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Montecalvo Joins Jeannette For Ram Racing ELMS Assault
Bayshore Racing star Frankie Montecalvo has been signed by British GT team Ram Racing to contest the European Le Mans Series for 2013.
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Montecalvo will team-up with up with fellow Bayshore Racing ambassador Gunnar Jeannette aboard one of Ram’s two Ferrari 458 Italia machines.
The announcement marks a return to Europe for Montecalvo and Jeannette who contested last year’s Spa-Francorchamps and 24 Hour of Le Mans enduros also aboard a Ferrari.
The American duo will compete alongside Britain’s Johnny Mowlem and Ireland’s Matt Griffin in the LMGTE class of the 2013 European Le Mans Series.
“Doing a full season in the ELMS has certainly been a goal of mine, but to do it with a team like Ram is incredible,” Montecalvo said.
“It may be a new team but it feels like everyone has been around for ever and it truly is a dream come true for me.
“To be able to work with Gunnar at Ram Racing is a great opportunity; everyone is so professional but we're also really enjoying it because we all get along so well.
“I'm really looking forward to the season because this is one of the best teams I've ever been a part of and I'm very excited about it.
“I only got one day of running at the first test in Jerez but I got a good lap time and was pretty consistent and showed everyone that I could make it happen.”
Montecalvo and Jeannette have been long-time teammates and co-drivers. Originally teaming up for Multimatic Motorsports aboard a Continental Tires Series Ford Mustang in 2010, the duo also were part of CORE autosport’s successful 2011 American Le Mans Series campaign – Jeannette clinching the driver’s championship with Ricardo Gonzalez and Montecalvo finishing second with team owner Jon Bennett.
“For both of us to be teamed together at Ram is an incredible opportunity and I can’t wait for the first race at Silverstone,” Jeannette said.
“I had my first race for Ram at the Dubai 24 Hours and was massively impressed with the organization. To hear the news that I would be doing the full season was incredible but to now get the chance to do it with Frankie is a great bonus.
“We work so well together and he did a brilliant job at the test.”
Montecalvo is approaching only his sixth season of racing, but the young driver has made quite a name for himself. He completed a recent test with the team in Jerez, Spain, and quickly convinced Ram Racing Team Principal Dan Shufflebottom that he was the right choice for the team.
“The decision to sign with Frankie was quite an easy one really,” Shufflebottom said.
“Once we had had time to evaluate him in testing. I was hugely impressed with how focused he was for someone so young. When he was in the car he was extremely consistent to the point you could almost predict his lap times through a run and this is exactly the kind of driver you need in GT racing.
“The relationship between team mates is also very important and he has a strong friendship with Gunnar that is evident in and out of the car, as well as having worked with our Race Engineer, Mark Schomann, in the past.
“I’m sure that together they are going to do a great job this year and have plenty of success.”
The five-round European Le Mans Series starts in the UK on April 13. Ram Racing’s Ferraris will be two of six in the LMGTE category which numbers 10 entries in total. After the British round, the series will visit a series of past and present Formula 1 venues in Italy (Imola), Austria (Red Bull Ring), Hungary (Hungaronring) and France (Paul Ricard).
The compact format of the series allows Montecalvo to dovetail the ELMS with a program in the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge GS class in an Aston Martin Vantage V8. Mantecalvo finished fith on his Aston Martin Multimatic Motorsport debut with co-driver Nick Mancuso at Daytona.
PaddockTalk Perspective
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