Top British Ferrari team, FF Corse will run three Ferraris this weekend, just like Italian rivals AF Corse. The Silverstone-based team are preparing a 458 GT3 for regular drivers Gary Eastwood and Rob Barff, but also a 458 challenge car for South African gentleman driver, Jacques Duyver and British racer Charlie Hollings.
Duyver and Hollings race with FF Corse in other competitions and Hollings said a deal to compete a full season of British GT was close to occurring this year. When that deal didn’t come together in time, the pair instead focused on giving the entrepreneur a solid year of racing in multiple series, having only begun racing one year earlier.
‘It was our aim to be on the grid this year for the whole season, but it was coming together last minute so we thought it best to use 2013 to give Jacques a chance to get more familiar with the 458 and learn some different circuits.
‘Jacques is really promising and he’s keen to get out and race which is great for him and me too. He’s at a good level and probably wants to move to British GT in the future, this is a first step. Its a good induction into the weekend, see what the paddock is like and find out a bit about it without too much pressure. I think when he steps into a 458 GT3 he’ll be at a really good pace.’
Former British GT4 co-champion, Jamie Stanley will return to British GT this weekend when he drives for FF Corse alongside regular co-driver Paul McNeilly. The pair have already successfully competed together in the Lotus Cup UK, but will link up to drive the Fox Motorsport-owned 2008 Ferrari 430 GT3 as sole entrants in the GT3B class, a category for early GT3 cars.
McNeilly said, ‘I’m really looking forward to competing alongside Jamie in the British GT Championship at Silverstone. Although we’ve raced together in other series, this is a big step up for me and I’m ready for the challenge.’
Team-mate, Stanley added, ‘I can’t wait to be back in the British GT paddock, it holds so many great memories and it’s a real honour to race in such a prestigious championship. As we’re competing in an older specification car we don’t expect to be taking the fight to the big guns, but FF Corse knows how to prepare a car to the highest standard so I think we’ll be in a position to gain some valuable experience.’
FF Corse Team Principal, Anthony Cheshire, added, ‘Rob and Gary are doing a great job and are in the top ten of the points standings, and are the leading Ferrari car after two weekends. Paul and Jamie are here fact finding [for experience] and to get an understanding of the paddock and how the British GT weekends run.
‘Jacques has only acquired the 458 Challenge GTC at the beginning of the year and is visibly improving with every outing; he already has two race victories in the car under his belt.
‘Silverstone is our home circuit and where we house all the FF Corse cars (around 40 Ferrari Challenge & GT cars), as such we are really looking forward to the event and traditionally Silverstone is one of the stronger circuits for the Ferrari cars. We are very pleased as a team with the driver pairings we have in all the cars and hopefully we can get good results in the main GT3 class, the GTC class and the GT3B class.’
Track action at Silverstone gets underway on Saturday at 9am, with the first of the two free practice sessions. Free practice two begins from 12pm midday until 1pm and qualifying starts at 4:30pm for 45-minutes. After a quick ten-minute warm-up on Sunday morning at 9am, the three-hour race begins at 1pm, finishing at 4pm.
Source : British GT