CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR GTDA DRIVERS
This year several of our selected GTDA drivers have been crowned champions in their respective championships, a testament to their hard work and the prestige of the academy. This campaign aims to celebrate their achievements, as well as provide details on how to get involved in 2026, both as a driver and a partner, as well as inspiring success stories from our GTDA graduates.
INCREDIBLE ACHIEVEMENTS – READ THEIR STORIES BELOW…
Hugo Schwarze – 2025 Michelin Le Mans Cup LMP3 Champion
About: Hugo initially entered the motorsport world through simulator racing, before stepping into a race kart in 2021. By 2023, Hugo became Vice-Champion in the 2024 Ginetta Junior Championship before stepping into GB3 in 2024 where he consistently achieved Top-5 results and placed 3rd in the rookie championship.
Michelin Le Mans Cup LMP3 Champion: Hugo has been crowned the 2025 LMP3 Champion in Michelin Le Mans Cup, a highly competitive and credible support series for the European Le Mans Series. The campaign has allowed Hugo to gain experience in multiclass racing, racing alongside slower GT3 machinery, a crucial skill to have for any aspiring endurance racing driver. This achievement reflects both consistency and speed, achieving 32 points ahead of the Vice-Champions.
LMP3 machinery is an entry level car for prototype and endurance racing, and has proven time and time again to develop future successful careers, including multiple factory drivers. This achievement is a truly exciting step for Hugo’s career.
Marcus Littlewood – Radical SR3 Champion
About: Marcus has a long history of karting success, finishing 3rd in the British Kart Championship, two Kartmasters podiums and was named MSUK Young Driver of the year. 2024 saw Marcus graduate into car racing, taking the Radical UK SR1 Championship.
Radical SR3 Champion: Marcus was crowned the 2025 Radical SR3 champion, taking 14 out of 18 wins throughout the season. This incredible achievement backs onto Marcus’ 2024 SR1 Championship, showcasing consistent learning and development even when stepping into faster and stronger machinery. Known for their high power-to-weight ratio and quick acceleration, these purpose built cars are known to develop understanding of downforce and quick-thinking race craft.
Archie Clark – Ginetta Protyre Champion
About: Archie has a strong history of karting success, winning the British Kart Championship in his rookie junior year, and ranking 3rd globally in 2023.
Ginetta Protyre Champion: Archie finishes 2025 as the Ginetta Protyre Champion. This multi class and multi car grid has exposed Archie to develop the required skills for endurance racing at an early stage in his career, a promising step for a bright future in racing. Archie is a double champion, having secured the GTH title in GT Cup, piloting an Aston Martin GT4.
Thomas Merritt – BRSCC Fiesta Vice Champion
About: Having only started racing in 2022, Thomas has continually impressed, achieving P2 in GKL Junior Karting Championship in his rookie year.
2025 Achievements: This year sees Thomas participating in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship, which he is currently leading by 44 points. Thomas has shown incredible race craft, with 6 podiums out of a possible 7, 4 of which were overall wins. Thomas is consistently qualifying at the front of the grid, however has proven he can keep a mature and calm head on when required to work his way up the grid, showcased with a P17-P3 result. Thomas has also been working on developing skills outside of the race track, engaging with First Aid knowledge and fitness practices.
Cian Geraghty – 2025 Ultimate Karting Champion
About: Cian has a strong CV of karting racing, achieving the fought after Kartmasters GP plate along with 3rd in British Karting Championship and Little Green Man Championship. Marcus also has success in Europe, coming 3rd in IAME Euro Series Winter Cup.
2025 Ultimate Karting Champion: After a final round win, Cian was crowned the 2025 Ultimate Karting Champion, a hard earn title after wins across Round 1, 2 & 6. The championship fight was taken to the very last round on the season at PFI, showcasing the strong competition offered in the championship.
Megan Bruce – Inducted into F1 Academy
About: Despite only actively racing for two years across Caterham Academy and GB4, Megan holds a lap record and multiple podiums in an incredibly competitive grid.
2025 Achievements: Megan was invited by Tag Heuer to compete in the Singapore F1 Academy round, a huge opportunity to showcase her skills in front of the Formula One crowd. Not only was this Megan’s first time at the track and experiencing the immense heat and humidity of Singapore, but it was also her first time stepping into the F1 Academy car, a completely different beast to her usual GB4 car. Megan proved her adaptability skills, crossing the line in P12 and P13 in her respective races. Congratulations Megan!
Jude Peters – 3rd in LMP4 Liger European Series
About: Jude started his career virtually, racing on a simulator in his family homes, before making the move to car racing in 2024. Jude went on to prove his ability to translate his skills, achieving an 86% podium success across 28 races in the 2024 Ginetta Junior Championship.
2025 Achievements: Following from his 2024 Ginetta Scholarship win, Jude has carried on developing skills in the Ligier European Le Mans Series, another brilliant support series to the European Le Mans Series. This incredible series has provided Jude with an opportunity to gain experience at iconic tracks, including Spa, Le Mans and Silverstone. Jude’s Spa race was particularly impressive, seeing him go from P7 to P3 by turn 1, with his teammate taking them across the line in P1.
Hadley Simpson – Multiple wins in Ginetta GT and GT Cup
About: Hadley gained vital racing skills across karting championships before stepping to Fiesta Junior and Britcar Endurance Championship in 2023. During this campaign, Hadley achieved 10 wins in 14 races.
2025 Achievements: Hadley has won multiple races this year, most recently at Snetterton in the Ginetta GT Pro Championship. He has also gone on to set the fastest GT4 lap at Brands Hatch, along with a race win in the GT Cup.
Leo Robinson – Senior X30 Champion
About: Leo has continually improved throughout his karting career, finishing 6th in the Junior TKM British Kart Championship in 2022, and 4th in 2023.
2025 Achievements: Leo has shown incredible pace and driving ability throughout 2025, showcased in consistent top three finishes in KZ karting, a highly credible karting class. At Kimbolton, Leo went from P19 to P3 in heat 3, and went on to take the race win starting P1, showcasing Leo has the skills and determination to both chase, and be chased. Leo has also been developing key networking skills and joining us for numerous meetings to meet fellow racing drivers and gain a deeper understanding of the requirements for GT racing.
2026 ACADEMY APPLICAITONS ARE NOW OPEN
Applications for the 2026 FF Corse GT Driver Academy are now open. The application stage will remain open until February, after which point the selection process will begin, with the 2026 GT Driver Academy members being announced in March. Apply here.
WHAT IS GTDA
The FF Corse GT Driver Academy (GTDA) is a programme that is completely free-to-apply and be a member of, designed to aid and boost young driving talent. Drivers that showcase particularly bright futures are selected each year to join this free programme, and are provided with complimentary support and advice from FF Corse throughout the year.
The aim is to provide training and advice for young drivers alongside their own race campaign. FF Corse feel this is particularly important in order to encourage young drivers to develop the crucial and sometimes overlooked skills that go alongside racing.
Drivers are provided with physical coaching from our partners at Gridshark, communications, media and marketing exposure, simulator sessions with our partners at Base Performance Simulators, discounts from GPR and networking opportunities at events.
CAN YOU OR YOUR BUSINESS HELP SUPPORT OUR GTDA DRIVERS?
… If so, we want to hear from you.
Our GTDA is completely free to those who apply, and to those who are selected, so we are always looking for ways to improve the programme either through services or sponsorship. If you think you or your company can help support our young drivers, we would love to hear from you.
GTDA TESTIMONIAL
“Being selected to join the FF Corse GT Driver Academy for a second year has been an incredible privilege and an amazing opportunity as the academy continues to go from strength to strength.
The level of expertise offered by the team is unparalleled. They’ve really helped me refine my skills both on and off the track using world class simulators as well as providing media and fitness guidance. It has given me a deeper understanding of what’s required to race at a professional level including working with an iconic brand such as Ferrari.
I’ve gained knowledge in and not limited to track strategy, race craft and mental preparation. Not only has my performance improved, but the academy has also expanded my network within the motorsport community.
I’m extremely thankful to the team for this opportunity and I look forward to continuing my journey and building my relationship with FF Corse.” – Thomas Merritt
PREVIOUS SUCCESS STORY – THOMAS FLEMING
Thomas Fleming joined FF Corse in 2022 after graduating from Karting at age 19. Fleming, like many, was unsure of the next steps to take in his racing career, and joined FF Corse GTDA to provide the needed guidance to move forward. Throughout 2022, Fleming worked towards achieving his race license, and utilised FF Corse’s network to gain vital race experience in Radical and Mazda cars.
Fleming and FF Corse entered into the 2023 Ferrari European Challenge Campaign, and went on to win the Ferrari World, the first rookie to do so. Fleming now has a successful career in GT3 and LMP racing, and continues to coach other drivers in Ferrari Challenge machinery.
