FFF Racing presents all-Italian, Lamborghini works driver line-up and Hankook livery for Nürburgring season

Hankook FFF Racing Team enters the 2021 Nürburgring season with a full Lamborghini factory driver line-up. Signed up for the VLN Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) and 24 Hours of the Nürburgring are Andrea Caldarelli, Marco Mapelli, Giacomo Altoè and Mirko Bortolotti.

The all-Italian line-up sees 2017 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup champions Andrea Caldarelli and Mirko Bortolotti reunite after the former left Grasser Racing to bring his own team from Asia to Europe. Bortolotti has previously raced with FFF Racing as a single driver in the 2016 and 2017 FIA GT World Cup in Macau.

Having established FFF Racing Team in Europe, Caldarelli brought in fellow works driver Marco Mapelli with whom he went on to secure the 2019 Blancpain GT championship. Mapelli has competed at the Nordschleife for the last two years with Konrad Motorsport.

Both Mapelli and Giacomo Altoè joined Caldarelli last year when FFF Racing made its Nordschleife debut in the Rowe six-hour race. 20-year-old Altoè is considered one of GT3’s most promising young drivers, having won the Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Final, Italian GT Championship and International GT Open all within the past three years.

The Italian-Chinese team simultaneously presented its Hankook-themed livery. Hankook FFF Racing Team is the second major GT3 team to sport tyres from the Korean brand following Walkenhorst Motorsport which has raced and developed the tyres over the past few years.

“I’m really happy to announce our driver line-up for the 2021 Nürburgring racing program,” team-owner Fu Songyang states.

“Together with Hankook, I’m sure we can aim to an incredible season, pairing two great entities of motorsport. The ADAC Total 24h-Rennen will be a new challenge for us, but we are ready for the challenge with our Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo and a quartet of top drivers. All of them raced already with us, so I’m glad to welcome back Mirko, who raced for us in Macau, Giacomo, who made half of 2019 season with FFF in the Silver Cup, and for sure our champions Andrea and Marco.

“I’m impressed too by the aesthetics of this car, which perfectly represents our brand identity”.

Manfred Sandbichler, Hankook Motorsport director Europe, added: “This high-class quartet of drivers gives the Hankook FFF Racing Team a very good chance of winning the 49th staging of the ADAC Total 24h Race. Each of the four Italian works drivers is a class apart in GT racing and can already point to many successes at the wheel of the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo.

“The races leading up to the 24-hour classic in the Eifel must be used to fine-tune the cooperation between all involved. The excellent partnership between Hankook and the FFF Racing Team is clear to see in the car’s new livery, which combines the colours and graphic design elements of both Hankook and Lamborghini.”

The 2021 season of the VLN Nürburgring Endurance Series kicks off on 27 March and is preceded by the annual pre-season test one week earlier. Click HERE for the SP9/GT3 entry list.