Ferrari Open Race : Gary Eastwood records FF Corse’s 25th win

Gary Eastwood recorded a quarter-century of race wins for FF Corse with two class wins and overall race win at the Ferrari Open race at Donington Park last weekend. Gary could only manage 3rd in a damp qualifying for the first race and raced hard to finish 1st in class and second overall with fastest race lap. In the second race he made amends in qualifying with a stunning Pole position lap. In the race he secured the overall race victory, after a desperately close fought battle for the lead.

Gary Eastwood charging

 

The race meeting was Gary’s first appearance in the series this year, fellow FF Corse member Nick Knight was making an excellent race debut and having qualified an excellent 5th in the hotly contested C3 class, he raced to finish one better in 4th position.

Nick Knight’s & car before race debut

 

Richard Bramham was hot on the heels of Nick and spent the weekend improving with every session, recording good results in only his second and third race finish . On Saturday he qualified just behind Nick for the first race, improving in the race by one place to finish 5th in Class C3. Richard qualified an improved 4th in Class for the second race and having briefly managed to get ahead of some of the more powerful class C4 cars, finished the race in 4th position (7th overall).

Richard Bramham prepares

 

Car Control Master Class – June 23 rd

FF Corse is running another Car Control Master Class with the popular Caterham at Silverstone on August 23rd .

The activity will be run by FF Corse driver coach Charlie Hollings and will look to work on the following areas:-

• Understanding the importance of weight distribution (and its effect on a cars handling)

• Sense of recognition

• Speed and style of recognition

• Confidence in controlling high-speed oversteer situations

• Speed and style of counter-reaction

• Consistency of car control

• The importance of vision

For further information please email acheshire@ffcorse.com or contact Anthony Cheshire on 01327 857601.

Brands Hatch: Ferrari 458 Challenge Cars

FF Corse visited Brands Hatch again on Wednesday with two brand new and beautiful 458 Challenge cars. The two cars, with consecutive chassis numbers and both finished in Rosso Scuderia, looked fantastic on the GP Circuit and performed superbly in tricky weather conditions. The cars were joined by a black 430 Challenge car with the GT Cup aero updates and were the pride of the pitlane.

The next track day outing is at next week on the new Snetterton 300 circuit (June 15th ) followed by the exclusive FF Corse event at Goodwood on June 21st

2nd Place Finish at Brands Hatch: GT Cup

FF Corse driver Gary Eastwood made a fantastic return to the GT Cup podium after being forced to miss the Oulton Park round due to illness.

Having suffered from handling problems and a trip to the gravel in qualifying leaving, Gary started both races from 8th place on the grid. Despite this set-back the FF Corse driver staged an effective fightback in the races to finish second on the road in both races. Unfortunately the fightback was a bit too effective and he was penalised 20 seconds for a yellow flag infringement in the first race, but made up for it by repeating the second place finish in a rain soaked second race, this time with no penalty.

Rupert Martin was visiting the Brands Hatch GP for the first time and conditions in both races could not have been more difficult for the Dextra sponsored car. Despite this and a couple of spins in the races, Rupert improved steadily throughout the weekend, accumulating enough Championship points along the way to take him to 101 points in the Championship table.

FF Corse at Goodwood (June 21st )

FF Corse visited Goodwood for the annual club day with members using their Ferrari Challenge cars around the historic 2.4 mile motor circuit. The day included a great mixture Challenge cars, including two Ferrari 458 Challenge cars, four Ferrari F430 Challenge cars and a Ferrari 360 Challenge.

Amalgam models were guests on the day. And along with a fantastic display of display of Ferrari 1:8 model cars they launched a programme to enable FF Corse clients the opportunity to commission models of their Ferrari Challenge car models, complete with the FF Corse GT Cup modifications and personalised driver livery.

 

Upcoming Track Dates

A couple of new dates have been added to the diary, one at Brands Hatch on the GP circuit, on August 2 nd and 2 days at Spa-Franchorchamps on October 10th & 11th .

The scheduled dates from now until the end of the season are as follows:-

July 12th : Brands Hatch (Ferrari OC)

August 2nd : Brands Hatch

August 16th : Silverstone International

August 23rd & 24th : Dijon

September 20th : Donington (Ferrari OC)

October 10th & 11th : Spa-Franchorchamps

October 13th : Silverstone GP

October 23rd : Silverstone International

GT Cup: Snetterton (June 25th & 26th )

FF Corse entered the GT Cup race at Snetterton with four Ferrari F430 Challenge GTC cars over the blistering hot weekend of June 25th & 26th . The weekend resulted in Gary Eastwood taking front row starts in both races and despite a DNF in race one, was extremely unlucky not to win race two, after taking the lead before the race was stopped and losing the victory on the one-lap count back rule. Regular GT Open driver Peter Bamford was having his first run in a Ferrari F430 and took a solid 3rd place podium position in both races.

Leon Price became the innocent party in a first corner accident in race one and fought back in race two to finish in 4th position.

Rupert Martin had a difficult qualifying session and duly set about making amends in the races with a charge through the field, this included gaining ten positions in the first lap of race one and subsequently finishing 5th and 6th in the two races.

GT Trophy: Overall & Class Victories at Oulton Park (July 1st & 2nd )

FF Corse drivers celebrate on the podium

 

FF Corse celebrated with 6 drivers on the podium at the Oulton Park GT Trophy race after the two-driver combined two-hour race. Leon Price and pro-driver Rob Barff led the celebrations with overall and class victory in the Ferrari 458 GT3 continuing their unbeaten run in the GT Trophy series. Gary Eastwood and Ian Hartley followed with Class victory in their Ferrari 430 Challenge GTC with Richard Bramham & Phil Andrews backing up the result and coming home third in the same class.

6 FF Corse drivers celebrate on the podium

Despite winning their class, Gary Eastwood and Ian Hartley did not have everything their own way as Rupert & Alex Martin qualified their similar FF Corse F430 Challenge on class pole position, just behind the overall pole position of Leon & Rob. Unfortunately for the father and son pairing an accident in the first race, whilst leading the class, meant they car were unable to start the second part of the race.

The next round of the GT Trophy is a 3-hour race at Brands Hatch on the grand prix circuit on August 21st , FF Corse members are welcome as always and passes will be available.

Dubai 24hr – FF Corse Ferrari 458 Challenge

Since the inception and the first running 7 years ago, the Dubai 24hr race has seen a huge increase in popularity and importance for teams and drivers alike. As part of the plans for 2012, FF Corse have committed to take part in their first 24hr race with a Ferrari 458 GT3 entered for Leon Price and Rob Barff. Alongside this entry, FF Corse is also offering an opportunity for drivers to race a modified Ferrari 458 Challenge.

The team of drivers are required to have an International race licence for the event and the race team package on offer will include flights and hotel accommodation, along with full race team support throughout the event.

The 2012 race meeting takes place at the Dubai Autodrome from January 12-14th and the Ferrari 458 Challenge will be modified by FF Corse to a GT Cup specification for the 24 endurance race.

For further details on participation contact Anthony Cheshire on 07768 384079, or email acheshire@ffcorse.com .

Ferrari 458 Challenge – 2012 European Challenge Plans

FF Corse is looking set to enter a UK driver’s team in next year’s one-make European Ferrari Challenge Series. The factory organised Championship takes place over 7 race weekends, at prestigious circuit venues in Europe. This 2011 Championship has already featured a support race for the Le Mans 24hr race as well as further race meetings at Monza, Valencia, Spa and Portimao, next year is set to feature more of the same.

The team plans to run a multi-car operation and provide full technical and race support for the meetings. The European televised races feature a general format of 2 races over the weekend, combined with official-practice and qualifying sessions, providing drivers with plenty of track time and action.

The races also feature a class structure for professional and semi-professional drivers (Pirelli Trofeo) and another class for amateur drivers (Coppa Shell)

For further information on particpation in either the Dubai 24hr race and the Ferrari European Challenge, please contact Anthony Cheshire on 07768 384079, or email acheshire@ffcorse.com .

New Track-Day Dates

FF Corse have extended their track-day programme and added a number of additional dates to the events calendar between now and the end of the season. This includes a “noisy” day at Donington on September 6th (a chance to run the Ferrari 458 Challenge cars on the un-silenced race exhausts ) and a two day visit to the fantastic Spa-Franchorchamps circuit on October 10th & 11th .

We are also taking part in a Charity Day at Brands Hatch on November 3rd . The event is in aid of armed-forces personnel injured in Iraq with drivers providing passenger rides to injured soldiers on the day. The track-fee is free and FF Corse will donate a percentage of the technical support fees to the charity. The event is organised by FF Corse member Gary Eastwood and anyone wishing to participate will be welcome.

2011 Upcoming Track-Days

August 23rd & 24th : Dijon (FRA) August 30th : Silverstone GP – NEW DATE September 6th : Donington – NEW DATE September 20th : Donington October 10th & 11th : Spa (BEL) – NEW DATE October 13th : Silverstone GP October 23rd : Silverstone GP – NEW DATE November 3rd : Brands Hatch (Indy) – NEW DATE November 14th : Silverstone GP

Silverstone (International) – August 17th

FF Corse drivers participated in their first track-day yesterday using the new Silverstone Pit Complex. The Silverstone International circuit was the host venue for the day and the event operated from the new Grand Prix pits. Five drivers took part in the day using two new Ferrari 458 Challenge cars and three F430 Challenge cars.

Despite the weather looking like it was going to be a problem it stayed dry throughout the day to enable plenty of laps.

For further information, please contact Anthony Cheshire or Andy O’Dowd on 01327 857601, or email events@ffcorse.com .

Victory at final GT Trophy race

The FF Corse driver pairing of Rob Barff and Leon Price snatched victory at Brands Hatch last weekend to remain undefeated the whole year in the GT Trophy series. The duo shared the Leon’s Ferrari 458 GT3 to record their fourth victory from four starts, maintaining their 100% record this season.

The race was made all the more dramatic when the #88 car dropped off the lead lap with two unscheduled pit stops; first for a leaking fuel valve and the second for a puncture. The fight back by Rob Barf enabled the car to regain the lead position with 40 minutes remaining and maintain the lead until the chequered flag.

The father and son combination of Rupert & Alex Martin also recorded another successful result to finish second in class in the 3-hour endurance race in their Ferrari F430 Challenge GTC. Mark McAllister teamed up with professional driver Charlie Hollings, although unfortunately the pairing was delayed with a gearbox issue which required a lengthy pit stop and forced them to drop away from their initial early lead in class.

Cliff Fox/Paul McNeilly/Jamie Stanley were due to become the first FF Corse driver’s to start a race for the team with a Ferrari 458 Challenge. However and despite setting a succession of quick laps in testing on Friday the trio were forced to withdraw after an incident at Surtees resulted in damage to the rear crash structure of the car.

The next races coming up are as follows:-

August 29th : Castle Combe (Ferrari Open)

September 10th & 11th : Snetterton (Ferrari Open)

September 17th & 18th : Silverstone (Ferrari Open)

October 1st & 2nd : Spa (GT Cup)

October 15th & 16th : Snetterton (GT Cup)

For further information, please contact Anthony Cheshire on 01327 857601, or email events@ffcorse.com .