Ram Racing, the British GT racing team which only made its international endurance debut at the beginning of this year, is poised this weekend to wrap up the LMGTE Teams Championship title for the European Le Mans Series. The team, which competes with two Ferrari 458 Italias, is in Hungary for the fourth and penultimate round of the ELMS – the 3 Hours of Hungaroring which starts at 4:00pm (CET) on Saturday, 14th September.
Drivers of the No.52 Ferrari entry, experienced British sportscar driver, Johnny Mowlem, and his Irish team mate Matt Griffin, are currently 25 points ahead of their team mates in the No.53, Gunnar Jeannette and Frankie Montecalvo.
The American duo is in turn just three points ahead of Ram Racing’s nearest rivals, the JMW Motorsport team – also competing with a Ferrari 458.
All four drivers are hoping for the best possible results to ensure they maintain first and second places in the Drivers’ classification.
Team Principal Dan Shufflebottom is, however, trying hard to inject a note of caution and maintain focus within the Silverstone-based entity: “Of course it’s exciting to get back into it after such a long break, and we aren’t anticipating any hiccups from an operational point of view. We have the possibility to win the championship here, but we are trying not to focus on that too much. We will just be looking for a solid points finish, as we have at all three of the other races, and then we can go to Paul Ricard with no pressure on us.”
Johnny Mowlem, No.52 Ferrari 458 Italia: The most experienced driver within the line-up, former Daytona 24 and Sebring 12 Hours winner Johnny is realistic about the task ahead this weekend:
“We’re leading the LMGTE Championship but we’re not done yet. The weather is looking a bit dodgy which always throws a bit of a curve ball into the best-laid plans, and the latest Balance of Performance means we’re going to be running with an additional 50kg of ballast compared to our non-Ferrari rivals, so anything can happen.
“But, our preparation has been outstanding all season long, and that really shows if the conditions become difficult. There’s likely to be more than one or two nervous looking faces through the race, for sure!”
Matt Griffin, No.52 Ferrari 458 Italia: Matt, like Gunnar and Frankie, has never raced at the Hungaroring before but has, in the time-honoured tradition of all racing drivers, been preparing for the weekend through the use of on-board footage and video games.
“From 15 years of watching F1 there I’ve more or less got an idea of which way the track goes and, as a driver, you learn fast,” he adds, “but there’s only one way to really learn a track and that’s to drive it.
“Winning the championship is always in the back of the mind, but to be honest the biggest pressure I have felt this year was probably in Austria. We’d finished 2nd (in the LMGTE class) at Silverstone and won in Imola so the Austrian race was the acid test to see if we could continue going in the right direction.
“We’re going for a prestigious championship and are in a good position but we’re trying not to think about it! I’ll just drive the way I normally do and hopefully we’ll get a good result…if you get one the other will follow!”
There are two one-hour practice sessions tomorrow (Friday) and both qualifying and the race take place on Saturday. With such limited track time, a cool head and sensible approach will be the order of the day(s)!
Source : RAM Racing