We’ve had teams come close to win the £10,000 prize money before; fortunately for me, its stayed safe so far! We’ve been hearing good things about the 97 Xcel Motorsport team, so lets see how they get on – Paul Rose
Reigning Fun Cup Endurance Champions Team Olympian/GRD head for round seven at Brands Hatch, with Chris Dovell/Simon Rudd/Riley Phillips 10 points clear at the top of the table, from ex Champions UVio/Hofmanns’ Farquini Deott/Fabio Randaccio.
Apart from the Croft Endurance race round three where they finished fourth, UVio/Hofmann’s have been on the podium in every round, but are still seeking their first win of the season, after three consecutive second places.
Early pacesetters MJ Tec have now slipped to third, after winning the first two rounds. They ran out of fuel at the end of the last round at Snetterton, so Scott Jeffs/Wil Abraham will be keen to return to the podium for the first time since Anglesey.
Vapeclub with EDF and Greenheath are tied for fourth in the table, but both are still seeking their maiden victories. Greenheath’s Gary Bate/Paul Turner were third in round five at Anglesey, but fourth at Snetterton last time out was Vapeclub’s Vlad Vassiliev/Simon Coles’ best so far.
Signature RV have Marcus Clutton sharing with Steve Ruston and John Whitehouse again. They had a top six at Anglesey when Harry Mailer deputised for Clutton and then matched that result at Snetterton too.
It all came good for PLR’s Neil Plimmer/Ben Pitch too at Snetterton. Before arriving there, their best had been sixth at Croft, but they came away with a well- deserved third.
Team Ratters, Peter, David and John Ratcliff are aiming to break into the top six, having run there on numerous occasions during races this year. But their best finish so far has been eighth in opening round at Oulton Park, with two other top 10 finishers.
Morpheus Racing are the only other winners this season, with Ted Bradbury/Neil Burroughs taking the spoils in round three, the Croft Enduro race, after taking second to MJ Tec in the Sprint. Various mechanical woes and incidents have thwarted their challenge though and leaves them ninth in the table.
Completing the top 10 in the current points table are Seed Data, they were fourth and fifth in the two Anglesey races. But his weekend Matt Hogg has a change in co-driver, with aspiring Mazda MX-5 Champion Jack Noller replacing Mike Devlin.
Noller is no stranger to Fun Cup, as he raced at Oulton Park last year and deputised for Kristian Rose at Anglesey in the 257 car, sharing seventh with Martin Gibson.
Skull Club are due some luck too. Newcomers this season with experienced TCR racers Jack Constable and Russel Joyce, they are still seeking their first top 10.
AxiaMatrics are due a change of fortune too, with Chris Weatherill, Jonathan Railton and Greg Evans, all capable of a strong finish. They had a fifth at Anglesey and are looking for the same, if not better.
Red River Sport having just missed out on the top six twice this season, at Croft and Snetterton. Gareth Williams is now getting nearer the pace of his more experienced colleagues Johnny Mowlem and Bonamy Grimes, so sixth has to be the aim for them too.
Wave 9 were new to Fun Cup this season, but both Mark Burton and Graham Pattle have lots of experience between them. Experience is certainly not a thing their third driver Jason Minshaw is short of too. He raced Formula Ford, Fiesta’s and much more before going down the Historic path. But until this season hadn’t sampled Fun Cup.
At Fuelled Up Racing Paul Taylor is down to join Paul and Wendy Ellis-Smith, while Gracie Mitchell returns with the GMR/Eco car, sharing with fellow returnees Chris and Ed Bridle.
Rob Croydon shared with Mitchell at Oulton, but is out this weekend sharing the Rare Vinyl car with GT racer Ed McDermott.
The Black Widows are back too, as David Clark and Steve Harris are joined by John Perrott.
Mikey Porter jumps in with Fun Cup favourite Victor Kara in the 104 car, but there is a debutant team too, with JPR 97 have Jamie Day/Tom Fawcett/Paul Hardy coming from Dubai with eyes firmly set on the £10,000 prize money!
GT4 Racer Day has been busy in the British and European Championships racing an Aston Martin Vantage, having previously raced F4 in the Emirates Championship.
Fawcett is a name well known to Fun Cup, through Tom’s father Geoff, a long time team mate of PLR’s Neil Plimmer. Tom is a former British Kart Champion, while completing their line-up is experienced coach Paul Hardy, going from “mentor to master.”
The team will be run by Xcel Motorsport’s Andy Glencross, who also ran Day, among many others, in the Emirates F4 Championship.
Finally it’s welcome back to former New Zealand Karter Elisha Day, following his debut at Croft, This weekend he share’s car 99 Fast Track, with gaming entrepreneurs Patrik Potocki and Simon Lidzen sharing.
Qualifying is on Saturday morning at 9.55 for 45 minutes, with lights for the four-hour race at 13.15
Published by Peter Scherer for Fun Cup Endurance, August 14th 2024
