06.08.2003 VELOQX RETURN TO THEIR ROOTS AS TEAM PLAN TO ENTER THRUXTON ROUND OF BRITISH GT CHAMPIONSHIP
Having secured the British GTO Championship title for Ferrari during their maiden year in 2002, Brackley-based Veloqx Motorsport turned their attention to the FIA GT Championship this year. With the endorsement of Ferrari UK (Maranello Concessionaires Ltd), the UK’s authorised importer and distributor of Ferrari road cars, the team was re-branded ‘Team Maranello Concessionaires’ for 2003. With TMC’s ‘Racing Red’ and ‘Cambridge Blue’ Ferraris currently running in second position in the Teams’ Classification after six rounds of the series, the Championship is now enjoying a respite ahead of round seven at the Scandinavian Raceway in Anderstorp, Sweden, on 7 September.
However, for Veloqx Motorsport, the development work that has proven to be so beneficial to the team during their first year of racing in the FIA GT programme continues unabated. Moreover, the team has chosen to enter its third Ferrari 360 N/GT race car in round nine of the British GT Championship as an opportunity to test several new developments that, if successful, will find their way on to the team’s two FIA GT-specification cars.
In addition, Thruxton presents Veloqx Motorsport with an opportunity to return to a series, albeit briefly, that the company knows and enjoyed so much last year. Leading the charge will be one of TMC’s 2003 FIA N/GT Championship contenders, Tim Mullen. The car will be co-driven by 2002 Veloqx Motorsport driver and recent Proximus 24 Hours of Spa competitor for TMC, Andrew Kirkaldy.
“We know we have a great
many admirers in the UK after our 2002 success,” commented Steve Hagger,
Veloqx Motorsport’s Chief Mechanic. “Whilst most of the teams in
the FIA GT Championship will be enjoying a month’s break now, we have decided
to continue our work by returning to our roots, so-to-speak. The
team enjoyed their time in the British GT Championship last year and unanimously
agreed that Thruxton was a good opportunity to compete at the highest level
in the UK again. We’d like to be competitive, of course, but also
take the opportunity to test a number of new components that we are developing
to assist us in our aim to secure the FIA N/GT title as TMC this year.”
