FF Corse GT Driver Academy 2024

Nine drivers selected for FF Corse’s inaugural GT Driver Academy

Silverstone, June, 2024: Internationally acclaimed Ferrari GT racing specialist FF Corse has confirmed the nine young names it has selected to be part of its inaugural GT Driver Academy in 2024.

FF Corse, a prolific race winner with Ferrari including 2023’s Finali Mondiali Trofeo Pirelli with Thomas Fleming at Mugello, has launched the Academy to help guide drivers specifically targeting a professional career path in GT racing.

Its selection was made following assessment of a high-quality list of candidates that included the winner and two other finalists from last year’s X30 Kart World Championship.

As part of the programme, the Academy’s drivers will have the opportunity to test FF Corse’s Ferrari Challenge car.

They will also receive media and commercial training, fitness assessment and engineering guidance, plus time on iZone’s state-of-the-art racing simulators.

In addition, FF Corse will evaluate each driver’s development in and out of the car, whilst providing on-going feedback and mentoring. Each Academy driver will demonstrate their ability within their own championships throughout 2024.

“We’ve launched the FF Corse GT Driver Academy to support and provide a credible path to a professional racing career, as drivers increasingly find single-seater budgets unrealistic,” explained Phil Bennett, Programme Manager.

“This is very much about discovering and nurturing the GT racing stars of tomorrow, and GT3 racing in particular has become a very interesting category, both commercially and from an engineering/sporting point of view. We want to help drivers gain a foothold by becoming involved early and shaping their careers.

“We have some very exciting talents amongst our first nine drivers and look forward to working with them in 2024 and helping them develop as athletes and individuals.

“Whilst our intake for 2024 is now closed, we would welcome expressions of interest for our Academy in 2025 which is very much open to drivers from all nations.”

FF Corse’s 2024 GT Academy drivers are:

Archie Clark, aged 15: competing in Ginetta Juniors (previous front-runner in British and international karting)

Harry Burgoyne Jnr, aged 16: second season of GB4 (finished P5 in 2023; former Jnr ‘O’ Plate karting Champion

Khali Atkins

Khali Atkins, aged 19: 2023 X30 World & European karting Champion

Gus Lawrence

Gus Lawrence, aged 25: competing in Senior British, European & World X30 championships (P4 in 2023 X30 worlds; twice British X30 & O Plate Champion)

Marcus Littlewood

Marcus Littlewood, aged 19: competing in Radical SR1 Cup (P3 Senior X30 karting championship [P11 in worlds] & 2023 Motorsport UK Academy Young Driver of the Year)

Thomas Merritt, aged 14: competing in BRSCC Fiesta Juniors (2023 P2 GKL Junior karting championship)

Archie Owen

Archie Owen, aged 12: competing in British & European Junior X30 karting (graduated from Mini X30 in 2023)

Leo Robinson

Leo Robinson, aged 14: competing in Ultimate Karting Championship

Deacon Russell, aged 15: competing in British, European & UKC kart championships (Senior Rotax category)

2025 GT Driver Academy Registration

GT Winter Series – Estoril

GT Winter Series Estoril

6 Podiums for FF Corse

The GT Winter Series entered its second round of the season on 14-15 January 2023 in Estoril. The legendary ex-Formula 1 circuit near Lisbon had a lot of action in store and provided one or two surprises. With 44 entries, the field was not only large, but also high-class, featuring GT3, GT4, and three Cup Classes.

Q1 & Q2 – From wet to clammy

The Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Estoril was literally pounding the night before the 2023 GTWS opener, with waves up to 7m high and plenty of rain along the coast. So the morning qualifying session was to take place wet, but looking increasingly friendly as the clouds visibly cleared. So the secret of the fast times seemed to lie in the right timing, as the Portuguese sun slowly ate up the drops.

As Q1 began, a wet session was declared. Not why we went to Portugal! Unfortunately James was unable to set a time during qualifying owing to a failed component out of our control, and placed him P36 for the first race. Tom had better fortune, quickly demonstrating his pace, qualifying P1 in class and P12 overall.

Sprint Race 1 – 25 minutes but shorter than expected

Although the track gradually dried over course of the morning, it was still decidedly wet and all the drivers had decided to start on slicks. However, as the track still showed changing conditions, the experienced race director Werner Aichinger decided to increase the number of introductory laps to two so that the drivers could familiarise themselves with the conditions. This sightseeing didn’t seem to work for everyone, as the safety car was deployed almost immediately. The race was barely reopened after two laps of clean-up when another car left the tarmac and caused the next safety car phase. With the safety car back in, only a few laps remained however in the Cup 1 class, which was exclusively occupied by Ferrari 488 Challenge Evos, Tom came in P1 in class and P9 overall ahead of James who put in an impressive recovery drive to P2 in class and climbed 13 places to finish P23 overall. A solid start for the pair.

Sprint Race 2 with real performers and an absurd interlude

Race 2 and while a dry line had appeared on track, it was still wet off line. As the cars headed to the grid, there was a divide of those who had opted for slicks or wets. We went slicks.

The wet circuit off line claimed victims early on, resulting in another two safety cars but this time only for a one lap each, so it gave our drivers plenty of time to reset and push forward to climb the field.

Tom relished the dry line and made his way to third place overall with surgical precision. Unfortunately, he lost out on the fruits of his labour, albeit by the skin of his teeth, as he overtook just before the safety car line on the restart and was handed a 25-second penalty. It was only a matter of a few centimetres, but the rule is the rule. However, he had built up such a superior lead that he was still able to celebrate the class victory.

Again having not set a lap in qualifying, James started P33 for race two, but put in yet another remarkable recovery drive, climbing up to P17 overall, taking another 2nd place in class, in just 25 minutes. Quite impressive given his qualifying woes.

1 Hour Endurance Race, with many battles

The starting grid for the 60-minute Endurance is determined by the combined results of Q1 and Q2, Tom starting P10 overall and James back down to P34. A now fully dry circuit meant we send the drivers off to see what they could do, and they didn’t disappoint.

Over the hour, James made steady working picking off cars ahead climbing a total of 20 places overall. Mighty impressive on his first ever race in a 488 Challenge Evo. During the race, James maintained P3 in class, only to be slowly caught by a pro-driver who had taken over from the car’s owner during the mandatory pit stop. A thoroughly exciting 5 laps ensued as James did his best to fend him off as long as he could. Finally, the pro slipped through dropping James back to P4 in class but in true racer form, James kept pushing for the last two laps and his efforts paid off. The car previously running P2 in class had backed off and slowed. James was able to catch and pass, on the last corner, of the last lap recovering P3 in class! Thoroughly exiting to watch!

Once again Tom showed his class. Efficient in his driving style, fast as an arrow in his lap time, he grabs P1 in class for the third time of the day and an outstanding P3 in the overall, beating plenty of quicker machinery. Remarkably, this too is Tom’s first race in a 488 Challenge.

The entire team at FF Corse are delighted with the results and look forward to the next outing, Valencia, 18-19 February.

Thanks to The GT Winter Series.

Photography Credit: Daniel Buergin, GT Winter Series.