RAM Racing endured a bruising British GT Championship event at Spa-Francorchamps last weekend (22/23 June), but Harry George and Luca Hopkinson came close to adding a third Silver class podium for the Mercedes-AMG GT4.
George and Hopkinson kept their noses clean on a weekend where many others were less fortunate in the Ardennes, coming just shy of the top three in the GT4 Silver class. The sister BMW M4 GT3 of John Ferguson and Raffaele Marciello had the speed to win, but was let down by sheer bad luck.
The annual European trip of the British GT season meant RAM Racing returned to the iconic Belgian circuit with its GT4 crew already on something of a roll. George and Hopkinson celebrated their second podium finish of the season last time out at Donington and were aiming high once again. Meanwhile, the GT3 crew showed the ever-improving speed of the RAM BMW M4 by topping testing on Friday, hopeful of bringing that pace into qualifying on Saturday.
After a wet morning, a drying track greeted the GT3 qualifying sessions, but with damp patches leaving the opening corners still treacherous. Ferguson battled on in the trickiest of the conditions before Marciello bagged third in his qualifying, finishing a combined 10th in GT3 Pro-Am. An accident cancelled qualifying for GT4 altogether, but to the benefit of the #17 Mercedes-AMG duo who lined up fourth overall, and second in Silver based on the morning’s combined pre-qualifying times.
In Sunday’s two-hour race, Ferguson found himself on the wrong end of contact during a frenetic first corner. After recovering from a knock at La Source, the race was stopped following a heavy shunt right ahead of the BMW. Ferguson escaped largely unscathed, but a concerning cut on the sidewall of one of the BMW’s tyres meant an extra pitstop would be required to change it when racing resumed, dumping the car down to the tail of the pack.
Clawing their way back into the overall top 10, Ferguson handed across to reigning GT World Challenge Europe champion Marciello who, when unleashed, shattered the championship lap record at Spa as he looked to regain more ground. His charge was halted by a drive-through penalty in the closing minutes for track limits, limiting the #15 crew to eighth in GT3 Pro-Am by chequered flag.
The GT4 squad enjoyed much better fortune. The Mercedes-AMG was briefly second in GT4 overall on the restart after slicing through the lap one melee, with Hopkinson taking the opening stint. From there though the car struggled for straight-line pace, and Hopkinson lost ground on the long straights in several intense battles, but still finished the stint inside the top six in the Silver class, handing over to George for the final stint.
George rejoined in a strong fourth place in class, but lost out to Alex Walker’s McLaren in an entertaining fight as drive-through penalties started to jumble the field. Try as they might, George and Hopkinson could not quite get close enough to fight back at their rivals, so the race became more about consistency and damage limitation, a job both drivers did superbly to secure a strong fourth in class and seventh overall.
John Ferguson said: “If it hadn’t been for the puncture and a drive-through, it would have been a good weekend for us. Lello took a new lap record for us here, so there’s the signs of progress. The car is good, and I went quicker in the race which was positive for me. We’re back where we should be, I think, and I’m looking forward to getting back out at Snetterton.”
Raffaele Marciello said: “It was a short race for me, which was a pity, with the longer red flag period. That’s ok because the pace was good. For sure, the pace is getting better now each time we go out with the BMW, so it is just a case of trying to get it all together to get the results. With the new asphalt at Spa it was extremely quick, and it’s always nice to have a new lap record. I think things will get even quicker in GT3 with the 24 Hours of Spa this week.”
Harry George said: “It was pretty eventful! We were just going backwards on the straights unfortunately. Sector two was where our strengths were after the Kemmel straight. We capitalised on the accident at the start, which unfortunately was a big one for some people and I’m glad all the drivers involved are ok. But for us it was a weekend of what could have been really. We’ve got another day of testing coming up before Snetterton, so we’ll get our heads down for that one. Fourth in class is good to take away, and the car felt good and reliable.”
Luca Hopkinson said: “In corners, nobody else could match us I think, but we struggled a bit with straight-line speed here and I couldn’t fight back when cars got a slipstream on me. It was still an alright weekend for us. I’m looking forward to Snetterton next. It’s a circuit with a lot of different types of corners – low speed and high speed, which should be a good mix for the car – so we’ll see how we get on there.”
RAM Racing heads back to the UK for a double bill of British GT action at the Snetterton 300 circuit, taking place across the weekend of 13/14 July.
