Dan produced a drive every bit as impressive as the duo took their podium count for the season to 18 from 23 races.

Dan and Graham were Silverstone-based FF Corse’s only representatives at Donington with Laki Christoforou and Adam Carroll absent after a running injury sidelined Laki just a few days before the event.

With the team’s title aspirations now on their shoulders, Dan and the team gambled on a damp track being at its driest at the end of Sunday’s 15-minute qualifying session; leading to a one-shot effort on slick tyres.

The gamble paid off as Dan stormed to class pole and then used his advantageous position as a springboard to an overall victory by over four seconds – his fifth win since returning from a six-year layoff at Snetterton in May.

Suffering a 15-second pitstop penalty as a result of finishing second in the previous day’s enduro, Dan was over 30 seconds away from the GTC lead when he emerged from the pits having taken over from Graham during Sunday’s 50-minute race.

A simply staggering drive that brought the gap down to just four hundredths of a second by the finish line – propelled by setting the race’s fastest lap by over one second – was the highlight of the race.

 Saturday’s action was run in totally dry conditions. Graham took the reins for qualifying and put the Ferrari second in GTC.

He finished there too in the sprint race and combined with Dan to add another runner-up spot in the enduro; less than 10 seconds away from victory.

Their results kept them third in the GTC standings and sixth in the overall points table, meaning they go to the season finale at Snetterton in five weeks still in with a chance of winning both championships; just like team-mates Laki & Adam. FF Corse are second in the Teams’ Championship.

 Dan de Zille said: “It’s been a good weekend, especially getting the outright win on Sunday. Dad went well in practice in the wet and in qualifying it was a bit tiptoe, but I went for slicks and it worked out well as my focus was on nailing the last lap. I got a clear lap and that was pole. Then in the sprint race, I got into the lead at the start and the car’s just very quick now, so that helped me to win. In the dry, Dad smashed his personal-best lap around here, which is great. The weekend’s been about getting him as many laps as possible and improving. He wasn’t far off me in the end, so we’ve both had a good weekend.”

Graham de Zille said: “It’s been a very good weekend. I don’t quite like the wet, but Dan likes it and obviously we did well in the practice and then qualifying. In the first race on Sunday we were on pole, but I didn’t make the best start in the enduro, got swamped by a few cars and had a bit of contact from one or two of them. I stayed in second place in GTC for a few laps and then the car started to feel nervous in those conditions, so we changed onto slicks. Then Dan had a huge charge and with nine minutes left, we thought we could do the double. I’m very proud of him, and I’ve been improving here so it’s been a good weekend all round.”

 Tim Mullen, Sporting Manager, said: “It’s been a strong weekend for the team, and a very exciting finish in the end. We ended being about 40 seconds behind our rivals, but to then come back and almost nick the win at the very last second showed how quick we were, even if we couldn’t quite make it. A really good weekend, and puts us in good shape for the final round. We won overall today, which is fantastic, as we’re in the GTC class, which are slower cars, so that shows how well the team has performed.”

 

Double podium for FF Corse in Ferrari Challenge Europe at Imola

Laurent de Meeus and Jack Brown made it a double-podium result for FF Corse as both left the penultimate round of the Ferrari Challenge Europe at Imola firmly in the hunt for their respective championship titles.

HR Owen driver Laurent produced an excellent performance in Sunday’s second Coppa Shell race to recover from a disappointing opener, in which he finished ninth, and is just seven points away from the series lead with 45 still to play for.

Forced to stand hard on the brakes to avoid two spinning cars ahead of him, he fell from first to fifth instantly, but focused hard and regained two positions to finish third; his sixth podium finish from the six events held so far this season.

This was in stark contrast to Saturday’s race, when he was on course for a solid top-five result when he spun at mid-distance while trying to avoid a car that was attempting to rejoin the circuit and could recover only as high as ninth.

Making a similar Sunday recovery was Jack, who recorded a magnificent double-pole position for Graypaul Nottingham to take his season’s total to five – more than anyone else in the class.

Starting seventh due to qualifying success penalties, Jack quickly climbed to third in Race One, but suffered a puncture and was forced to pit for a new tyre, dropping him to ninth.

He bounced back with a fine drive to second on Sunday, setting the fastest lap in the process.

His consistency throughout the season means he is now guaranteed to finish no lower than second in the championship. He is 29 points away from the series lead with just one round – the Ferrari World Finals event at Mugello – to go.

In Trofeo Pirelli’s pro division, Adam Carroll delivered a pair of solid fourth-place finishes; the Ferrari Budapest driver producing one of the most dramatic moments of the weekend in Race One.

Having qualified seventh, the Northern Irishman pressed hard all the way to the chequered flag and squeezed inside one of his key rivals to snatch fourth place with just three corners remaining and finish within half a second of the podium.

Adding another fourth spot on Sunday, Adam moved up to fifth place in the Drivers’ Championship, despite having only began his campaign at the third event of the season. He is just nine points away from fourth spot with 45 available at Mugello on October 24-27.

Laurent de Meeus, HR Owen, said: “Overall, it’s been a weekend of highs and lows, though I’m very pleased that things have ended on a high with a podium finish on Sunday – always the best day to achieve it. I was a bit unlucky in the first race when I spun, because otherwise I’d have been fifth. I had to let a few people past at the start of Race Two and just couldn’t catch them, but third is still good points. I’m in the championship hunt with one round to go and I’m feeling good for the World Finals at Mugello, but I know I have to step things up a gear to achieve my aim of becoming champion.”

Adam Carroll, Ferrari Budapest, said: “We haven’t scored the results we hoped for, but this is an incredibly tough series and the drivers at the front of Trofeo Pirelli are really fast, so if you’re not 100 per cent on it on any given weekend, you’re not going to win. Imola is a great track where you have to really monster the kerbs every lap to be quick and we had a little issue that stopped me finding a comfortable balance. Once we sorted that, I was able to make progress from my starting position in Race One, and I was pretty pleased to make the move on the last lap for fourth. We’ll head back to base, regroup for Mugello and aim to finish the season on a high.”

Tim Mullen, Sporting Manager, said: “The Ferrari Challenge is such a closely-fought championship at the front of the field, so to come away with two podium finishes, and to know we have both Laurent and Jack right in the thick of the title hunt heading to the final event is extremely satisfying. The drivers and the team deserve a lot of praise for the way they handled Sunday because we’ve ended the weekend on a high and we can go to Mugello full of optimism.”