“To finish first, first you have to finish”. Proving
that the age old adage in motor racing still runs true,
Ross Kaiser took his first Ferrari Challenge Trofeo
Pirelli victory of the season with an excellent
performance in the 34˚C heat of southern France at the
Paul Ricard circuit in Le Castellet on Saturday.
Qualifying 5th for Race 1, Ross (Car 27) maintained a
solid pace throughout the race and made his way up to
third place, only a few seconds off the leaders with
only a couple of laps remaining. However, on the last
lap, Ange Barde and John Bosch both had problems and
Ross was perfectly placed to take victory when the
chequered flag waved. An ecstatic Ross Kaiser said, “I
was pushing hard all through the race, and the car was
working fantastically; my pace was good, but I couldn’t
quite catch the guys ahead of me. I was about to settle
for another third place when they both had problems and
I was perfectly placed to take advantage – so it was an
incredible feeling to come round that last corner and
see the chequered flag. Now I know what it’s like to
win, I can’t wait to do it again!”
In addition to a fantastic result in the Trofeo Pirelli,
the Ferrari Challenge Dealer Team GB was well
represented in the Coppa Shell, with three drivers:
Borislav
Maletić
(Car 89), Geoff Farmer (Car 103) and new member of the
team, Peter Bamford in Car 108. Borislav continued his
excellent progression towards the front of the grid,
with another good qualifying session that saw him start
Race 1 in 14th and finish a credible 12th place; in Race
2 he qualified and finished in 16th place. Geoff Farmer
struggled with the set up of the car and qualified 22nd,
but had to exit Race 1 early after an incident involving
another car; however, in Race 2 on Sunday, Geoff managed
to improve dramatically from 22nd starting position to
finish in the points in 10th place.
Peter Bamford, in his very first Ferrari Challenge race,
qualified 28th out of 33 for Race 1, but made steady
progress through the field to finish 23rd – and was very
pleased to have made it through the melee of the first
corner and finish the race. In Race 2 on Sunday, Peter
managed to improve on his 27th qualifying position to
finish the race in 24th.
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In addition to a fantastic result in the Trofeo
Pirelli, the Ferrari Challenge Dealer Team GB was
well represented in the Coppa Shell, with three
drivers: Borislav Maletić (Car 89), Geoff Farmer (Car 103) and new member of
the team, Peter Bamford in Car 108. |
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Ross Kaiser took his first Ferrari Challenge Trofeo
Pirelli victory of the season with an excellent
performance in the 34˚C heat of southern France at
the Paul Ricard circuit in Le Castellet on Saturday. |
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After an exciting weekend’s racing, Peter Bamford said, “It
was incredible to be out here with all these other Ferraris
actually racing each other – I’ve worked hard over the last
two months with the Ferrari GB team, through the Fiorano
Ferrari programme to get ready to go racing, and can hardly
believe I’m actually here doing it. It’s amazing to see what
Ferrari can offer its customers that no other manufacturer
can – they can take you from buying a car you can drive on
the road, to learning how to drive on a race track, to
actually coming racing in the Challenge series. It’s
fantastic!”
Ferrari GB
Managing Director Massimo Fedeli said ‘Once again Ferrari
Challenge Dealer Team GB have proved they can set the
standard, both on the track with an excellent win for Ross
in the Trofeo Pirelli category and bringing Peter Bamford, a
Ferrari customer, through the Fiorano Ferrari programme to
compete in the ultimate lifestyle racing series – the
Ferrari Challenge. We were also joined this weekend by
dealer staff and customers from the three UK dealers who are
supporting the team, with several customers driving their
Ferraris from the UK to the south of France to enjoy the
weekend at Paul Ricard and the fantastic weather and
hospitality in the south of France.”
The
Ferrari Challenge Dealer Team GB will now prepare the cars
for another exciting and hopefully successful race weekend
at the Nürburgring in Germany on 1, 2, 3 September, where
Ross Kaiser is confident of another excellent finish at a
circuit he knows well.
The Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli
was created and is organised by Corse Clienti, the division
within Ferrari S.p.A. dedicated to racing activities for
Ferrari clients.
The
Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli features the Ferrari F430
Challenge race car and all cars are provided by Ferrari
S.p.A. to the same technical specification. In 2006 The
Ferrari 360 Challenge car will also feature in the Coppa
Shell before retiring from the championship at the end of
the season.
The
Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli is the world’s most
exclusive single-make racing series created as the perfect
outlet for Ferrari owners who want to race. The 2006 season
includes races in the UK, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy
and Spain, before climaxing at the World Finals in Italy all
delivered in the style and luxury associated with any
Ferrari occasion. The Ferrari Challenge Dealer Team GB is
supported by three of the UK’s Ferrari dealers; Graypaul of
Nottingham, HR Owen in London and Maranello Sales Ltd in
Egham, Surrey.
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