FF Corse celebrated a best-ever weekend in the Ferrari Challenge Europe with a double win at a snowy Red Bull Ring that left their drivers leading two different championships.
 
A debut win for Adam Carroll in the Trofeo Pirelli plus a class victory for Jack Brown that elevated him to the head of the Am points, and a Coppa Shell Am podium for Laurent de Meeus, capped off an incredible event for the Silverstone-based team.
 
Having rejoined FF Corse just a few weeks ago, Northern Irishman Adam produced an excellent performance to come away with a commanding victory in greasy track conditions in Race One.
 
The former IndyCar and Formula E racer started from the outside of the front row, but took just a handful of corners to lead in his Pizza Forte-supported Ferrari Budapest 488 Challenge, and was never headed despite the safety-car twice removing a healthy advantage.
 
His victory was the first outright success of 2019 for FF Corse in the Ferrari Challenge Europe’s top division.
 
Having scored his maiden Trofeo Pirelli Am category win last time out at Valencia, Graypaul Nottingham’s Jack Brown was in a class of his own in the wet conditions in Austria.
 
He stormed to a double pole position to increase his streak to four in a row, but was forced to start Race One from seventh spot once a six-place success penalty – incurred as a result of his Valencia victory – was applied.
 
Undeterred, the British racer made a sensational start to climb to fourth place and was at the front by lap eight; having carved through the field in just two green-flag laps; the rest having been spent behind the safety car.
 
Even with the snow-enforced cancellation of Sunday’s race, Jack’s form allowed him to take over the lead of the Am standings; 13 points clear of his nearest rival.
 
In the Coppa Shell, Laurent de Meeus retained his Am points lead with a well-deserved podium finish in the one race that did go ahead on Sunday.
 
Having qualified a career-best second in Am – and sixth overall – during the morning, the HR Owen driver held his nerve in weather conditions that necessitated starting behind the safety car and finished second; his fourth podium from six races this year.
 
The previous day the Belgian had qualified seventh, which became ninth with success penalties applied, and then finished seventh as the worsening weather conditions made it near-impossible to follow other cars closely.
 
He leads the standings by two points with three of seven rounds complete.
 
The next event breaks with the traditional Ferrari Challenge format and will feature a single 40-minute race in support of the Le Mans 24 Hours with both Trofeo Pirelli and Coppa Shell competitors taking to the track together.
 
Adam Carroll, Ferrari Budapest, said: “It’s been a really good weekend, despite the weather, and obviously to win on my Ferrari Challenge debut feels great. We did some good work in the small bit of dry running we had on Friday, but it took a bit of building up in the wet to try and find a set-up where I could really maximise what I had. I’ve been impressed with the level of competition in this series and I had to really keep my concentration in the race once I got to the front because the conditions were difficult and I knew that if I made one mistake, I’d have a real fight on my hands. We definitely have a strong unit here with FF Corse and Ferrari Budapest and now we look ahead to the next round at Le Mans, which will be the highlight of the year and one everyone wants to win at.”
 
Jack Brown, Graypaul Nottingham, said: “Saturday was more or less perfect with pole, victory, fastest lap and the championship lead, and after I got pole on Sunday, I was expecting even more in Race Two, so it’s a shame it was cancelled as an hour later the weather had cleared up and I’m sure I could have won again. I’m delighted otherwise; the car was quick, the track was nice and there were some good battles, but ultimately we had the fastest package all weekend; even when the rain really came down hard at the end of Race One while I was on slicks! This all gives me a lot of confidence ahead of Le Mans, which I’m so excited about.”
 
Laurent de Meeus, HR Owen, said: “What an unique and incredible experience of driving in the snow! Hopefully it’s something I’ll never do again, but it’s definitely something I’ll remember and I feel extremely proud to have finished second in those conditions. Otherwise, it took me a little time to find my pace over the weekend and my Race One qualifying just wasn’t good enough. Fortunately with some overnight thinking and coaching from Jamie [Stanley – Driver Coach] and a revised set-up, I found my mojo during Sunday qualifying. I should have been on pole, but I made a mistake on my last lap at Turn 7. I still lead the championship, but only by two points, so I will have to step it up over the next few races. The next one is at Le Mans, so that will be special, whatever the result.”
 
Tim Mullen, Sporting Manager, said: “It’s been a fantastic weekend; maybe our best ever in the Ferrari Challenge Europe. To come away with wins in both classes in Trofeo Pirelli and a podium in Coppa Shell and to see Jack and Laurent leading their championships and Adam winning on his series debut is Just fantastic and everyone can be extremely proud of the job they’ve done in very difficult conditions. I think we had a good chance of repeating those results in Race Two, even if both our drivers were starting quite far back with the success penalties. As always, a big thank you to HR Owen and Graypaul Nottingham for their support and, for the first time, to Ferrari Budapest, whom we’re delighted to get a win for on our first race together.”

 

 

FF Corse scored an incredible double-victory at the Ferrari Challenge Europe’s showpiece event in support of the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Adam Carroll claimed the spoils in the overall contest and the Trofeo Pirelli class while Laurent de Meeus secured victory in the Coppa Shell Am.

Having set the pace in Thursday practice and then qualified third overall in his Ferrari Budapest-entered 488 Challenge, Adam made a strong start to move up to second place at the start of Saturday morning’s 40-minute race.

A multi-car incident at the first Mulsanne chicane allowed the Northern Irishman to form part of a two-car breakaway early on; the lead being swapped three times during the final five laps.

Adam, 36, made the decisive winning move on the penultimate lap, exiting Mulsanne corner well and using his superior momentum to sweep around the outside and into the lead at the right-handed kink before Indianapolis.

It was Adam’s second win in as many races since debuting in the Ferrari Challenge Europe at the Red Bull Ring last month and lifted him to fourth in the Drivers’ Championship. It was also the fifth class victory for Silverstone-based FF Corse in the Challenge in 2019.

For HR Owen driver Laurent, Coppa Shell Am victory was the biggest of his career. The Belgian equalled his season’s-best qualifying performance with second in class and made a strong start.

Sticking to the mandatory speed limits during a number of declared ‘slow zones’ at the mid-point of the race, Laurent lost significant time as several rivals did not respect the rules and received penalties, but closed in on the front-runners in the second half of the race.

Setting the fastest Coppa Shell Am lap along the way, he surged into the lead with two laps to go and sped on to his first win of the year; a result that increased his series lead to 32 points with three rounds remaining.

Trofeo Pirelli Am title contender Jack Brown suffered a tough opening day as a technical issue forced him to miss half of opening practice and the entire second session that followed straight afterwards.

The Le Mans rookie was disadvantaged by the lack of track time, but qualified his Graypaul Nottingham car third in class and put on a strong performance in the race to finish there too.

That result maintained the British driver’s record as the only driver in any Ferrari Challenge Europe class to finish on the podium at every race this year. He is just two points off the series lead.

Team-mate Franck Ruimy, who had missed the previous event in Austria, spent Thursday learning the 8.5-mile Le Mans circuit and improved his laptimes by over 10 seconds between practice and qualifying.

The HR Owen-Aerium driver started 14th in Trofeo Pirelli and enjoyed some close racing to finish 12th.

Adam Carroll, Ferrari Budapest, said: “Standing on top of the podium at Le Mans is the best feeling, and it’s even better when you know you’ve had a really tough battle to get there. I came here expecting a dogfight and that’s exactly what I got. The Challenge cars are so fast in a straight line and don’t have the same grip in the corners as a GT3 or GTE car so as the tyres started to go away it became really difficult to drive. I had a fantastic battle with Louis Prette for the win. I passed him on the outside before Indianapolis and he didn’t fight it too hard, but once I was ahead, it became difficult to lead. He passed me mid-race and found the same thing, but when I made the move to win, it was a lot more difficult because we were towards the end and there was a lot more at stake. That’s one of the best battles I’ve ever had for a win. I’m not thinking championship because we only entered at the third round of the season. We’ll all just focus on winning every race we can, picking up points and seeing where we end up.”

Laurent de Meeus, HR Owen, said: “I honestly can’t believe I’ve won at Le Mans. I thought the opportunity was gone because, although I started second and ran there early on, I lost time and positions in the yellow-flag zones early on because I didn’t want to risk a penalty by breaking the speed limit. Some of the drivers that passed me got penalised so I was able to move up, but honestly I had no idea I was leading until after the chequered flag because the team didn’t want to affect my concentration. I could barely walk when I got out of the car; it was such an overwhelming feeling to have won, and the podium was incredible too.
I’ve now won twice in the Ferrari Challenge Europe; at Monza and Le Mans. The only one left that I desperately want to win is Spa, so hopefully it can creep onto the calendar next year.”

Jack Brown, Graypaul Nottingham, said: “It’s been a great experience at a wicked track. There was a lot to take in, but I think we made the best of it. Having a technical issue in practice meant I went into qualifying with only two laps under my belt, but I’d studied the videos of Adam’s car and just tried to copy him as best as I could, and it worked out as I qualified third and knocked 10 seconds off my practice time. On the first lap of the race there was a big crash at the first Mulsanne chicane and I had to go down the escape road to avoid it. I lost lots of places there and by the time I’d passed the Coppa Shell drivers, the two Trofeo Pirelli Am leaders were too far ahead to catch. Third is still good points and standing on the podium at Le Mans was incredibly cool.”

Franck Ruimy, HR Owen – Aerium, said: “The whole experience was incredible; something that you can only imagine doing once in a lifetime. I’ve only done five race events in my life and two of them have been at Spa-Francorchamps and Le Mans; a couple of the most iconic tracks on the planet. I really couldn’t hope for a better team than FF Corse, who have really taken me in as part of the family and helped develop my driving skills so much in a very short space of time. Going 310kph down the Mulsanne straight is easily the fastest I’ve been in a racing car and it’s exhilarating. It took me a while to get up to speed in practice, and having less time on-track and fewer laps because the track is three times the length of a normal circuit. The battles were quite fun in the midfield and I had a great time.”

Tim Mullen, Sporting Manager, said: “It feels amazing to come to Le Mans for the most prestigious event in the Ferrari Challenge Europe and have two wins and three drivers on the podium. We wanted to win this one badly, but so did every team, so the FF Corse crew just knuckled down on everything, prepared the cars and the strategy brilliantly, and left the drivers to do what they do. Adam had a fantastic battle for the win and it’s very pleasing to reward Ferrari Budapest with a second win in as many races, and Laurent was particularly overwhelmed with his victory, as the podium scenes showed. He’s extended his Coppa Shell Am lead and we’re in a good position in both Trofeo Pirelli classes. A great team effort.”

FF Corse recorded a double podium finish despite a challenging Ferrari Challenge Europe weekend at the Nurburgring.

Trofeo Pirelli Am title contender Jack Brown took a hard-fought second place for Graypaul Nottingham while Adam Carroll was third in the overall standings for Ferrari Budapest.

Jack took pole position on Sunday, but lost ground when he ran wide at the first corner midway through the race. His second-place finish was his seventh podium of the season and keeps him second in the standings, just 16 points off the top spot.

On Saturday he started second and closed in on the class lead towards the end of the race, only to spin following contact with his key rival. He finished sixth.

Adam set a storming pace on slick tyres in a damp qualifying session on Sunday morning.

But he encountered poor luck when a number of other drivers were able to take advantage of the drying surface to complete their final laps after him, knocking him back to fifth.

A strong opening lap brought him to third, which is where he finished to record his third podium from four races.

On Saturday he was given a drive-through penalty for starting outside his grid marking, dropping him to seventh. He lies sixth in the championship.

Franck Ruimy, who was experiencing the Nurburgring for the first time, made solid progress throughout the weekend, closing the gap to the front-runners across the three days.

The HR Owen-Aerium driver qualified and finished eighth in both Trofeo Pirelli Am races after a pair of ultra-consistent drives that belied his lack of experience.

Laurent de Meeus retained his lead in Coppa Shell Am, despite an unfortunate weekend for the HR Owen driver.

A power-steering issue affected his qualifying session on Saturday and required an heroic effort by the FF Corse mechanics to put him on the grid for the race, which resulted in a 10th-place finish after a mid-race pitstop.

On top form on Sunday, he qualified third, but was eliminated due to damage sustained in a multi-car incident at the first corner.

The Belgian takes a 15-point lead into the next round at Imola on September 27-29.

Adam Carroll, Ferrari Budapest, said: “It’s been a pretty tough weekend for the team, so to end it with a podium is a good reward for everyone’s efforts. I’m frustrated that I made a mistake at the

start of Race One that gave me the drive-through, but it was nice to overtake a few cars during my recovery. Pole position should have been on for Race Two, but I got the chequered flag before any

of my main rivals, so they were all able to do an extra lap on the drying track and knocked me back to fifth. From there, third was a good result.

Franck Ruimy, HR Owen-Aerium, said: “It’s very easy to fall in love with motor racing and my feelings are getting deeper and deeper every event. Every event this year has been tough because of my lack of experience, but the team – and especially the driver coaches – are doing an amazing job and being patient with me while I improve my skills. It was a consistent weekend and I could

race with the cars around me. We all seemed to get faster as the weekend wore on. It was another great experience – though driving on slicks in the damp qualifying on Sunday was new to me –

and I look forward to having another one at Imola.”

Laurent de Meeus, HR Owen, said: “It’s been a weekend of ups and downs, but the main thing is that we’re still ahead in the points thanks to our big win at Le Mans. The team did an incredible job

to fix the power-steering issue between qualifying and the race on Saturday, so it’s a shame we couldn’t achieve the result to reward them due to another issue. I was very pleased to qualify third on

Sunday, which became pole with the success penalties applied from the previous race, but it all went wrong at the first corner. I was on the left side, didn’t anticipate the kink in the braking zone,

lost control of the car and went into a couple of others. I could continue to try and get some points, but there was some damage so I stopped. I think everyone has had one low-scoring round now

so hopefully that’s our one and only one for the year. Bring on Imola!”

Tim Mullen, Sporting Manager, said: “It’s been a mixed weekend, but what’s important is that both Jack Brown and Laurent de Meeus remain firmly in the hunt for both the Trofeo Pirelli Am and

Coppa Shell Am titles. The team did a terrific job to fix Laurent’s car after his issues in qualifying and what happened in Race Two was just unfortunate. Both Jack and Adam bounced back from

tough opening races to record strong podium finishes and Franck did a very good job to gain useful laps in tricky conditions, as he has done all season. Imola should be a thrilling weekend for

everyone.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Monaco GP is the highlight of the F1 calendar and considered one of the most glamorous sporting events in the world.

Taking place from Thursday 26th May to Sunday 29th May 2016 make this year’s Monaco Grand Prix one to remember by being there to experience it.

We have a variety of packages available providing views from the Terraces right up to Yachts moored feet from the track.

For further details, or to take advantage of this fantastic trip please contact us on 01327 857601 or email [email protected]

Discounts apply to FF Corse Members.

European Ferrari Challenge

Sam Smeeth & Wayne Marrs had stunning starts to The European Ferrari Challenge at the Monza this weekend.

Along with pole positions and fastest laps, Sam secured  2^nd and 1^st place finish in the two races, to leave Monza with a Championship lead over his rivals in the Trofeo Pirelli AM class.

Wayne Marrs meanwhile, making his debut in the European Ferrari Challenge, scored points finishes in both races in the Coppa Shell Championship.

The 6^th & 10^th place finishes were achieved with a full grid of Challenge competitors and made all the more impressive by the fact he has not raced at Monza before.

The next round of the European Ferrari Challenge takes place in 4 weeks time at Mugello (nr Florence), over the weekend of April 30^th – May 1^st.

For further details on The European Ferrari Challenge, please contact us on 01327 857601 or email [email protected]

Marco Attard and Adam Carroll secured a sensational 3rd place finish at this weekend’s British GT flagship race – 3hours Silverstone 500 round.

The pairing, driving a brand new Ferrari 488 GT3, had minimal testing before the event and yet still managed to reach the third step of the podium.

The team executed a strategy which saw them pit on the first lap to complete one of the three mandatory pit stops.

From there, Marco Attard and Adam Carroll set about a sensational charge  from the back of the fifty car field.

The Calais Wine Superstore sponsored pairing were looking likely to challenge for the win, before a safety car intervention incorrectly missed picking up the leader. The fight back saw third place secured on the final lap, with Adam Carroll completing a daring overtaking manoeuvre to secure the position.

The race saw changeable conditions throughout, with it starting wet and ending on a drying track and slick racing tyres.

The new Ferrari 488 proved to have the pace needed to compete in the British GT championship and it is hoped further outings will follow with the car in BGT and other GT events.

For further details on FF Corse racing programmes and the Ferrari 488 GT3, please contact [email protected]

With thanks to Jakob Ebrey Photography for the images.

Last weekend saw Sam Smeeth make his debut at Le Mans in his Ferrari 458 Challenge, as a support race to the main 24 hours of Le Mans.

Sam won the Pirelli Am class and was in contention for the overall win throughout the race, eventually bringing the car home in a fantastic 2^nd place overall, despite never having visited the famous Le Mans circuit beforehand.

Wayne Marrs was also competing at Le Mans for the first time and recorded a very creditable 22^nd overall from a 45 car field, which was good enough to give him 12th in class.

The race highlights can be seen on the Ferrari video below:

In addition to the European Ferrari Challenge race, FF Corse were also racing with Johnny Mowlem & Ivor Dunbar in the newly established Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup. For the race there were 36 starters, in which Ivor and Johnny were up to the class lead in their first stint, with Johnny handing over to Ivor at the mid-point of the race. Unfortunately, a drive through penalty for a pit-lane speeding infringement cost the pair any chance of a podium result. Despite this, Ivor returned to the track to battle up to 15th place at the finish, in the GT3 class.

The next FF Corse race is set for two weekends time in the Britcar Endurance Championship at Thruxton on July 2^nd and 3^rd. Here the Ferrari 458 GT3 of David Mason and Calum Lockie return to the foray, along with father/son pairing of Anthony & Mike Wilds in the Ferrari 458 Challenge GTC.

FF Corse are also displaying the new Ferrari 488 GT3 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend.

Paul McNeilly & Jamie Stanley were victorious on their debut in the GT Open at Silverstone last weekend.

The pairing were the winners of Race 1 in the AM class with Paul starting and handing over to Jamie at the pit stop. Jamie qualified in pole position for race 2 with an impressive time of 1m57.7.7 (the fastest GT3 time around Silverstone?)  After their superb performance of a Race 1 victory and an overall pole position there was more excitement to come. The driver pairing was moved up to the pro class for Race 2, but also maintained the success penalty from Race 1.

In Race 2, Jamie led the first stint in tricky conditions and held the lead to the pit stop.  Paul took over at the stop and despite being hindered with the 10 second success penalty resumed in second place. Now racing against professional drivers from other teams, he held on to the position until finally being overtaken with around 10 minutes remaining.

This was a strong debut for the car and driver pairing. Further outings are planned and the team is already looking for possible driver combinations for a full time campaign.

For more information on the Ferrari 488 email [email protected].

Photo by Fotospeedy.

The weekend of July 16^th– 17^th saw Round 3 of the ACO GT3 Le Mans Cup take place in Austria at the Red Bull Ring.

The driver pairing of Ivor Dunbar & Johnny Mowlem took to the track and finished in 6^th place. This is their best result in the Championship so far, with three rounds still remaining.

The team was initially delayed with an incident at the first corner in the race. The result being the car dropped to the tail of the field and the pairing had to fight back into race contention.

Johnny and Ivor set about their stints with gusto and a strong competitive spirit. This saw the drivers overtake a number of cars and rise back through field, to record a sixth place finish after two hours of racing.

The fourth round is at Paul Ricard in the South of France on August 26th & 27th.

Photo by Fotospeedy

David Mason & Calum Lockie secured a 3rd place podium finish in the Britcar Endurance Championship at Croft on Saturday July 23rd.

Starting from the front row Calum Lockie held station until jumping the lead car during a safety car period.

Calum then handed over to David who undertook a mammoth 70 minute stint in the car, before handing back to Calum to compete the race.

The car finished 3rd overall and David won driver of the day for his stint.

The next round takes place at Silverstone on August 13^th. For more details on any FF Corse racing or track activities please contact [email protected] or phone 01327 857601.

Photo by Chris Valentine