RAM Racing - a short history full of success
RAM Racing is a British racing team, founded in 2012 and based in Silverstone Park, which successfully competes in the international GT competitions, winning the championship titles in the European Le Mans Series and 24H Series.
The team was founded by Dan Shufflebottom, who earlier worked as a mechanic in some leading racing teams, including Mercedes F1 team. The financial backing for the team came from Indian businessman Cheerag Arya, who was also one of the team’s drivers. RAM Racing established a base in the Jordan Technology Park, next door to Silverstone Circuit.
2013 ELMS GTE champions – RAM Racing’s Matt Griffin and Johnny Mowlem
ELMS championship title in the first year of competition
RAM Racing had a competition debut in the 2013 European Le Mans Series, immediately winning its first championship title. RAM Racing’s drivers Johnny Mowlem and Matt Griffin were the ELMS champions in the GTE class, after winning three of five races with #52 Ferrari 458 Italia GT2.
After finishing second in ELMS debut at Silverstone, Mowlem and Griffin scored their first win at Imola. Two more wins followed at Red Bull Ring and Circuit Paul Ricard. The other two drivers in the #53 car were the Americans Gunnar Jeannette and Frankie Montecalvo. They finished fourth in the final standings.
In 2013, RAM Racing was running two Ferraris
First participation at Dubai 24 hours in 2013
Besides competing in the ELMS, RAM Racing visited Dubai Autodrome to participate at Dubai 24-hour race for the first time. RAM Racing’s crew in the Ferrari 458 GT3 were Cheerag Arya, Gunnar Jeannette, Johnny Mowlem and Guy Smith. They finished in the 11th place.
Next year, RAM Racing’s Ferrari returned to Dubai and scored one more 11th-place finish in A6-Pro GT3 class. This time, drivers were Cheerag Arya, Johnny Mowlem, Matt Griffin and Jan Magnussen.
RAM Racing’s Ferraris at 2014 Le Mans 24 hours
2014 – Le Mans 24h debut for RAM Racing
The season 2014 was marked by RAM Racing’s participation in two races of the FIA World Endurance Championship, including team’s debut at 24 hours of Le Mans. The team had FIA WEC debut at 6 hours of Silverstone. Matt Griffin and Alvaro Parente competed with #52 Ferrari in the GTE Pro class while Johnny Mowlem, Mark Patterson and Ben Collins were in the #53 car, competing in the GTE Am class. The #52 finished 6th in class, the #53 was 5th in their class.
At 24 hours of Le Mans, the third driver in the #52 Ferrari was Federico Leo. The crew didn’t finish the race. The drivers in the #53 car were Mowlem, Patterson and Archie Hamilton. They finished 12th in GTE Am class.
Championship-winning #30 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3
2015 – championship title in the 24H Series with Mercedes
The team withdraws from the championship following Le Mans race. After a six-month hiatus from racing, at the end of 2014, it was announced that RAM Racing would run the #30 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 in the 24H Series, which received an FIA International Series status for the first time.
In the season-opening 24H Dubai, the #30 Mercedes finished second, behind Black Falcon’s Mercedes. RAM Racing’s drivers in that race were Tom Onslow-Cole, Thomas Jäger, Adam Christodoulou and Cheerag Arya. The #30 was second again at Mugello and Zandvoort, finally scoring the first win at 24h Paul Ricard. Together with Onslow-Cole, Jäger and Christodoulou, the fourth driver was Paul White. The season ended with the third place at 24h Barcelona and the second place at 12h Brno.
At the end of the six-race season, Tom Onslow-Cole and Thomas Jäger became the A6 class champions while the RAM Racing took the teams’ championship in that class.
Thomas Jäger and Tom Onslow-Cole
Another Mercedes competed in the British GT Championship
Another RAM Racing’s Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 competed in the 2015 British GT Championship, with Lewis Plato and Alistair MacKinnon as drivers. In the last race of the season, Bradley Ellis replaced MacKinnon.
The team’s best result was fourth place in the second championship round at Rockingham. Plato finished 17th in the final standings, MacKinnon was one place behind.
In 2016, SLS was replaced by Mercedes-AMG GT3
New Mercedes for the 2016 24H Series season
For the 2016 24H Series season, RAM Racing purchased a brand new Mercedes-AMG GT3. In total, seven drivers participated in four races with #30 car: Tom Onslow-Cole, Stuart Hall, Paul White, Thomas Jäger, Roald Goethe, Daniel Brown and Jamie Campbell-Walter.
Scoring no wins, the team finished sixth in the A6 class final standings. The team’s best result was fourth place at 12h Zandvoort.
Continuing to run Mercedes-AMG GT3 in 2017
In the 2017 24H Series season, RAM Racing skipped Dubai race and returned to the game at Mugello. Tom Onslow-Cole, Kevin Veltman and Remon Leonard Vos finished fourth in that race.
For 2017, RAM Racing announces a participation in the Michelin Le Mans Cup, a six-race competition which is a supporting series for the European Le Mans Series.
Photos: ramracing.com,
