RAM Racing has revealed its Mercedes AMG GT3 line-ups for the Spa-Francorchamps ‘Speed Week’, which comprises the British GT Championship and the 24 Hours of Spa, confirming that Formula E driver Felix Rosenqvist (SW) will join the team’s regular racers.
This weekend, the Silverstone-based team makes its return to the British GT Championship, following a two-year break, and this time will field the team’s regular professional Tom Onslow-Cole (GB) and his team-mate Remon Vos (NL). Having contested numerous endurance races together since the start of last year, the RAM Racing team is looking to see how the pairing will rank in the UK’s top GT series.
Just a few days later, the biggest GT3 event in the world begins and RAM Racing will return with its second Mercedes AMG GT3. This time they will race with Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup entrants Euan Hankey (GB), Salih Yoluc (TR) and Darren Burke (GB), with multi-championship-winner Rosenqvist recruited for the blue riband event.
“I think we have great line-ups in both events,” commented Team Principal Dan Shufflebottom. “Despite it only being Remon’s second year of racing, he and Tom have had podiums together in the 24H Series and the Le Mans Cup. We know Tom will be competitive against the other professional racers and we’re confident Remon has the pace of much of the amateur pack. It’s a really tough championship and there is a lot for Remon to learn but we’re doing all the preparation we can to get him ready, including the official test last week.”
In last year’s 24-hour race, the team ran the Goodsmile Racing Mercedes with ex-F1 racer Kamu Kobayashi (JP) behind the wheel, but luck wasn’t on their side as the car crashed out. Shufflebottom is determined to return and get the result his team deserve.
“Spa 24 Hours is an incredible event and is extremely well run so it was a shame that last year we didn’t get to cross the line due to an incident. This year, we’re hoping luck is on our side – we have a really, really strong Pro-Am line-up that is more than capable of a class win. The new qualifying format should work well for us, as all of our drivers are strong within their ranking. We just need a clean race from there and we have a good chance.”
Speed Week starts with the British GT Championship, which takes place on the 20-22 July, with the 24 Hours of Spa kick starting with a driver parade in town on Wednesday 25 July. Track action for the 24-hour event begins on Thursday 26 July and the lights go out for the start of the race is at 1630hrs on Saturday 28 July.
