Ram Racing travel to this weekend’s Dubai 24H, aiming for a winning start in their first race after being founded during the winter months.
The British team will field a GT3 Ferrari 458 in the race, now in its eighth running at the Dubai Autodrome, driven by an experienced quartet of drivers.
As previously announced Britons Johnny Mowlem and Guy Smith join Indian driver Cheerag Arya for the race. However, with Jaime Melo just days before having to leave for the United Arab Emirates American Gunnar Jeannette, who ended the 2012 American Le Mans Series driving the Nissan DeltaWing, has been drafted in to complete the team.
“It’s a great type of race for the team to come together for as a first event,” said Mowlem, already confirmed a key part of the team’s 2013 plans in the European Le Mans Series. “Long, so an ideal forum for us all to gel together and get all our systems worked out, and competitive enough to put us all under enough pressure to perform and extract the best from the whole team.”
“The race is quite unique, with echoes of the Nürburgring 24 Hours, as all competitors have to refuel at a central petrol station and with 85 cars on the entry list that can sometimes mean queuing up! We’ll be taking a conservative approach in the race, mindful of the many different levels of machinery. The hardest thing will be closing speeds and keeping focus on that for 24 hours but if everything goes well I think we could achieve a good result.”
“It’s a great race and over the years it’s become more and more appealing with the number of different drivers and teams who go to the event,” said Smith. “It’s a very, very credible race and a great way to start the season: whenever you’ve got a 24-hour race at the start of the year it’s the ultimate challenge and anything after that seems easy!”.
Despite his copious experience in sportscar racing his start with Ram Racing will be a rare GT drive for Smith and a first appearance in the Dubai 24H. “I’m really excited to be going there for the first time. Ram Racing is a brand new team but I’m certain it’s up to the challenge and the Ferrari 458 is certainly one of the best, if not the best, in the field. It’ll be a learning experience but I’m going there hopeful we’ll get a good result. If we stay out of trouble we’ve got every chance of getting on the podium.”
