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Le Mans / ALMS
ELMS: High Hopes For Ram Racing
Introducing Britain’s newest GT team and its North American racing ambitions...
Ram Racing made its debut in the 24 Hours of Dubai earlier this month with an impressive lineup led by Johnny Mowlem, Guy Smith and Gunnar Jeannette. (Photo: John Dagys)
Less than six months ago, the fate of the European Le Mans Series looked grim. Dwindling car counts forced the once-prosperous sports car championship to curtail its season as part of a combined event with the ALMS at the Petit Le Mans.
Yet through the uncertainty rose a brand-new team to GT racing world, as Ram Racing helped lead a revival of the ELMS, which sees a bumper 29-car grid for this year’s five-round championship.
The newly formed British squad, run by former Mercedes and Honda F1 No. 1 mechanic Dan Shufflebottom, debuted in last month’s 24 Hours of Dubai and has confirmed a two-car Ferrari F458 Italia attack in the Pro-Am-enforced GTE category of the ELMS this year.
Owned by a silent investor, Ram’s efforts will see the driving services of Johnny Mowlem, Matt Griffin and American Gunnar Jeannette, with a fourth pilot still to be confirmed.
Former Risi Competizione and Luxury Racing engineer Mark Schomann is also a part of the effort, which has aspirations of racing in the unified American sports car championship next year.
SPEED.com caught up with team principal Shufflebottom to gain insight into Britain’s newest team and its long-term goals as it works its way up the sports car racing ladder.
Q: How did the team get started?
SHUFFLEBOTTOM: I was introduced into a guy who wanted to start his own team but didn't know how to do it. He asked me to put a proposal together. Four of the guys who have been part of this since the start worked two weeks solid on a proposal. We didn't hear anything back for a while and thought it wasn't going to happen. But then he gave us the green light, back in April.
We then continued planning and got everything in place. But as we had been working on it for so long, we kind of knew who we wanted to hire. It was just a case if they wanted to do it. The rest of last year was sorting out premises and getting all of our equipment ready.
The 24 Hours of Dubai seemed like it was a good place to start. It fit in our schedule quite well. It was a good thing to come and do. It was a good shakedown for the guys and a good chance to get the operation going.
Q: Why is the team owner acting as a silent investor?
SHUFFLEBOTTOM: He just wants to be in the background. He's not interested in [having the visibility] as a team owner. He just likes the idea of owning his own race team and not getting too involved in team decisions. I don't think he wants the hassle of running it.
Q: What was the decision behind going to the ELMS?
SHUFFLEBOTTOM: The ELMS was something we wanted to do for our first year. We wanted to make sure we don't bite off more than we can chew and build a good foundation going forward.
Originally, the ELMS was going to have a Pro and Am class, and we were going to enter two Pro cars. Then they announced that it would only be Am, so that changed our plans a little bit. It hasn't affected us so much as we hadn't signed four pro drivers at the time, we just had spoken to them.
In some ways it makes it easier for us because we don't need drivers to bring budget. We can go choose the best drivers.
Yet through the uncertainty rose a brand-new team to GT racing world, as Ram Racing helped lead a revival of the ELMS, which sees a bumper 29-car grid for this year’s five-round championship.
The newly formed British squad, run by former Mercedes and Honda F1 No. 1 mechanic Dan Shufflebottom, debuted in last month’s 24 Hours of Dubai and has confirmed a two-car Ferrari F458 Italia attack in the Pro-Am-enforced GTE category of the ELMS this year.
Owned by a silent investor, Ram’s efforts will see the driving services of Johnny Mowlem, Matt Griffin and American Gunnar Jeannette, with a fourth pilot still to be confirmed.
Former Risi Competizione and Luxury Racing engineer Mark Schomann is also a part of the effort, which has aspirations of racing in the unified American sports car championship next year.
SPEED.com caught up with team principal Shufflebottom to gain insight into Britain’s newest team and its long-term goals as it works its way up the sports car racing ladder.
Q: How did the team get started?
SHUFFLEBOTTOM: I was introduced into a guy who wanted to start his own team but didn't know how to do it. He asked me to put a proposal together. Four of the guys who have been part of this since the start worked two weeks solid on a proposal. We didn't hear anything back for a while and thought it wasn't going to happen. But then he gave us the green light, back in April.
We then continued planning and got everything in place. But as we had been working on it for so long, we kind of knew who we wanted to hire. It was just a case if they wanted to do it. The rest of last year was sorting out premises and getting all of our equipment ready.
The 24 Hours of Dubai seemed like it was a good place to start. It fit in our schedule quite well. It was a good thing to come and do. It was a good shakedown for the guys and a good chance to get the operation going.
Q: Why is the team owner acting as a silent investor?
SHUFFLEBOTTOM: He just wants to be in the background. He's not interested in [having the visibility] as a team owner. He just likes the idea of owning his own race team and not getting too involved in team decisions. I don't think he wants the hassle of running it.
Q: What was the decision behind going to the ELMS?
SHUFFLEBOTTOM: The ELMS was something we wanted to do for our first year. We wanted to make sure we don't bite off more than we can chew and build a good foundation going forward.
Originally, the ELMS was going to have a Pro and Am class, and we were going to enter two Pro cars. Then they announced that it would only be Am, so that changed our plans a little bit. It hasn't affected us so much as we hadn't signed four pro drivers at the time, we just had spoken to them.
In some ways it makes it easier for us because we don't need drivers to bring budget. We can go choose the best drivers.
FIA WEC Six Hours of Spa
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