Having helped install STP as a sponsor of the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari F458 in the FIA GT3 Europe Championship this season, last weekend was the first opportunity to see our work up close and personal, as the series landed at Silverstone for the UK rounds of the Championship.

To date, the only words I have managed to muster in what I admit is a fairly futile attempt to describe the weekend, are 'sensory overload'!  The sights, sounds...even the  smells, are truly awesome.

Having ducked in and out of motorsport over the years via various clients, I can only commend the hugely impressive AF Corse team (based a stone's throw from Maranello in Italy), and moreover that and the enthusiasm and maturity of 'our team's' two drivers, Dan Brown and Glynn Geddie.  At 19 and 20 years of age - both BRDC Rising Stars - they form the youngest driver pairing in the Championship, and despite a number of obstacles over the three days, they showed more than enough promise and no shortage of skill that bodes well for the remainder of the season.

If you haven't encountered the GT3 Europe series before, it features large grids of hardened European sports car professionals, in the cream of sports car marques, such as Ferrari, Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Lamborghini, Mercedes and Porsche, battling it out on some of Europe's toughest tracks.

And a month after scoring points in the first two rounds of the FIA GT3 Europe Championship in Portugal - their first taste of the prestigious and ultra-competitive series – our British duo overcame the bitter disappointment of retirement in the first race on Saturday to record a fourth place finish in race two on Sunday.

That really only tells half the tale however, as with Dan punching in a succession of fastest laps in race one, putting the team on track for a podium place and possible win in the process, the car was retired due to a mechanical fault during the mandatory driver change.

In race two, with Geddie stearing clear of trouble and having put the car in a good position to power on after the change, Dan Brown got stuck behind an Audi R8, and having eventually cleared it, ultimately ran out of laps as he closed in on the front runners.

Drivers being drivers, they're never satisfied, but reflecting after the races, Dan said: "It was good to leave Silverstone with more points under our belt.  It’s a super-tough Championship, and I’m proud to be one of only seven British drivers in the series, and hugely honoured to be driving for the prestigious AF Corse Ferrari racing team”.

Glynn added: “ I think we can be satisfied with P4 and our consistently strong pace all weekend was very encouraging, so we will keep pushing and hopefully bring home a podium at the next rounds of the series, at Navarra, Spain.”



Special mention at this stage ought to go to the No. 50 sister AF Corse F458 driven by Federico Leo and Francesco Castellacci, who swept all before them in a lights to flag victory in race one, despite a 15 second penalty carried over from a previous round.  Not only are they thoroughly nice guys, they're also blisteringly quick!

Personally I have to thank team owner Amato Ferrari, Pier Del Don and the whole AF Corse crew, who not only looked after us all weekend but more importantly, allowed us unprecedented access to the team, which makes our job so much easier and more enjoyable.

To that end, we're now busy putting together a film and audio edit (thanks to Rob and Joe) as well as pouring over numerous still shots (thanks Mark) from the weekend's action, so watch this space.

We're also collating entries from a photo competition we put in place in the Silverstone programme, and the first few I've looked at suggest that motorsport snapper Jakob Ebrey - who kindly provided some top tips for entrants - had better watch out!