In very changeable conditions last weekend at the
Nürburgring, Boris Maletić, the Ferrari Challenge Dealer
Team GB’s leading Coppa Shell driver, demonstrated the
significant progress he has made in his first year of
international motor racing, with his best qualifying
positions and two consistent best place finishes of the
season. Qualifying 13th for Race 1, Boris made steady
progress during the first half of the race and managed
to work his way up to an excellent 8th place before the
compulsory 1 minute pit-stop.
He was on course to pick up a few more places in the
second half of the race, when, in a hard-fought battle
with Dennis Huebner (who was trying to recover lost
ground from a drive-through penalty for an illegal entry
to the pit lane earlier in the race), Dennis ran wide as
he exited the first turn, and then collided with Boris
when he tried to rejoin the circuit – spinning the Team
GB driver off the track. However, in an admirable
display of confidence and determination, Boris managed
to fight his way back from 20th place to 14th within the
remaining few minutes of the Race.
At the start of Race 2, there was a sudden downpour
which meant that all competitors had to change from
slick tyres to full wets while on the formation grid,
with only 3 minutes to go before the green flag was
waved. Boris started in 19th position but soon made it
up to 12th position in very difficult conditions with a
wet track – the first wet race of the year. With a
drying line soon forming, despite the continued rain,
some teams were considering changing from wet tyres back
to slicks. Team GB laid out the pit in preparation for
changing the tyres on Boris’s car – and as he came into
his compulsory 1 minute pit-stop, other teams in the pit
lane saw the change in strategy and hurriedly rushed out
slick tyres for their cars which were also in the pits
at the same time. However, in a game of brinksmanship,
with other teams still unsure about which was the
correct tyre, Boris rejoined the race on wet tyres and
continued to pull ahead of those around him – crossing
the line in 12th place, ahead of 19 other drivers, many
of whom have been driving in the Ferrari Challenge for
several years.
Ferrari Challenge Dealer Team GB’s other two drivers in
the Coppa Shell, Geoff Farmer in Car 103 finished 17th
in Race 1 but an incident on Saturday meant he did not
start in Race 2, and Peter Bamford in Car 108 finished
18th in Race 1 and 17th in Race 2 – demonstrating
progression from his finishes at Paul Ricard in only his
second weekend as a Ferrari racing driver.
At the Nürburgring this weekend, over 35,000 people
filled the grandstands to watch the Ferrari Challenge
Trofeo Pirelli and the other activities of the Ferrari
Days at the Nürburgring.
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Qualifying 13th for Race 1, Boris Maletić made
steady progress during the first half of the race
and managed to work his way up to an excellent 8th
place before the compulsory 1 minute pit-stop.
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In very changeable conditions last weekend at the
Nürburgring, Boris Maletić, the Ferrari Challenge
Dealer Team GB’s leading Coppa Shell driver,
demonstrated the significant progress he has made in
his first year of international motor racing, with
his best qualifying positions and two consistent
best place finishes of the season. |
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These activities included another test session for the
ultra-exclusive FXX and an extensive demonstration from
several historic single-seaters prepared by Maranello’s F1
Clienti department. Michael Schumacher rounded off the
weekend’s activities by entertaining the fans with some fast
laps in the new Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, an F2005 F1 car and
also his personal FXX which he showed for the first time
this weekend.
The Ferrari Days at the Nürburgring also attracted over
1,000 Ferrari road cars which were all lined up by model in
the paddock. The impressive display included several iconic
Ferraris, including five F40s, three 288 GTOs and several
Enzos, as well as pristine examples of the ever popular mid-engined
V8 Ferraris, the 308, 328, 348, 355, 360 and F430.
The Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli, the world’s most
exclusive single-marque racing series, will be returning to
the race track for the World Finals at the historic Monza
circuit from 25 – 29 October, where Ross Kaiser will aim to
replicate his incredible victory in the Trofeo Pirelli
category at Paul Ricard, and Borislav Maletić and Peter
Bamford will aim to show the progression they have each made
in their first year of racing as a Ferrari racing driver,
with Boris aiming for a top 10 finish and Peter looking to
push his team-mate hard throughout the weekend.
The Ferrari Challenge Dealer Team GB is a collaboration of
three of the UK’s official Ferrari dealers who along with
Ferrari GB have created a championship winning race team
ready to offer Ferrari clients the opportunity to take the
chequered flag in this year’s European Championship. The
dealers who provide technical support for the team are
Graypaul Nottingham, HR Owen Kensington and Maranello Sales
Egham. But it’s not only Ferrari technicians who support the
F430 Challenge drivers each weekend, but it’s also VIP
guests who are invited by each dealer to spend the weekend
enjoying the atmosphere of the pit lane and the Ferrari
Challenge Dealer Team GB’s hospitality, in a dedicated
purpose-built hospitality facility which provides guests
with the opportunity to meet the drivers and sample the life
of a Ferrari racing driver. The Ferrari Challenge Dealer
Team GB brings together the competitive spirit on-track with
the Ferrari lifestyle during the weekend – we call it luxury
lifestyle racing.
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