Dropped by Jordan after one F1 season, Firman moved, initially, to Dallara Nissan, then to Japanese GT's. Moved back to Europe and the GT Open Championship, but then returned back in Japan and Super GT again. Hasn't been racing since 2014 and now runs a company near Snetterton, Pure Precision Engineering, which is a water jet cutting service for parts for both the manufacturing and motorsport industries. Ralph, who is of dual Irish and British nationality, also lives in Monte Carlo. Firman, despite his father's hugely successful Formula Ford team, actually began to take up farming before having real success in karts, before going on to make a name for himself in his own right, winning the 1996 British Formula 3 series, the 2002 Japanese Formula Nippon series and the 2007 Japanese GT title. In 2023, Firman announced the Van Diemen company formed by his father is to be revived for single-seaters, but with Firman himself in charge now.

Biography last updated 10 Sep 2022