RAM Racing Return with Ferguson and Marciello

RAM Racing, the defending champion team, will return to the Intelligent Money British GT Championship with John Ferguson. The silver graded driver is making his second full season in the top class. For the 2023 season, Ferguson will call on the undisputed talents of Mercedes-AMG factory driver Raffaele Marciello.

Marciello requires no introduction to fans of GT racing in Europe; widely regarded as one of the fastest GT drivers on the planet, he claimed the ADAC GT Masters and the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Overall and Endurance Cup champion. Other victories include wins at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, Joburg Kylami 9 Hours and Indianapolis 8 Hour race in 2022.

“I’m really happy to be adding the British GT Championship with RAM Racing to my plans for the season,” Marciello said to BritishGT.com. “The British tracks are world-famous and look amazing, so I can’t wait to get to drive them and learn some new ones. Plus, I really love racing in the rain, which means the British weather won’t even be a problem for me! 

“This year the level in British GT looks to be very high with a lot of professional drivers involved so it will be a nice challenge. I’m sure that between myself, John and RAM Racing we will have the tools to do a good job and fight for some nice results. I know we can have a very strong year.”

Marciello joins fellow Mercedes-AMG factory pro Jules Gounon as Affalterbach’s pair of ambassadors to the top level of British sportscar racing. The duo join 6 other drivers on factory contracts, who will be racing in the Intelligent Money British GT Championship this season.

John Fergusson made his series debut in 2021 in GT4 before graduating to the top class with RAM Racing last year. Along with aiding the 2022 Championship winning team to the title, he and team mate Ulysse De Pauw became the only Silver-Am pairing to claim an overall race win last year.

“I wanted to do something dramatic for British GT this year, and this is the culmination of many months of trying to get Raffaele onboard for this year, and I’m delighted!” he said. “In my mind, I’ve got the best GT3 driver in the world in my corner, and his record speaks for itself. I know I’ll learn huge amounts from working with Lello this year, which will help me improve as a driver. 

“I was very pleased with how last year went in the end, but I know the areas I need to work on. Race pace was never the issue for me as I’ve always had good consistency, but I need to deliver more in qualifying – finding that ultimate single-lap pace on new tyres is the hardest part. 

“This year is shaping up to be the toughest British GT season ever with the level of quality in the entry, so starting races near the front and staying out of trouble is going to be key. I have to aim high with a driver like Lello as my team-mate, so the goal is to fight for race wins and see where that takes us in the championship. Now it’s up to me to work hard and train hard to be in the best possible position to help make that happen.”

The Silverstone based team and their two drivers will both be at the Media Day test tomorrow ahead of a single car campaign this season. The second entry for the team in 2022 was the championship winning #6 machine of Ian Loggie.

Loggie unveiled a new livery today for the 2023 season, paying homage to the iconic Mercedes D2 livery from the Mercedes-AMG CLK GT-R which raced at Le Mans. Whether this was a deliberate dig at his former team, who ran the same retro livery at the Gulf 12 Hours, or not is not known. RAM Racing’s response however was good natured on Twitter.