by creative | Jun 16, 2016 | EMS Ferrari Challenge
As the great Enzo Ferrari once said, what’s behind you doesn’t matter. Heading into the Montreal Ferrari Challenge, directly behind EMS Race Team was a pair of thrilling victories at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. But in order for driver Jim Weiland and his crew to continue moving forward, there was no time to look back on past accomplishments. Competing in front of over 100,000 fans at the world-famous Circuit-Gilles-Villeneuve in Quebec, they would take full advantage of the opportunity at hand.
Despite a stacked field of talented drivers in a Ferrari Challenge race supporting the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix, EMS Race Team turned in another flawless performance. With the support of Coach Conrad Grunewald, along with Ryan Negri, Rudy Courtade, Dave, Daryl and Donald Cameron, Andrew Prendeville and the rest of the Boardwalk Ferrari crew, Weiland and company remained locked in throughout the weekend. By the conclusion of Race 2 on Sunday, Paris—the ems+ Ferrari Challenge 458 EVO—had pushed past the finish line in first place for the fourth-straight time dating back to Texas.
“To follow what we accomplished in Austin with two more victories like this is truly a special experience for our team,” Weiland said. “And to be able to have the type of success we did at this track, in front of all these amazing fans, it’s hard to describe that feeling. I’m really just proud of my team for continuing to push and continuing to improve in all areas. Everyone pitched in to put Paris in a great position, and I just can’t say enough about these guys.”
Paris earned pole position for Race 1 before securing a commanding victory on Saturday. She took the lead on lap two and defended that spot for the duration, finishing 1st in the Trofeo Pirelli AM class and 4th overall. On Sunday, it was more of the same. Paris and Weiland earned pole position again before pulling in 1st in class and 4th overall as the checkered flag waved on a banner weekend for EMS. Competitors Marc Muzzo and Arthur Romanelli joined Weiland on the podium following Race 1, while Steve Johnson and Patrice Brisebois rounded out the top three in Race 2.
“We dedicated our Race 1 victory to the PETA Cruelty Free campaign on Saturday and the bunnies definitely helped us maintain a great pace,” Weiland added. “During Race 2, we were proud to dedicate the victory to our friends from the Cornerstone of Hope. We encourage everyone to check out each website, and hope that some of the fans who saw Paris proudly displaying those logos throughout the weekend will do the same.”
The Formula One competition began as soon as the Ferrari Challenge race concluded on Sunday. Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes followed his victory in Monaco with a first-place finish in the Canadian Grand Prix for the 45th win of his illustrious career. He was joined on the podium by Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari and Valtteri Bottas of Williams. Hamilton vowed to remained focused as the F1 season continued following the win in Canada.
“I feel incredibly grateful and very blessed to have had these two great weekends,” Hamilton told BBC Sports after the race. “I’m just going to keep working hard. As you can see, I’m super-focused. Onwards and upwards hopefully.”
For more behind-the-scenes coverage of the Ferrari Challenge in Montreal, follow @emsRaceTeam on Twitter and Facebook. Also be sure to visit EMS Race Team’s Vimeo Page for on-track video action from race weekend.
by creative | Jun 6, 2016 | EMS Ferrari Challenge
The Circuit-Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec is the next stop on the 2016 Ferrari Challenge Circuit during a race weekend headlined by the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix. From June 10-12, Ferrari Challenge drivers will compete on the same track that Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel and others will battle for control of the F1 season standings. Coming off a win in Monaco, Hamilton and Rosberg will fight to keep Mercedes ahead on points while Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Ferrari attempt to close the gap. The marquee-racing event is expected to draw a capacity crowd of 100,000 fans who will watch EMS Race Team continue its own charge throughout the weekend.
Fueled by a total team effort in Austin, EMS Race Team driver James Weiland helped push Paris—the EMS+ Ferrari Challenge 458 EVO—to a pair of thrilling victories. She finished 1st in the Trofeo Pirelli AM class and 7th overall in Race 1 at the Circuit of the Americas before closing Race 2 with a 1st and 5th, respectively. In front of an enormous crowd of race fans in Montreal, a great opportunity awaits for Weiland and company to continue their winning ways.
“We didn’t do as well as we hoped the last time we were in Montreal,” Weiland said. “But with the crowd packed into an amazing venue for racing it was truly a tremendous experience for us. One year later, we’re definitely improving as a team and hoping to build on the success we had at COTA. Win or lose, though, this is always a great opportunity to spread our message of support for the PETA Cruelty Free Campaign and Cornerstone of Hope to the many thousands of fans converging on this event.”
The Circuit-Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal first hosted the Canadian Grand Prix in 1978. Past winners include Michael Schumacher, Jackie Stewart, defending champion Lewis Hamilton, as well as the iconic Aryton Senna. EMS Race Team competed at the legendary track for the first time during the 2013 Ferrari Challenge. This year, however, they will arrive on the heels of two-straight victories as Weiland looks to add another podium finish to Paris’ young resume.
“To be able to compete on Saturday and Sunday as the anticipation builds for the F1 race will be awesome,” Weiland added. “We don’t take these opportunities for granted, and our team will be prepared to put forth our best effort against a deep and talented field. Hopefully we can have a repeat of COTA for Boardwalk Ferrari and Ferrari of San Francisco, I know my teammates and I are looking forward to the challenge.”
For behind-the-scenes coverage of the Ferrari Challenge in Montreal throughout the weekend, follow @emsRaceTeam on Twitter and Facebook. Also be sure to visit EMS Race Team’s Vimeo Page for on-track video action following the race.
Article by Brendan Bowers
by Tara Pachmayer | May 18, 2016 | EMS Ferrari Challenge
Mario Andretti once said that a racing car is an animal with a thousand adjustments.
During the 2016 Ferrari Challenge at Circuit of the Americas, EMS Race Team’s coaches and crew helped make every adjustment necessary to put their young thoroughbred in a position to succeed. By the end of the competition, Paris—the ems+ Ferrari Challenge 458 EVO—capitalized on the collective effort by securing a pair of first-place finishes in the Trofeo Pirelli AM class.
Rudy Courtade, along with Dave and Daryl Cameron, Andrew Prendeville and the rest of the Boardwalk Ferrari crew had Paris dialed in all weekend long. She started fast in practice and carried that momentum throughout each race. EMS Race Team driver, Jim Weiland, delivered two technically sound performances from there on an extremely challenging course to earn multiple victories amongst a deep and talented field.
“Circuit of the Americas is a long track which means there’s a lot of places to make mistakes,” EMS Race Team coach Conrad Grunewald said following the Race 1 victory at COTA. “So really putting a good a lap together here is rough. It takes a lot of focus and a lot of fine-tuning. This weekend, Jim’s doing a great job of that.”
According to Ferrari.com, Weiland and Paris were “unstoppable” throughout Race 1 as they led in class from start to finish. Meanwhile, teammates Matt Keegan of sister dealership Ferrari of San Francisco and Jean-Claude Saada of Boarwalk Ferrari finished 1-2 in the Coppa Shell division. The double victory for Boardwalk Ferrari/Ferrari of San Francisco led to a wave of enthusiasm in the garage on Sunday, and Weiland would ride that back onto the track for Race 2.
“It’s like a rocket-powered victory,” Boardwalk Ferrari team partner Ryan Negri said on Sunday in regards to Weiland and Keegan’s Race 1 wins. “The team is excited, the team is pumped up. It’s the first double-victory of the year for us. Jim has won here a couple times before, so we’re going to see if we can do it again today. It’s amazing.”
After finishing 1st in class and 7th overall in Race 1, Weiland did do it again by finishing 1st in class and 5th overall in Race 2. Paris earned pole position in qualifying for both races and held onto that spot throughout. She did her sister Erin proud, who won twice at COTA in 2014, while notching her first two victories on the Ferrari Challenge circuit.
“I really can’t thank my team enough for putting us in a position to achieve everything we did this weekend,” Weiland said. “Everyone chipped in and did a tremendous job. The competition was extremely stiff and it’s quite an honor to leave Austin with two first-place trophies especially considering how well my competitors drove.”
The Ferrari Challenge field at COTA was the largest of the season with over 40 drivers in each race. To help celebrate the victories, EMS Race Team’s reserve driver joined Weiland on the podium and garnered the majority of cheers. Courtade would also join Weiland on Sunday while accepting the Coppa Team Award for the event.
“We dedicated Race 1 to the PETA Cruelty Free campaign and were thrilled to help raise awareness for their effort with the win,” Weiland added. “We were equally excited to do the same in Race 2 for the Cornerstone of Hope, and we really encourage people to check out their websites and learn as much as they can about the contributions they make to our community. Celebrating wins like this with our team is a great experience, but it means so much more whenever people take the time to learn about those causes along the way.”
For more behind-the-scenes coverage of the Ferrari Challenge at COTA check @emsRaceTeam on Twitter and Facebook. Also be sure to visit EMS Race Team’s Vimeo Page for on-track video action.
By Brendan Bowers
by Tara Pachmayer | May 9, 2016 | EMS Ferrari Challenge
Circuit of the Americas opened for racing in October of 2012. Since then, the Austin, Texas track has gone on to host the Formula One United States Grand Prix, the Road Racing World Championships, American Le Mans Series and other high profile events along with the North American Ferrari Challenge. Current Ferrari Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel—who won the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in 2013—is among the many elite competitors who has praised the challenging course.
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by Tara Pachmayer | Apr 13, 2016 | EMS Ferrari Challenge
Legendary Formula One driver and former world champion Jackie Stewart once said, “It is not always possible to be the best, but it is always possible to improve your own performance.” During the Ferrari Challenge at Sonoma Raceway, EMS Race Team did not follow their winning weekend in Japan with a victory in California. But the experience did help driver James Weiland and the crew from Boardwalk Ferrari continue to improve their performance heading into the Circuit of the Americas next month.
Making her second Ferrari Challenge appearance, Paris—the ems+ Ferrari Challenge 458 EVO—demonstrated an epic pace on early on. She posted a Pirelli AM class-leading lap time of 1:58.537 during Practice 3 before qualifying was rained out. Unfortunately, though, the high drama that followed didn’t break the way of EMS who finished P7 and P8 in Races 1 and 2.
“Seems like every time we post a good practice time on Facebook we get snagged somehow during the Race,” James Weiland joked afterwards. “It might be time for us to rethink that strategy. But in all seriousness, we were proud of the start we had in Race 1 and felt good about the way we responded to some adversity throughout the weekend. We really feel like we learned some things that will help us in May at Circuit of the Americas, so that’s definitely a positive takeaway for us.”
During Race 1, Weiland was leading for most of the way before being bumped out of first position in the hairpin. Paris subsequently spun in a chase that followed, before rejoining the pack and finishing 7th. In Race 2, Weiland was forced to go onto the grass to avoid contact with another competitor early on and never recovered. Although he was lucky enough to avoid the collision, the lost time made it too difficult to finish better than 8th.
“We didn’t have the same results as we did at Suzuka, but it was still some fun racing in Sonoma nevertheless,” Weiland added. “It’s always an honor for us to represent the Cornerstone of Hope and PETA Cruelty Free and we never take that opportunity for granted. We were also pleased with how well Paris ran during her practice sessions and at various times throughout each race. We continue to get better as a team from every experience, and hopefully we even earned a little bit of good luck heading into the next competition.”
That next competition on the Ferrari Challenge North American Series for EMS Race Team will be held on May 13-15 in Austin, Texas at the world famous Circuit of the Americas. For info leading up to the race, be sure to follow @emsRaceTeam on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Celebrities Show Up To Support in Sonoma
During the Ferrari Challenge weekend in Sonoma, multiple celebrities could be found taking in the action and supporting the drivers. Recording artist Adam Levine of Maroon 5 even stepped onto the track to kick things off at the starting line prior to Race 1.
Also in attendance was Kevin Dillon, the actor who played Johnny “Drama” Chase in the HBO hit-series Entourage. No word yet on whether or not Levine or Dillon have any competitive racing in their future, but they just might have the itch after watching the Ferrari 458’s roar around the track all weekend long.
by Tara Pachmayer | Mar 30, 2016 | EMS Ferrari Challenge
After earning a pair of victories in the Asia Pacific Ferrari Challenge event at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan, EMS Race Team returns to action on U.S. soil later this month. From April 8-10, driver James Weiland and the crew from Boardwalk Ferrari will look to build on their early season momentum at the Sonoma Raceway in California. This highly anticipated event marks the 11th consecutive year that Sonoma has hosted the Ferrari Challenge North American Series.
“Our goal as a team is to always get better,” Weiland said. “We accomplished some things in Japan that we are certainly proud of, but that’s behind us now. Sonoma Raceway is an exciting track that presents its own set of unique challenges. We also know that we haven’t broken through to win at Sonoma yet. So we’re focused on doing everything we can to be as prepared as possible for the stiff competition, and using this as another opportunity to improve as a team.”
Unlike his inaugural trip to Suzuka in March, Weiland and his coach, Conrad Grunewald, will be able to draw on past experience in preparation for Sonoma. This is a track EMS Race Team has competed on before, finishing second as recently as last May. This year, however, Weiland hopes to raise awareness for PETA Cruelty Free and the Cornerstone of Hope by leaving California with a victory—or two.
“Last year we had mixed results in Sonoma,” Weiland added. “While we did earn a podium finish during Race 1, we also experienced a setback that prevented us from finishing Race 2. It will be great to get back out there with a fresh start, learn from our previous trips, and put forward our best effort all weekend long.”
Despite Weiland’s experience at Sonoma, this time he will be driving a different car than in years past. Paris, the ems+ 458 Ferrari Challenge EVO who made her debut at the Daytona International Speedway earlier this year, will be unleashed for the first time at Sonoma. In 2015, it was Paris’ sister, Erin, who roared through the hills of wine country for EMS Race Team. It was also Erin who helped fuel the recent victories in Japan. But like her older sister, Paris will also be proudly waving the flag for the two charities close to Weiland’s heart throughout the competition.
“It was great to be in Japan and talk with the drivers, fans and media about PETA Cruelty Free and the Cornerstone of Hope,” Weiland said about the two causes that fuel the fight for EMS Race Team. “Heading back to Sonoma, we hope to do the same thing. Nothing catches people’s attention more than winning, so we hope to raise as much awareness as possible for both efforts during our trip.”
By Brendan Bowers, Posted by SB
For updates throughout the Ferrari Challenge weekend in Sonoma, along with live-timing race results, follow @EMSRaceTeam on Twitter and Facebook. Also be sure to check out EMS Race Team’s Vimeo Page for behind-the-scenes action following the competition.
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