by Brendan Bowers | Apr 1, 2022 | EMS Ferrari Challenge
EMS Race Team enters the Ferrari Challenge season as the defending P2 finisher in the European Championship. Driver James Weiland and his team from Rossocorsa, R3 Motorsports, and Ferrari of San Francisco secured 11 podium finishes during 14 races last year. They also notched three victories while competing at the most famous racing venues in Europe. Electronic Merchant Systems opened with P1, and P2 finishes in Italy at Monza before adding double-podiums in Austria and the Czech Republic.
Weiland captured a podium at Valencia in Spain from there, before two victories in Germany at Nürburgring. The regular season concluded with an 11th podium at Spa in Belgium. EMS raced to raise awareness for PETA Cruelty-Free, Coach Sam’s Scholars, and Cornerstone of Hope along the way and will continue to do the same in ’22 when race weekend begins in Portugal.
The P2 finish for Weiland is among the highest-ever for an American driver since the European racing series began. But second place won’t be good enough for EMS Race Team this year. According to Ferrari.com, Weiland and his team enter the season as the favorite to finish P1.
“In the Coppa Shell, in the absence of reigning champion Ernst Kirchmayr, his 2021 rival, the experienced American James Weiland (Rossocorsa), is the clear favourite.”
Favorite or not, the journey towards a Ferrari Challenge Europe championship begins at the Portimão Circuit on April 1-3. ERIN the Electronic Merchant Systems Ferrari 488 Challenge EVO will be among the 46 cars competing in the year’s first race.
“It’s exciting to be racing again,” Weiland said in advance of the Portugal trip. “It’s been a while since our team was together and we’re looking forward to competing. Hopefully, we can raise awareness for Coach Sam’s, PETA Cruelty-Free, and Cornerstone of Hope along the way.”
When asked about being called the clear favorite to win the championship this season?
“That is nice to hear,” Weiland said. “But considering the field is quite large this year with many fast drivers from last season, along with lots of new fast ones, we certainly don’t consider ourselves the favorites. We will try to do our best every race as a team and we will see where that sorts out at the end of the year.”
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is the largest animal rights organization globally. Products proudly displaying the bunny logo are cruelty-free, meaning that they were produced without testing on animals. Coach Sam’s Scholar’s mission is to provide educational support to at-risk children through literacy, personal development, and health and fitness programs designed to develop the whole child. Cornerstone of Hope, meanwhile, is dedicated to providing support, education, and hope for the grieving.
EMS Race Team’s official schedule for the 2022 campaign is listed below.
2022 Ferrari Challenge Europe Season Schedule:
- April 1-3 – Portimao
- May 13-15 – Paul Ricard
- June 17-19 – Budapest
- July 22-24 – Hockenheim
- September 16-18 – Silverstone
- October 7-9 – Mugello
- TBA – Finali Mondiali
Be sure to follow EMS Race Team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram all season long for the latest news and updates. To stream the race live go here https://www.ferrari.com/en-EN/corse-clienti/live.
by Brendan Bowers | Jun 22, 2021 | EMS Ferrari Challenge
EMS Race Team traveled to Valencia, Spain to compete in Round 4 of the Ferrari Challenge Europe and did enough to stay within striking distance of the overall series lead. While the race results may not have been what the team had hoped for going in, ERIN the Electronic Merchant Systems Ferrari 488 Challenge EVO did collect a P4 and P3 to keep the team within two points of the driver’s championship. They also picked up their 7th podium finish in eight races along the way with a late-August event at the Nurinburgring in Germany up next.
After securing a P1 and P2 finish in Italy to open the 2021 campaign, EMS added double-podiums in Austria and the Czech Republic before securing podium No. 7 in Spain last weekend. Those results have earned driver James Weiland and his team from Rossocorsa, R3 Motorsports and Ferrari of San Francisco a total of 96 points overall in the series which ranks second behind Ernst Kirchmayr (Baron Motorsport) who currently has 98. Trailing Weiland in third is Christian Kinch (Formula Racing) who has totaled 76 points so far.
“Not our best weekend ever but nice to bring home some hardware,” Weiland said following the Ferrari Races in Spain on Sunday. “Thanks to Ferrari of San Francisco, R3 Motorsports, Rossocorsa, Dave Cameron, Ray Banda and Conrad Grunewald as we fought hard all weekend. We are now down a couple points in the championship but we have six races in front of us including two at our next event in Germany.”
That fight was evident throughout the weekend and highlighted by a late charge on Saturday that turned a P5 into a P4 with a photo-finish to close out Race 1. While trailing Alex Fox coming around the last turn, ERIN kicked it into high gear down the final stretch to edge past Fox at the finish line and earn the Ferrari Races Move of the Day for her efforts.
ERIN Earns Ferrari Races Move of the Day:
During Race 2, ERIN continued to fight through adversity while being nimble enough to dance around a potential disaster. After qualifying P3, ERIN jumped out to a lead early in Race 2 but was forced to slam on her brakes to avoid a competitor’s car that came careening through the grass and back onto the track after being bumped off by another driver coming around Turn 1. ERIN was forced to let a number of cars by as a result to prevent what would have been a race-ending collision before coming back to close out the weekend on the podium.
ERIN Avoids Potential Collision at Circuit de Valencia:
Throughout the trip to the Spain, Weiland and his team continued to race to raise awareness for PETA Cruelty Free, Coach Sam’s Scholars and Cornerstone of Hope. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is the largest animal rights organization in the world, with more than three million members and supporters. Products proudly displaying the bunny logo are cruelty-free, meaning that they were produced without testing on animals. Coach Sam’s Scholars’ mission is to provide educational support to at risk children through a combination of literacy, personal development and health and fitness programs designed to develop the whole child. Cornerstone of Hope, meanwhile, is dedicated to providing support, education, and hope for the grieving.
“We want to thank PETA, Coach Sam’s and Cornerstone for everything they continue to do for our communities,” Weiland added. “We always appreciate the opportunity to help raise awareness for them on the track and our team is looking forward to doing the same later this summer in Germany.”
For behind-the-scenes coverage of the Ferrari Races throughout the 2021 campaign, follow EMS Race Team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
by Tara Pachmayer | Apr 13, 2021 | EMS Ferrari Challenge
EMS Race Team arrived in Italy for the 2021 Ferrari Challenge at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza with a sense of purpose. Despite six months separating the team from their last race, ERIN the Electronic Merchant Systems Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo found a way to secure a P1 finish during an exciting race to open the weekend. After qualifying P4 for Race 1, the Electronic Merchant Systems car would navigate her way through the Temple of Speed for the victory. The win marked the 21st career Ferrari Challenge P1 finish for EMS Race Team.
“ERIN does it again,” Weiland said after the race. “We started 4th, picked up a spot at the start and then snagged 1st out of the second corner. Fell back to 3rd briefly, but we managed to pass for 2nd position, and then 1st, and won the race here at historic Monza by 1.6 seconds. Really special thanks to Rossocorsa, R3 Motorsports, Ferrari of San Francisco, Coach Conrad Grunewald, David Cameron and Ray Banda. Great team effort.”
The good times continued to roll for Weiland and company on Sunday despite challenging conditions in the wet. ERIN responded from early adversity to race her way back onto the podium during the second Ferrari Challenge event of the weekend. This time, the result was a P2 finish in the rain at Monza.
“We started P2 after a wet qualifying session,” Weiland said of Race 2. “We had a good run on the pole position car at the start but decided it wasn’t there, and broke early to tuck in. Only thing was, we broke early but too lightly and as we approached Turn 1 we had too much speed and had to take the run off. Bad job by the driver. But we rejoined in 5th, and had a really fun race from there.”
ERIN picked off three cars and was chasing down the race leader on Sunday when the safety car appeared with two laps remaining. That incident denied EMS the opportunity to fight for first. Nevertheless, an exciting way to get back into the racing circuit with a P1 and P2 at Monza. The team dedicated the weekend’s efforts to their friends at PETA Cruelty Free, Coach Sam’s Scholars and Cornerstone of Hope.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is the largest animal rights organization in the world. Products proudly displaying the bunny logo are cruelty-free, meaning that they were produced without testing on animals. Coach Sam’s Scholars’ mission is to provide educational support to at risk children through a combination of literacy, personal development and health and fitness programs designed to develop the whole child. Cornerstone of Hope, meanwhile, is dedicated to providing support, education, and hope for the grieving.
For behind the scenes coverage from the Ferrari Challenge in Italy, follow EMS Race Team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
by Tara Pachmayer | Sep 16, 2020 | EMS Ferrari Challenge
EMS Race Team reminded us during the Ferrari Challenge at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium that it’s not where you start the race it’s where you finish. Driver James Weiland and his team from Ferrari of San Francisco, R3 Motorsports and Rossocorsa started each race at Spa in sixth position. But despite that, Weiland would offer a flurry of highlights in combination with technically sound driving to eventually net a pair of podium finishes.
Following a P2 effort Saturday, ERIN the Electronic Merchant Systems Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo closed the weekend with a P3 on Sunday. Throughout the trip, ERIN consistently lined up her opportunities with precision and moved past the competition one car at a time while securing two more trophies. After earning a victory in Barcelona to open the 2020 campaign, EMS Race Team now has four podium finishes in four races so far this season.
“ERIN did it again,” Weiland said. “We rode her to the podium from our P6 start during each race and had a lot of fun racing with some very good guys. Special thanks to the Ferrari of San Francisco, R3 Motorsports and Rossocorsa team, especially David Cameron and Ray Banda along with coach Conrad Grunewald.”
During Race 1, Weiland earned “Move of the Day” honors from Ferrari Racing for executing a flawless pass. After lining up driver Ernst Kirchmayr who was running in P3, Weiland capitalized on a turn to move past the 109 car along the outside and never looked back. Later in the race he’d make a similar pass to help secure the second position overall after starting sixth. He’d later explain that the team dedicated their performance to the three charities they race to raise awareness for during the trip to Spa.
“We dedicated our race weekend in Belgium to PETA Cruelty Free, Coach Sam’s Inner Circle Foundation and Cornerstone of Hope,” Weiland added. “We just wanted to thank them for everything they do with a solid effort on the track and hopefully we were able to accomplish that in some small way.”
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is the largest animal rights organization in the world, with more than three million members and supporters. Products proudly displaying the bunny logo are cruelty-free, meaning that they were produced without testing on animals. Coach Sam’s Inner Circle Foundation’s mission is to provide educational support to at risk children through a combination of literacy, personal development and health and fitness programs designed to develop the whole child. Cornerstone of Hope, meanwhile, is dedicated to providing support, education, and hope for the grieving.
For behind-the-scenes coverage from the Ferrari Challenge in Belgium visit EMS Race Team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
by Brendan Bowers | Sep 7, 2020 | EMS Ferrari Challenge
After earning a victory in Barcelona to open the 2020 campaign, EMS Race Team will now be competing at Spa during the Ferrari Challenge in Belgium on September 11-13. Driver James Weiland and his team from Ferrari of San Francisco, R3 Motorsports and Rossocorsa will be returning to a track where they earned a P1 finish during the 2018 Ferrari Races while looking for a similar result this time. In pursuit of that podium, the team will once again race to raise awareness for PETA Cruelty Free, Coach Sam’s Inner Circle Foundation and Cornerstone of Hope.
Electronic Merchant Systems Race Team earned a pole position in the wet during their last trip to Spa and leveraged that start to a victory. The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is the famous host of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, the Spa 24 Hours, World Endurance Championships, and many other high-profile racing events along with the Ferrari Challenge. The historic track held its first ever race in 1922 and was used for Grand Prix racing for the first time in 1925. Early on, it quickly developed a reputation for being the fastest track in Europe.
“We’re looking forward to being back at Spa,” Weiland said. “It’s a challenging course but we’ve had great experiences there. Hopefully our team will have another memorable weekend.”
Last month, Weiland shared his experiences as a race car driver in a Ferrari Fast Lane article. He described his feelings and expectations during his eighth year in the Ferrari Challenge while looking forward to the rest of this season.
“It gets harder and harder every year,” Weiland told Ferrari Races in the article. “But I love this series – it’s fantastic. Plus I love the environment, the drivers are great people and I really feel at ease. I have fun, my family has fun, and the circuits are great. I simply love it.”
The charities that EMS Race Team races to raise awareness for starts with PETA, the largest animal rights organization in the world. Coach Sam’s Inner Circle Foundation is also represented on the car and their mission is to provide educational support to at risk children through a combination of literacy, personal development and health programs designed to develop the whole child. Cornerstone of Hope, meanwhile, is dedicated to providing support, education, and hope for the grieving.
For behind-the-scenes coverage of the Ferrari Challenge in Belgium follow EMS Race Team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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