ORANGE1 FFF RACING continues its amazing start of the 2019 Blancpain GT Series campaign. After the emotional podium in the Endurance Cup at Monza, the squad fielding three Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVOs scored second place in Brands Hatch’s Race 2 thanks to Andrea Caldarelli and Marco Mapelli .
The #563, after the fourth place set in Qualifying 1 by Caldarelli, was penalized for a contact in Race 1, while in the second race, Mapelli, starting from the 6th row due to rain in Q2, managed well its way through traffic and Full Course Yellow situations. After the driver change, with ORANGE1 FFF Racing taking the second-best time in the pit-stop, Caldarelli drove up to a podium spot, confirming an awesome potential. But satisfaction for the team not only came from overall results, as Phil Keen and Hiroshi Hamaguchi are now leading the Pro-Am standings in the Blancpain GT Series World Challenge Europe. The two champions, of British and Asia GT respectively, made a great Race-1, finishing second, while in Race-2, Hamaguchi climbed positions up to class victory, and the 14th final position, conquered at the very last corner in the last lap, crossing victorious the chequered flag. Very unfortunate round for the Silver Cup duo in the #555, Diego Menchaca and Taylor Proto. After a good pace shown in free practice, Diego was the involved in a bad accident in Q1, crashing at finishing upside-down at Paddock Hill Bend. Missing Q2, Proto drove the second stint after Diego on Sunday morning, but an engine issue, subsequent to the crash, forced the American to retire and withdraw from the second race.
Fu Songyang, ORANGE1 FFF RACING Team Owner
“I can’t really find the right words to describe how happy I am after this round. I wasn’t at the track but I follow all the operations, and saw three podiums in just one day, something that makes me proud of our team and of the job done. This was our second appearance in the Blancpain GT Series in Europe, and we took the first victory in the Pro-Am class. I have to say that I’m a bit disappointed for the penalty given to Andrea in the first race, as a one-minute penalty, in my opinion and according to general wisdom in motorsport, should be given in case of a really serious infringement, while this was just a race incident for most observers. Anyway, we have shown again to be the best Lamboghini cars on the track, which is for me the most important thing. I’m a bit disappointed for the Silver Cup guys, but the most important fact is that Diego is fine. I’m sure that in Silverstone, next week-end, they will be back on top”.
