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On the 11th and 12th July 2009, one hundred and fifty one Fun Cup teams from across Europe and a
staggering seven hundred and twenty one drivers from around the world gathered at the prestigious
Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, to compete in the world’s longest race, the 25 hours of Spa.
TDI Classification – UK Teams
For car 211, Track Torque, qualifying in 24th place after two days at Spa was a brilliant result for
the team. The driver line up consisted of Tim Hartland, Neil Primrose, Simon Ward and Graham Howells.
The race began at 16.00 on Saturday and their car was placed nicely on the hill, two places behind the
106 Track Torque sister car, driven by Ross Kaiser, along with team mates James Swift, John Stanley and
Bob George
From the start, Hartland pushed hard and managed to reach 11th place until just before the end of his
first stint, when he pitted with a puncture to the right rear. The wheel was changed, extremely quickly,
by the pit crew, who had just completed a full engine change on car 106 in just under an hour.
The incident occurred so early in the race that it was costly in terms of places and knocked car 211
back into 44th place. Back on track, Hartland claimed back ten places before the end of his session.
Graham Howells took over from Hartland for only his second race in a Fun Cup car, and put in some very
consistent laps times to bring the car further up the field, prior to handing over to 2009 Fun Cup
regular, Simon Ward. Ward set about the field in an aggressive first stint, posting some of his best
times of the weekend and carrying them into the change to the night drive.
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Car 211, Track Torque Racing, leading a chasing pack up the world famous Eau Rouge.
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Car 103, JPR Motorsport/Credit Crunch Racing, were strong contenders to win the petrol class from the start.
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During the last twenty minutes of Ward’s stint, he collided with a spinner, which left the light bar
illuminating most things at Spa except the track!!
Primrose took over and suffered a little for the first part of his stint, but as his eyes became
accustomed to the dark produced by the light bar and as he started to use trees and stars as
braking references, the lap times came down again.
"A pattern was beginning to emerge for the team, as we moved into the drivers second
stints. Places were being gained in each session, up to eight at a time, but we were losing
maybe four or five during refuelling and each driver change. It also gave us a chance to do
a visual check on the completeness of the refuelling, as last year we noticed that on the
odd occasion in their rush to get going again, drivers inadvertently fuelled a few litres
short of the maximum. That caused us to run out last year, so we were paranoid this year." Clive Reay-Young, Team Manager.
He added:"Thankfully, incidents through the rest of the night were few and the drivers
kept things together incredibly well with consistent lap times, which helped them continue the
climb through the field. There were only two minor problems, the first during the first serious
rain shower, when the right hand windscreen wiper flew off as Tim hit the ‘on’ switch. The
second, when the rear lights failed during Simon’s second stint. A rapid message was posted
on the pit board to turn on the rear fog light, which fortunately satisfied race control,
leaving Simon to complete his stint one hour later, as dawn was just starting to break."
The early morning was handled by Primrose and then Hartland, who then handed over to Howelles,
for an extremely wet session. Howelles brought the car home at the end of his stint lying in
11th place overall and 4th placed British car. It was a great drive through some miserable conditions.
"He handled the car superbly, and brought it home, just as importantly, without any
damage". Clive Reay-Young.
With just under six hours to go, Ward took his last stint and with the track now drying, most
team’s lap times started to fall again and as a result, safety car incidents rose. Ward,
however, lying in 3rd place for the Brits, pushed hard in a controlled, strong stint,
to make the changeover with Track Torque’s 106 car.
"This was the one time in the whole race where we did not suffer on safety cars.
On every other occasion we either lost ground to the car in front, or a safety car was
deployed five minutes after a re-fuel and driver change. However, this time the car came
out as ours turned into the re-fuelling area." Clive Reay-Young.
The team then made a decision to hold onto 3rd place and forget everything else.
"We were four laps ahead of the next placed British car and two and a half laps behind
the 1st placed British car, with four hours to go. The strategy was to hold the position to the
end and hope that further places would come to us. Finishing the race was so important for our team".Clive Reay-Young.
So, Hartland went out and against all his instincts put in measured laps of around three minutes and
twelve seconds, lap after lap, which helped them to maintain position, until car 251 Cuisine de
France/SPAR suffered a mechanical fault, bringing them into the pits followed, not long after, by
another top British contender, Team RAM, enabling car 211 to move into 1st place British car.
Primrose took over for the last stint under the same instructions. Lying 6th overall and 1st British
team, his job was clear, he had to bring the car home!
The Belgian car 46, Dubois Racing, was lying in 7th and closing at around three seconds per lap, but
Primrose put instincts aside and let them through rather than risking the car. But, there was no great
loss, as the Cornelis car, at the front of the field, failed and 6th place was restored.
The last two hours seemed to last forever for the team, but as Neil crossed the line in 6th overall and
as 1st placed British diesel team, the Track Torque crew all enthusiastically celebrated on the pit wall,
as victory was finally theirs. This really was a superb team effort, from Track Torque and the drivers.
"Special mention has to be made about the pit crew, who during the course of the race, kept three
cars in it to the end, including, a complete engine change, in just under an hour, a gearbox change in
twenty five minutes and full brake and tyre change on three cars. Thanks also to JPR for all the
organisation and support before and during Spa. I am now looking forward to Anglesey and sleep!" Clive Reay-Young.
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Harris’ first stint was in the dark at 22.00.
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The grid girls’ added glamour to the start of the race, as always
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In 2nd place for the Brits, it was last year’s overall winners, car 131, JPR Motorsport.
The 2009 driver line up consisted of British drivers Paul Rose, Steve Harris and the Scottish Ally
McKever, with the addition of the Belgian Gilles Debrus.
They qualified on the 7th row and Rose was given the duty of starting the race. He maintained a steady
pace to keep near the front of the pack, but luck was not on their side quite the same as it was last
year. A collision in his first stint meant that they had to change the front body when he pitted to
hand over to Debrus and this was only the start of many lost minutes in the pit lane.
At 22.00 Harris took over from Debrus for his first stint and was sandwiched between two cars, which
damaged the left rear and forced him to pit for twenty seven minutes, whilst the mechanics changed
the rear suspension.
Harris was unlucky once more on Sunday when two front left wheel studs fell out during his next stint
and again, he had no option but to pit.
Mckever’s second to last stint brought the team more misfortune, as he was hit by a fellow British
team, damaging the right rear suspension forcing another pit stop to change it and costing twenty
five minutes.
After this time, Rose, Debrus and Harris all had incident free stints and with Harris handing over
to McKever for the final few stint of the race, they were looking strong for a UK podium, despite
their previous troubles. However, McKever was still tested as he had to pit, again, with a front
left puncture and lost further time in the pits.
Despite their many unnecessary pit stops, they still finished 12th overall and 2nd placed British
diesel team.
After two 3rd place UK finishes in four previous attempts at the 25 hour race, Team RAM came to
Spa with the 2008 driver team line-up of Austin Reynolds, Mark Owen and Richard Ince, as well as
Austin Kinsella, who had raced with the team in 2005 and 2007. With the car prepared by Richmond
Racing, they were strong in qualifying and Mark Owen posted a time quick enough to qualify on
the fifth row of the grid.
Owen took the start and avoided trouble, whilst steadily climbing through the field. By lap twenty
five he had taken the overall lead of the race, where he stayed until the first scheduled stop.
Although Owen’s early fast pace was impossible to maintain, the car ran consistently in the top ten
throughout the first ten hours, until disaster struck just after 03.00 with a clutch problem, when
the car was in 6th place. An eighteen minute pitstop followed, which forced the team down to 27th
place after one hundred and sixty five laps.
Throughout the following ten hours, a series of consistent drives took the car back into the top ten
and leading British team. However, just after 13.15 and with less than four hours of the race
remaining, Kinsella experienced complete brake failure, and a thirty six minute pitstop to diagnose
and sort the problem, which once again saw the car drop out of the top twenty.
With all hope of winning the British class diminishing, the main priority was to now finish the race
and with this in mind, the car was brought home safely by Austin Reynolds in 17th place overall and
3rd UK diesel car.
Austin Reynolds said: "To finish on the podium for the third time in five attempts and to get our
best overall classification was a great achievement, but we’ll be back next year to do even better."
Petrol Classification – UK Teams
In Car 103, JPR Motorsport’s Credit Crunch Racing team were upbeat and optimistic about Spa. Their 2009
driver line-up consisted of UK regulars Tim Wheeldon, Nigel Griffiths and Dominic Jackson, with the
addition of 2008 regular, Eddy Cole.
Thursday saw an extremely successful testing session with Tim setting a 3:09, before the rain and traffic
dampened any hope of improving times.
Unfortunately, the sessions were plagued by yellow flags and 60 mph restrictions and Cole was denied an
opportunity to put in a fast lap and was to suffer the same issues during qualifying on the Friday.
However, the drivers remained positive throughout qualifying, even though the rain and several safety
cars prevented a replication of Testing times. Jackson managed a 3:11.4, which placed them 86th on
the starting grid.
The team gathered at 13.30 on the Saturday for a final briefing and run through of the fuel strategy.
By 15:30 all were assembled on the starting grid with a nervous Wheeldon, who was the first driver.
He needn't have worried, as a few seconds into the race and he had progressed to a position in the
early seventies and was climbing quickly.
A few laps into the race, one of the Belgian cars ran out of talent into Les Combes and hit Wheeldon,
pushing him off the circuit and dropping about seven places, which were quickly regained.
Luckily, the car suffered no damage, but within a few minutes the first casualties of contact were
appearing in the pit lane, reaffirming the team's plans to keep out of trouble.
By the end of his first session, a much calmer Wheeldon handed over to Jackson, who continued to
improve positions, despite safety cars and worsening damp conditions. His lap times were on par
with the leading petrol cars and better than many of the diesels.
By the time Griffiths commenced his first session, it was becoming apparent who the team would be
competing with, for petrol podiums. The British cars 214 Team Tiger, car 102 JPR Motorsport and
car 23 Atkins Motorsport were all proving difficult to move away from and two Belgian teams, in
particular, were definitely not extending their hospitality to the track.
Griffiths again managed to steer car 103 away from the increasing number of incidents. He enjoyed
his stint so much that he decided he would ignore the board and enjoy precisely one hour, fifty
nine minutes and fifty nine seconds of his two hour session. This resulted in a fraught
Team Manager, Chris Weatherill, recalculating his ever changing fuelling plans.
Night had fallen and the light had completely gone by the time Cole commenced his first session. Car
103 remained visible to the wall, with its distinctive additional lighting and Cole's innovative
reflective stickers. However, a now extremely wet track and poor visibility assisted in the team
losing its first piece of body.
Fortunately, Cole remained in control and achieved strong lap times, to put the team into 33rd
position overall for the start of Wheeldon's second session.
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Team RAM, car 245, at the start of the race, ready to take on the esteemed 25 hours of Spa.
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Car 214, Team Tiger, had high hopes for a petrol podium for the UK.
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With all the anxious first sessions out of the way, the second round commenced at 05.45 and with
torrential rain and little sign of any dawn light, Wheeldon produced solid competitive laps into
the morning.
Jackson picked up the baton as the rain eased off and he managed to put some distance between his
Credit Crunch Racing team and JPR Motorsport car 102, as well as reducing the gap with car 214
Team Tiger, to just one lap.
"We had our mechanic Henry and the other mechanics to thank for cementing our position by completing
the fastest brake pad change in an amazing 4:36! This meant no ground was lost in the pits to car
214 Team Tiger and the one lap trail was maintained." Tim Wheeldon.
Griffiths revelled on a dry circuit and as the sun hinted at shining, he managed the first laps of the
race at testing pace. With some assistance from the other teams pitting, he finished his race stint
with the team in first place for the petrol class and had enough spark left to quip "my work here is
done!"
After much debate between Henry, the drivers and Chris, the decision was taken to change the brake pads
again. The pit wall crew looked on as Henry and his tireless assistants flew through another fast change.
Cole was away in no time and the others sighed with some relief as the change had cost them less than a
lap on the competition, car 214 Team Tiger.
Fortune assisted greatly as their closest rivals were involved in collisions and the final few hours racing
were focused on regaining first place petrol team.
However, with Cole’s flying laps, they all secretly had ambitions to reach the overall petrol podium.
The gap between 4th and 5th place had shrunk considerably by the time Cole handed over to Wheeldon
for what was meant to be the penultimate session.
Tension increased in the garage as Cole revealed to Henry, Jackson and Griffiths that the throttle
seemed to be sticking and unresponsive.
Meanwhile, on the pit wall, Wheeldon had been signalling the crew - he had a problem. When he brought
the car in, after causing much confusion and apprehension, it was quickly established that after
twenty two and a half hours hard racing, much to Wheeldon's disappointment, the throttle cable
had decided to stop working.
Again, Henry, worked his magic and an incident that should have cost places, merely reduced the time
advantage the team had on the next car. Chris stood up to his greatest challenge of the race so far
and quickly re-organised procedures. The broken throttle cable had meant that Dominic would be in
the car for over two hours and an additional driver change was needed.
Cole, who had taken his first relaxed breath for twenty three hours had to abandon hopes of spectating
and gear up to finish the race. Out on the track, Jackson improved his times lap after lap. 1st place
UK petrol team was maintained and 5th place petrol car overall was gained. He handed over to Cole,
with an hour to go and joined the others to watch the screen.
Cole displayed no hint of fatigue or anxiety, as he put in his quickest laps of the event. With five
minutes to go, the other drivers threw caution to the wind and climbed up on the pit wall barrier to
watch car 103 confidently approach race end. There was a collective holding of breath until the
chequered flag was spotted and shortly after Cole and car 103 appeared on the pit straight, in
1st place petrol class for the UK.
"That was it; twenty five long hours of racing over. There was much emotion and elation. The drivers
headed for the podium and the team began celebrating with just as much energy and vigour as they
had started the race twenty five hours earlier." Tim Wheeldon.
Jackson commented: "The Fun Cup 25 hour race at Spa was fantastic. A great track, challenging driving
conditions and friendly, but competitive, rivalry between teams both on the track and in the pits.
It was great to be joined by Eddy Cole, who complimented our regular driver line-up of myself, Tim and
Nigel and he fitted right in with a similar attitude to the rest of us. He wanted to enjoy the
experience, have fun, but be competitive and focussed on doing well in the race."
He continued: "And what a result! 1st in the UK Petrol class, 3rd overall UK car, 5th in the overall
petrol class and 16th place overall in the race. It was a great team effort. Yes I enjoyed stepping
on the top step of the podium with my fellow drivers, collecting a nice trophy and spraying around a
load of bubbly (boy does it sting when it gets in your eyes!), knowing that as a unit we had driven
in a competitive and consistent manner, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the help and
support of friends and family in the pits, including Susie, Nuala, Wendy, Chris, Wes, John, Rich
and Johann, plus the JPR Motorsport mechanics with Henry leading the team on keeping our car
running through this marathon race. A fantastic and enjoyable few days spent in the company of
friends, within a great community of people who are enjoying the experience as well, which
typified for me what being involved in Fun Cup racing is all about."
Car 214, Team Tiger, for the 3rd consecutive year, had a fantastic race at Spa. The driver line-up
consisted of UK regular’s Chloe Noyce, Ben Beighton, and Chris Beighton, with the addition of Jon
Finnemore.
They qualified 65th and Ben Beighton had a storming first two hour stint, pushing the car in to
41st. After a trouble free thirteen hours, including the night stint, they were in the top fifteen.
After nineteen hours, they suffered blocked fuel jets in the carburettor, which dropped them back into
the thirties, after a six lap delay. Apart from the fuel problem, it was a faultless team effort,
which resulted in 24th overall, 2nd UK petrol team and 11th overall petrol car.
In the JPR Motorsport/Fit Flop car 107, it was a truly international line-up, with American brothers
Jameson and A.J. Riley, the Brazillian Bico Stupakoff and the French Thierry Boue. It was the first
time competing in the Fun Cup for all of the drivers except Boue.
Thierry Boue recalled: "It is ironic that our team finished on the British podium, but we were most
definitely a British team and their support got us to the end. It was a great adventure and none of
us had ever driven a 25 hour race before."
He added: "We came with the bare minimum, just the four of us and no support crew, except for the very
friendly and professional mechanics from JPR Motorsport. Our strategy was quite limited initially, but
thanks to the friendly paddock atmosphere we picked up a few good tips from the experienced crews and
we put them to good use during the race."
Their strategy included rushing to the bike store to purchase flashing lights to recognise their car at
night and borrowing glow sticks to put on the back of their pit board!
They started strongly, as J. Riley stormed through the pack from 69th , his qualifying position, to
46th in the first forty minutes.
The team was delighted with his progress, until he was hit on the left rear tyre and was forced to
limp back to the pits for a change of wheel and front splitter, which pushed them back into 76th place.
Shortly after, they hit their second and last major hurdle of the race, when they suffered from a broken
driveshaft, which was changed in record time.
They were now at the bottom of the standings, in 111th place and eight laps behind the first petrol car.
In some ways it was a blessing in disguise that they encountered their problems early, as they had time
to make up for their losses.
After this time, they steadily climbed up through the field, in a relatively short stint of around one
hour and fifteen minutes.
The night was a particularly interesting experience for most of the team, as only Bico had experience
of racing at night.
They handled and preserved the car well in the last eight hours, to avoid a change of brake pads and
tyres and both Riley brothers did fantastic last stints after only two hours sleep on the concrete
floor of the pit garage. They kept pushing until the last lap, to pass and catch the third place
British petrol team of car 23 Atkins Motorsport, on the penultimate lap.
"The team was extremely proud to have achieved this on tenacity, with a great car and race management,
combined with avoiding contact with other racers. It was a truly thrilling experience, one that we are
all looking forward to doing again next year." Thierry Boue.
To view a full list of the final results, please Click Here
To view more pictures, please Click Here
To view video clips, please Click Here
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The top TDI teams celebrate their success in style.
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The beautiful firework display entertains spectators during the night stints.
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