2002 European Ferrari 360 Challenge
G-Force Boss Finishes 2nd in Championship.......
G-Force boss John Greasley finished the season very much on a high, missing the overall Championship by only one point.
Going in to the final race at Misano on the Adriatic coast of Italy, John was in second place overall, 23 points behind the leader with 3 other drivers between 2 and 8 points further back. In John's words - "There was a theoretical chance of winning and a greater likelihood of finishing anywhere between 2nd and 5th".
The racing weekend followed the normal format of qualifying followed by a 70 km race - the finishing order of which dictates the starting order of the second race of 100kms.
With 50% extra points available on the second race, Johns strategy had to be firstly to finish well in the first race and then to go for maximum points in the second race.
In the event John finished 3rd in the first race with the Championship leader, Martin Lanting finishing 9th. Frantic calculations showed that John had to finish the 2nd race a minimum of 4 places better than Martin and after a very exciting race John finished 2nd with Lanting a very frustrating 3 places behind thus securing the Championship for Lanting with John in second place.
It was a season of mixed fortunes, John originally joined the series after a two year layoff and with the view that it should be a great social event, a lot of fun and finishes in the top ten would be good.
The first event of the series, Jarama changed all that, to John's total amazement he found himself on pole and finished the race in 2nd place. Life wasn't quite as smooth after that, an over exuberant beginning to the second race left John stranded in the gravel with a dnf!
The season had it's ups and down's, John's best result being his outright win at Brands Hatch and the low point being an inexplicable disqualification from a very fine third place at Dijon.
Overall John was delighted with his season and claims that his driving is now better than it has ever been. "Prior to this series I have always had the advantage of either one of the most powerful cars or a driving partner who was very good and sometimes both! The Ferrari Challenge cars are very equal and consequently I am extremely pleased with the results I have achieved."
Seasons Results:
|
Venue
|
Qualifying
|
Race1
|
Race2
|
|
Jarama
|
1st
|
2nd
|
-
|
|
Spa
|
1st
|
2nd
|
2nd
|
|
Zandvoort
|
6th
|
-
|
7th
|
|
Dijon
|
4th
|
3rd
|
-
|
|
Brands Hatch
|
1st
|
1st
|
2nd
|
|
Nurburgring
|
14th
|
7th
|
6th
|
|
Misano
|
3rd
|
3rd
|
2nd
|
NEWS LINKS
· Daily Sportscar - Top Quality coverage of all the major Sportscar and GT series and races from around the world