Mowlem leads Ram Racing's star driver line up assembled for 24H Dubai

Britain’s newest GT racing team, Ram Racing, has assembled a high-calibre driver line up for its international race debut at the start of the New Year. At the wheel of the team’s gleaming white Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 for the Dunlop 24H Dubai will be sportscar racing stars Johnny Mowlem, Jaime Melo and Guy Smith, the latter making his debut in a GT car. They will be joined for January’s Middle Eastern Enduro by gentleman driver, Cheerag Arya.

Under the guidance of Team Principal Dan Shufflebottom, the new-from-the-ground-up, British-based team heads to the Dubai Autodrome early in the New Year for the first major motor sport endurance race of 2013. With over 80 entries registered, the decision to have a largely experienced driver line up was an easy one, as Shufflebottom explains.

“We’re delighted that Jaime and Guy are joining us for Dubai, as their experience and race-winning talent is beyond doubt. What Guy lacks in GT laps, he more than makes up for in race knowledge and talent, and Jaime needs no introduction when it comes to Ferrari GT racing. He and Johnny have won endurance races together in the past, and his feedback will be invaluable to us”. And what of the fourth member of the driver line-up? “ Cheerag is an old friend who is a massive Ferrari fan and who wanted to put the 24H Dubai on his racing CV – what better mentors could he have than Melo, Mowlem and Smith?”

Brazil’s Jaime Melo is a former ALMS GT2 champion and has twice won in the GT class at Le Mans as well as recording some of the most sensational victories in North America’s biggest sportscar races, several of which were while partnered with Johnny Mowlem. He hasn’t raced in Dubai before but knows more about the Ferrari 458 than any other driver outside Italy and worked with engineer Schomann in 2012 which will be a great bonus for the team.

Guy Smith is also a former Le Mans 24 Hour winner, taking overall victory in 2003 with Team Bentley. The British driver, the 2011 ALMS P1 prototype champion with Dyson Racing, has not driven a modern day GT car before but doesn’t expect this to be an issue.

Veteran British sportscar and GT star, Johnny Mowlem, who has enjoyed worldwide success in GT racing, will be Indian driver Cheerag Arya’s third professional driver coach. Benefitting from his 2011 Dubai experiences, Mowlem will be able to highlight any potential pit falls facing the new squad in the relatively unfamiliar surroundings of the Arabic endurance event.

The race will run from 1400 hours on Friday, January 11 until the same hour on Saturday, January 12.

Johnny Mowlem