FF Corse achieved the monumental result of their 100^th Overall & Class wins at the weekend in the first round of the Britcar Championships.

The team went into the first race weekend of the season with 96 race wins under their belt. David Mason & Calum Lockie took two overall race wins in the MSA Dunlop Endurance Championship on Saturday. John Seale took an overall win in the first Britcar Trophy race on Sunday, before sealing the 100^th win with a class win in race two.

It was a great start to the year for David & Calum as defending Britcar Champions. They now go into round two with a healthy lead in the 2015 Championship. Indeed, it was a great start all round as John has now won outright in 4 out of his 5 Britcar Trophy appearances, whilst continuing to maintain his 100% class winning record.

The next round of the MSA Dunlop Endurance Championship is at Zandvoort (NL) over the weekend of June 20th & 21st.

100 wins

Thank you to the following 25 drivers, all of whom helped make the 100 wins possible.

John Seale, David Mason, Calum Lockie, Sam Smeeth, Jamie Stanley, Gautam Singhania, Gary Eastwood, Rob Barff, Alex Martin, Toby Tarrant-Willis, Jacques Duyver, Charlie Hollings, Douglas Campbell, Paul McNeilly, Peter Jennings, Mick Dwane, Ryan Hooker, Leon Price, Ian Hartley, Robert Macfarlane, Mark McAllister, Jim Geddie, Rupert Martin, Jack Gerber & Jeff Leadley

After a great winning start to the British GT season for FF Corse drivers Gary Eastwood & Adam Carroll the win was disrupted with a retrospective 5 second penalty. The result being the teams’ 1^st place position in race 1 being dropped to 2^nd overall. The penalty came about as a result of a protest from a rival team over a ‘pit-stop technicality’.

The race result followed superb qualifying performances by the drivers, netting front row starting positions for both races.

In race two, the FF Corse Ferrari 458 GT3 had another strong start and took the lead in the first stint with Adam Carroll undertaking the driving duties. Unfortunately, the addition of an extra 15 second success penalty at the pit stops dropped the team back back down the order for the start of Gary Eastwood’s stint (ironically, a legacy of the success for winning race 1!). However, Gary’s pace was immediate and he clawed his way back up into a potential podium finish, before a spin on heavily worn tyres, dropped the car a further couple of race positions.

The team now currently occupy second place in the Championship and head to Rockingham (the scene of previous team success) on May 3rd  for the next round, with high hopes of another strong result.

FF Corse recorded their record number of wins over a race weekend. The team was competing in two locations; Silverstone and Donington over Friday, Saturday & Sunday and took 5 race wins in the process.

Building on earlier Britcar momentum, David Mason and Calum Lockie, racing in their Ferrari 458 Challenge GTC, started the tally rolling by sprinting to success in the Britcar Trophy races at Silverstone. The pairing won overall in Race 1, along with taking class wins in both races.

Over at Donington for the GT Cup, FF Corse dominated proceedings by taking all 3 GTC class race wins, pole positions and fastest laps. Wayne Marrs (in his first race for FF Corse) & Charlie Hollings, won the first of three races, before John Seale secured the two sprint race wins.

In addition to the GTC Class, Darren Nelson, took the outright pole position for two of the three races in the FF Corse Ferrari 458 GT3. Helped by Nigel Greensall in the pit-stop race, he subsequently converted the strong qualifying performances to a pair of podium finishes, with fastest lap in race 2 along the way.

The wins over the weekend take the team’s total tally of overall and class wins to 105- https://www.ffcorse.com/race-wins/

The next round of the GT Cup is at Brands Hatch on May 9^th and 10^th.

FF Corse secured 5 race wins in GT Cup at Rockingham over the Bank Holiday weekend, with Darren Nelson securing 3 overall Race wins.

The pit-stop race on Saturday was a great start to the weekend and saw Darren Nelson & Adam Carroll leading the way at the front of the field in the GTO Class. Darren took the lead in the first-half of the race, before Adam extended it to take victory by a resounding 29.5 seconds.

At the head of the GTC class and in third & fourth places overall, the Ferrari 458 Challenge GTC cars of Wayne Marrs/Charlie Hollings and John Seale/Jamie Stanley were running line astern throughout the race to finish 7.1 seconds clear of the chasing pack.

On Sunday, Darren Nelson continued his race-winning form and qualified on pole position for the first race, before going on to win both races, setting fastest laps in both along the way. The GTC class Ferrari of John Seale qualified in class pole, before Wayne Marrs went on to finish 2^nd on the class podium in the first race. In the second race Jamie Stanley took the car he shares with John Seale to victory and secured a third place on the overall podium to round off a fantastic set of results for the team

The next round of GT Cup is at Silverstone in three weekends time on June 13^th & 14^th.

FF Corse have added some new dates to the calendar, including supporting the annual day at Brands Hatch for injured soldiers and sponsored by LKM.

We are offering our support and services free of charge for members who are able to give passenger rides throughout the day to members of our armed services who are recovering from injuries. The track event takes place on the Indy circuit on July 30^th.

 

Overseas Events

 

After the success of previous events, we are organising a couple of overseas trips at track-days in Europe. The first one is  at Paul Ricard, in the South of France over the weekend of July 4^th & 5th , followed by a two-day trip to the heart of Italian motorsport at the Imola and Mugello circuits on September 7th & 8^th respectively.

The days are being organised by Belgium track-day specialist Curbstone and are split into race-car and GT road car sessions, with a the number of cars limited in each session. The days are very well organised and are renowned for their great hospitality & catering.

No.1 Race Technician

 

We are looking to recruit additional No.1 Race Technicians, who are able to work unsupervised.

The successful applicants will be highly motivated individuals who can work both as part of a team and on their own initiative.

The role will involve extensive travelling across the UK and Europe. Weekend work is a pre-requisite.

Knowledge of GT cars is essential and at least 3 years minimum experience as a No.1 Race Technician.

 

Please email your CV, with a covering letter, quoting the job you are applying for and salary expectation to appointments@ffcorse.com

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