Stunning second for FFF Racing at Le Mans

June 21, 2016 4:50 pm

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The much-awaited sunshine brought out the very best of FFF Racing Team on Saturday (18 June) morning in the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup’s headlining ‘Road to Le Mans’ race at Le Mans.

Hiroshi Hamaguchi and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs guided the #55 McLaren 650S to another sensational second position after a stirring drive, against competitors who had previously completed a 24-hour race on the 13.6km Circuit de la Sarthe.

Japanese gentleman racer Hamaguchi was slightly intimidated by the legendary French racetrack on his first run in the wet in practice.

However, a day spent on a simulator stood the McLaren teammates in good stead for the dry final qualifying practice on Thursday afternoon and Hamaguchi’s first flying lap was ultimately sufficient for P3 in the GT3 division.

Hamaguchi took the first stint on race day, running in fifth position from the outset to find himself embroiled in a fantastic battle, before handing the car over to Quaife-Hobbs with 27 off the 55 minutes completed.

Quaife-Hobbs quickly worked his way up to third position with just ten minutes remaining and then took the chequered flag in second as a rival hit trouble in the final moment of the race.

“Earning a top three at Le Mans is pretty special and the view from the podium was great,” said Hamaguchi. “To be honest, I didn’t drive too well today, as I found it difficult in traffic. I tried my best and I put up a good fight, but Adrian (Quaife-Hobbs) did very well, bringing the car forward. ”

Quaife-Hobbs added: “It’s a massive achievement and an honour to stand on the podium at Le Mans. We thought this weekend would be a damage limitation exercise where we tried to collect as many points as we could, this being the McLarens weakest circuit of the season. We just ran our own race and we have managed to salvage something quite spectacular, which is perfect.”

The Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup heads next to Austria and the Red Bull Ring on (15-17 July).

This post was written by JM