Faster Than Speed endured a troublesome season finale at Interlagos, as Patrick De Wit picked up another retirement after losing control and hitting the barriers while fighting for 5th. Giuseppe Marconi had issues after a great opening stint and ended the Brazilian GP with fire coming out of his engine in the final metres, but was able to crawl to the checkered flag.

In the World Championship division, Patrick De Wit was just able to get into the top-ten Pole shootout after setting the 10th fastest time in the Q1 session. Team-mate Giuseppe Marconi qualified 20th. In Q2, Patrick was 8th quickest despite his conservative tyre choice.

Patrick made yet another good start, pulling off good moves on Room and Hirrle during the first lap to move up to 6th. Giuseppe also moved up two places, with a nice overtaking move on Disley on the opening lap. Patrick soon started to challenge Gosbee for 5th, with Hirrle also pressuring Patrick from behind. Patrick made a few moves on Gosbee but was unable to complete them successfully. After some tough defending from Gosbee, he ended up being passed by Hirrle, and lost control of his FTS-P11 inmediately afterwards, ending his 2011 season in the Senna S barriers.

Giuseppe had a better first half of the race, showing good rhythm and an excellent move on Kostadinov into Turns 7 and 8 after joining the big battle for P10. He ran as high as 10th before pitting, but two off-track excursions after having to avoid another driver while on worn tyres, with his engine cutting out, dropped him to 14th. He eventually saw the checkered flag in 13th place, but not without further drama, as an engine failure left his powerplant on fire metres before the finish line. He was able to slowly cross the line to end the team's season.

FTS finished the season in 9th place with 31 points. Faster Than Speed closes an up-and-down season, with some golden opportunities missed after showing very strong pace in several races. Patrick De Wit's Monaco podium and his Pole Positions at Monaco and Hungary were the team's highlights this year.

Giuseppe Marconi (13th): "Had a good first half of the race with some fun battles with Disley and Kostadinov even if they ended with incidents. In the lap of the pitstop with a damaged suspension and the tyres finished I had two spins which stalled my engine. Fortunately Interlagos with its climbs helped me to start it again. Second half of the race I drove easily to the finish, saving engine, even if I lost it right before the flag, and I was able to cross the finish line in neutral. Waiting for rFactor 2! I want thank Christian for his work and effort during the season, Patrick for his unlucky season and I would like to wish everyone a good winter pause."

Patrick De Wit (DNF): "I had fun this race, but we were just short in pace. Great that this year I had two Pole Positions and a podium at Monaco. Performance wise, those and Spain were the highlights. In this race, just managed top 10 in Q1 then 8th in Q2, not bad. Then a great start, from 8th to 6th on lap 1. Had great fights with Gosbee and my former team-mate Hirrle. Then after Hirrle passed me, I ran too wide and crashed, and that was it. Have a great winter all!"

In the World Series, Giuseppe Marconi unfortunately had a very short race after setting the 7th fastest time in the Q2 session. In the race start, he had to take avoiding action not to run into the car of De Matos, who lost a tyre in an incident ahead, but ended hitting the barriers as a consequence.

With the season now over, we would like to congratulate the 2011 champions: Bono Huis, Jeffrey Rietveld and Eduard Mallorqui, and the winning teams, Precision Motorsports and GT Omega Racing.

Please stay tuned for news on our 2012 FSR campaign and the FTS-P12 challenger! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news and announcements! Also, you can now circle us on Google+! Have a nice break and... bring on 2012!

Faster Than Speed finally ended its streak of retirements in the FSR World Championship by seeing the checkered flag for the first time since the Hungarian GP in August. However, it was a difficult race at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina circuit, with a back-of-the-grid penalty plus a conservative tyre choice which did not pay off leaving Patrick De Wit outside the point-scoring positions.

In the World Championship division, Patrick De Wit was unable to take part in the Qualifying session due to carrying a back-of-the-grid penalty for a technicality on the last GP's post-race verification. He started the race from 19th place.

Patrick made a great start, turning 13th into Turn 1 before pulling off good moves on Lapchin and Brljak to move up to 11th. Patrick drove a good race, surprising everyone with a very long 28-lap stint. The conservative hard-tyre choice did not work as expected, however, with the tyres unable to extract enough performance out of the FTS-P11 while rubber was new. Things got further complicated when Patrick made a mistake on lap 51, hitting the barriers and having to do an unscheduled stop for a new front wing. He eventually finished the race in 13th place.

Patrick De Wit (13th): "With no track time to test anything and starting at the rear of the field, I finished a race again, so all drivers betting on the lap I would retire on have lost their money. Great start, went from 19th to 11th on the first lap. Race today was full of unknowns for me, I was on hard tyres which were the wrong choice, 11th was going to be the maximum today. But in the end, I had a spin and ended 13th after a long pitstop. Great to have finished a race again today!"

Faster Than Speed now heads to the Interlagos circuit for the season finale Brazilian GP, where the team will be hoping to end the season on a high. FTS has great memories from the venue, with Florian Pechon winning and securing double WS Advanced titles in 2008, Patrick De Wit climbing to the WC podium in 2007 and Christian Smirnoff celebrating his 2006 WS Ace title with a victory. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news and live coverage from Brazil!

Faster Than Speed endured another disappointing Sunday at Suzuka after failling to reach the checkered flag for the third race in a row. Both Patrick De Wit and Giuseppe Marconi suffered an early retirement in the WC Japanese GP. On a positive side, Giuseppe Marconi took in WS his second top-ten result of the season.

In the World Championship division, Patrick De Wit just missed out on entering the Q2 session by 0.002s. His Q1 laptime, despite being only 0.236s slower than the fastest time from Lapchin, only left him in 11th place. Team mate Giuseppe Marconi qualified 16th. By the time the lights were out, both gained a place due to Huis' retirement.

While clutch issues left Giuseppe stranded on the grid and out of the race, Patrick made a good start, passing a couple of cars off the line before overtaking Saxen into turn 1. From P7, he started putting pressure on Disley, who he passed with a great move through the outside into the first corner the following lap. However, the Australian made contact from behind in the Suzuka esses, sending Patrick to the grass without returning his position. The team then had to retire Patrick's car at the beginning of lap 4, ending our Sunday afternoon prematurely.

In the World Series division, Giuseppe Marconi drove a good race as he overcame engine issues after having to get out of the gravel, plus gearshift paddle problems to hold on to his 10th place from Wernersen towards the end of the race, to take his second top-ten result of the season.

Faster Than Speed now moves to the Yas Marina Circuit at Abu Dhabi, for the penultimate race of the season after the three-week break. FTS will be hoping to turn its luck around and return to scoring strong points. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news and live coverage from Abu Dhabi!

For the second race in succession, Faster Than Speed ended its weekend prematurely despite showing very strong potential in testing, Qualifying and the opening laps of the race. Patrick De Wit showed the FTS-P11 had the pace at the Monza circuit, before retiring from the Italian GP after a spin on lap 11, while he was driving in 5th place.

In the World Championship division, Patrick De Wit set the 3rd fastest time in the Q1 session, lapping just over a tenth of a second slower than fastest man Bono Huis. In the Q2 top-ten Pole shootout, Patrick was unable to repeat his strong lap and qualified 10th on the grid.

Patrick again made a strong start, winning 4 places in the first chicane to move up to 6th place. Before finishing the first lap, he was able to overtake Yannick Lapchin in the entry to the famous Parabolica corner. Starting lap 2, Patrick was very attentive to avoid Morris, who completely overshot his braking into Turn 1. However, it lost him touch with 4th placed Mikkonen.

From 5th place, Patrick was lapping consistently, trying to stay in touch with the leaders while building a gap to the drivers battling behind. However, he again paid a high price for pushing too hard, as he slightly overdid it exiting the second Lesmo corner on lap 11, losing control of his car and ending his Italian race in the barriers.

Patrick De Wit (DNF): "Again went with ease into Q2, but I messed up my Q2 lap and ended up 10th on the grid. The start was good, went from 10th to 5th during the first lap. That was the highlight of my race. Then on lap 11, again touched the grass by millimetres and race over again. Well, onto Suzuka."

Faster Than Speed now moves to the Suzuka circuit, home of the Japanese GP. In 2008, Florian Pechon took the WS Advanced victory for FTS at the legendary venue. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news and live coverage from Japan!

Faster Than Speed showed one of its strongest performances of the season at Spa Francorchamps, with genuine raw pace to battle for a podium position and even challenge World Champion Bono Huis. However, the Belgian GP afternoon would turn into a big disappointment after only six laps, with Patrick De Wit crashing out from 2nd and Karim Wezenberg's race only lasting a few kilometres.

In the World Championship division, Patrick De Wit set the 5th fastest time in Q1, just 0.138s slower than the laptime of the session's quickest driver, Fredrik Nilsson. In the Q2 top-ten shootout, Patrick delivered another strong lap, taking 4th on the grid, despite being only 0.099s slower than Poleman Huis, in an incredibly close Qualifying session. With Giuseppe Marconi unwell and unable to race, the team called Dutchman Karim Wezenberg in as a last-minute replacement. Not having done his allocation for the race, he had to start from last on the grid. We thank our colleagues at the Skizzato+ team for allowing Karim to take part in the race.

Patrick made a good start, keeping his 4th position after Turn 1 before going side-by-side in a three-way battle with Morand and Mikkonen on the Kemmel Straight. As Morand cut across Patrick from the outside line into Les Combes, the pair made minor contact, with fortunately no harm done for either driver, trip through the grass aside. From 3rd place, Patrick inmediately put pressure on Mikkonen and after a great run through Eau Rouge and Raidillon, he passed the Finn with ease before Les Combes to move into 2nd place.

From 2nd, Patrick showed the FTS-P11 had genuine pace to challenge Bono Huis for the lead. However, Patrick pushed a little too far in the process, touching the grass on the exit of Malmedy corner and losing control of his car. Unfortunately, Patrick was then just a passanger, as he heavily crashed into the barriers, ending his race there and then.

Karim Wezenberg's first FTS outing was also short and unlucky. Having shown very strong pace on the FTS-P11 in testing, Karim was in contention for a point-scoring finish despite starting from the back. However, he felt victim of a car pile-up at Les Combes during the opening lap. Karim had to slam on the brakes to avoid a colission with another car, and was unable to avoid his car from spinning and stalling in the process.

Patrick De Wit (DNF): "Expectations were a podium today, but I made a huge error. I was way too aggressive to try to keep up with Bono (Huis) in Sector 2 and my car needed a little more track. I ran onto the grass and hit the wall on the right. Luckily, there was noone there. In Qualifying, I knew I could get Pole, but 4th wasn't too bad. In the race I made a good start, overtaking Morand and Mikkonen. Morand turned in on me while I was there, we touched, but no harm done. Then I overtook Mikkonen and tried to keep up with Huis, which seemed to work, before the error. See you at Monza!"

Karim Wezenberg (DNF): "It was decided just before the WC Practice session began that I would do the WC rcae. I knew I had good pace and would be able to do better than yesterday in WS. Was careful at the start but in Les Combes I saw there was carnage and I stepped on the brake to avoid running into other drivers. Couldn't prevent the spin on the kerb and then my engine died because I was slightly too late saving it. Felt confident I could reach the points, but maybe another time."

Faster Than Speed now moves to the Monza circuit, temple of speed. Faster Than Speed has many victories to its name at the Italian GP, with Florian Pechon taking the honours in the 2008 WS Advanced race, Christian Smirnoff winning consecutive WS Ace races in 2006 and 2007, and Swaraj Shergill victorious in the 2005 WS Amateur event. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news and live coverage from Italy!