Adrian Quaife-Hobbs completes FFF Racing’s Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup line-up
One of Europe’s brightest motor racing prospects, Adrian Quaife-Hobbs, completes FFF Racing Team’s line-up in the 2016 Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup.
The Englishman will compete alongside speedy Japanese gentleman racer, Hiroshi Hamaguchi, in a McLaren 650S GT3 for the duration of 2016, and he joins FFF Racing to form what will surely be one of the most potent driver pairings in the newly-launched GT3 Le Mans Cup.
Quaife-Hobbs has a remarkable record in motorsport; he was a prolific kart racer and remains the youngest ever winner of an MSA-sanctioned category, having sealed the 2005 BRSCC T-Cars championship at the age of 15 before switching his attention to single-seaters.
He made good use of a season in Formula BMW to acclimatise to ‘wings and slicks’ racing and proceeded to climb the ladder through the Formula Renault ranks and onto World Series by Renault, GP3 and GP2.
The Tonbridge resident went on to dominate the 2012 AutoGP World Series with the leading SuperNova Racing team, seeing off a quality field to become the only driver in the championship’s history to achieve five race wins in one season, prior to clinching the title with two rounds remaining.
However, he made a full-time switch to sportscars in 2015 and joins the FFF Racing fold, sure that his knowledge and experience will create more forward momentum for the team.
Quaife-Hobbs, who is in the midst of a test with FFF Racing at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, said: “I’ve been well aware of FFF Racing Team and how it has grown since the start of last year and it’s clear that there is a lot of potential for moving upwards in 2016 and beyond. The team is here to do well and there is a keen desire to push things further. Many teams simply run what they’re given, whereas FFF Racing is all about examining the detail to find gains, which is impressive.
“Another attraction is that it is run by Andrea Caldarelli, somebody who is at a very high level of racing himself. He will have a completely different perspective to a Team Principal without racing experience and he will know exactly where to allocate the team’s resources, how to find the correct setups and get results in every area. I’m currently conducting my first test with the team at Imola and I expect to know what needs to be done to maximise what we’ve got by the end of it. I’ve been told my teammate Hiroshi (Hamaguchi) is very quick and this obviously gives me a lot of confidence. If we all do our jobs correctly, it should be enough to be at the front.”
The 2016 Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup commences at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Italy on 13-15 May and the calendar takes in the Red Bull Ring, Circuit Paul Ricard, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and Circuito do Estoril, although the series will also stop off at Circuit de la Sarthe in support of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 18-19 June.