FUN CUP ENDURANCE – SEASONAL REVIEW
CONSISTENCY PAYS DIVIDENDS FOR GCI
After taking second place in the opening three rounds, GCI Racing’s Craig Butterworth and Ian Wood looked set for their maiden victory in round four at Brands Hatch, until they were punted off by Sam Smeeth exiting Clearways in the closing minutes.
They managed to recover but Richard Webb’s Stobart Sport car had snatched the win, and Butterworth had to settle for second again. It wasn’t long though before they finally topped the podium at Snetterton.
After few problems at Anglesey when they finished fourth and seventh, they were back on form for the penultimate round at Donington, where third place and their sixth podium of the season, sealed the title with one round to go.
Team Viking struggled for pace in the early rounds, having finished sixth in the opening round at Silverstone. Then Mark Holme and Nick Nunn were looking set for third place at Oulton Park though, until Nunn had contact with Agua Caliente’s Paul Turner and his race was over.
Teddy Wilson subbed for Nunn at Croft, and despite still struggling for pace, they managed to come home third. Nunn was back at Brands Hatch and after a promising early third place, they finally came home eighth, before coming back strongly for round five at Snetterton, finishing third.
Two top six finishes at Anglesey preceded their seasons highlight. Wilson came back in for Nunn and they took their first win of the season, before fourth in the Oulton finale sealed second in the Championship, by just six points from UVio/Hofmann’s Lotus.
Outgoing Champions Farquini Deott and Fabio Randaccio had the pace, but this year the luck went against them on more than one occasion.
They were victorious at Silverstone and had four more wins. After battling for a win at Oulton in round two, they lost time in the pits with low battery voltage and were classified 12th, but after victory at Croft they had problems again at Brands Hatch, after breaking a driveshaft when the wheel bearing went.
They led again at Snetterton until a wheel bearing disintegrated, but although their hopes of retaining the title were all but gone, they dominated the Anglesey weekend with two wins and were vying for a podium at Donington to, until a late collision with Olympian’s Scott Parkin put them both out.
Win number five came in the Oulton final though, but it was third place in the final standings, despite being constantly the quickest car on the grid.
It had been a successful year for the Stobart Sport team too and with Jonathan Hoad joining Colin Kingsnorth in the second round at Oulton, they were winners, before taking sixth at Croft.
Richard Webb had the pleasure of taking the team to their second win at Brands Hatch, after GCI had been spun out. It was Webb and Hoad sharing at Snetterton as they came home third, and they were in contention in the first Anglesey race too until they broke a driveshaft.
Second place in the Anglesey night race, before another podium in third at Oulton, not only sealed fourth in the Championship and the Masters title for Kingsnorth/Webb, but bid farewell to Webb’s racing too.
PLR’s Neil Plimmer/Ben Pitch had a fairly strong season overall too. They had five top six finishes, but saved their best result until the final round, when they were second.
After taking fourth at Silverstone’s opener, a late track limit penalty dropped them to sixth in round two. A crankshaft failure put them out of a top finish at Croft, but they were a strong third at Brands Hatch.
Sixth at Snetterton and the first Anglesey, but a disappointing retirement at Donington preceded second in the Oulton final and fifth in Championship and Masters runners-up.
Having come on leaps and bounds in 2021, Vlad Vassiliev and Matt Dorkings’ Vapeclub UK with EDF had been hoping to break into the podium places this year.
Fourth at Croft in round three, was followed by sixth at Brands Hatch. But despite running in the lead group on a number of occasions, they managed to equal their seasons best at Donington in round eight, but that podium still eludes them as they finished sixth in the Championship.
While former Champions Team Olympian had regular drivers Chris Dovell and Kristian Rose out in every round, they had various drivers making up their trio.
They started well with Haytham Qaranjouli joining them to take third at Silverstone, but with Harry Mailer on board at Oulton they blew and engine. It was Chris Grimes making his Fun Cup debut at Croft and they were on the pace again, until Rose found the barriers, very hard too.
At Brands Hatch it was former Radical racer Steve Lake sharing to fifth place, before former teammate Riley Philips rejoined for the Anglesey double-header. A wire came off the alternator in race one and put them out the lead battle, before taking fifth in the night race.
Finally, Scott Parkin came in for Donington and Oulton. They were so close to winning at Donington until Parkin went off at the Old Hairpin, but sealed seventh in the final standings with a fifth in the final round.
There were a number of different faces in the GT Radial during the season, but their best result came in the second round at Oulton, as Ellis Hadley, Jimmy Broadbent and Steve Brown came in third.
It was mainly Simon Coles and Victor Kara in the second EDF car. They were eighth at Anglesey and Donington and ninth in the final standings.
The 99 car started the season as Kaizen Motorsport, as Riley Phillips, Ravi Ramyead and Richard Just shared. Fourth place at Croft, but then after Just crashed at Brands they pulled out and it became the Axiametrics car, coming 11th at Anglesey with Chris Weatherill, Nigel Griffiths and Scott Parkin.
For the rest of the year it was shared by a number of drivers under it’s former Black Widows guise.
Apollo Motorsports Peter Flynn/John Goodwin/Stuart Ramsey saved their best until Donington Park in the penultimate round, coming fifth.
Greenheath started the year as Gary Bate had Jonathan Mitchell sharing. Fifth at Silverstone, and it was looking like a podium at Oulton too until Bate spun in the closing minutes.
They weren’t seen again until Snetterton, from where Paul Turner became Bate’s regular teammate. Fourth at Snetterton was followed by a double third at Anglesey, before finishing the season sixth at Oulton.
Fuelled Up Racing were total newcomers, as Paul Taylor and Jamie Price teamed up with Paul and Wendy Ellis-Smith. They had their share of dramas on and off track, but celebrated their best finish at Croft in 10th and were third in the Masters Championship
MJ Tec Giti showed pace all year but were the unluckiest crew on the grid. Scott Jeffs and Martin Gibson had been fourth at Brands Hatch and finally made the podium with second in the first Anglesey race. But a huge impact collision with Paul Ellis-Smith wrecked their car in the Anglesey night race.
Sam Smeeth led a number of laps in the Shire GB car he shared with brother Ted and Father Simon, but their best finish was second at Donington.
CCS Media came out for a few rounds with Nigel Greensall sharing with Bob Tomlinson and Alan Honarmand, while Tachosys, Track Focused, Agua Caliente and We Have No Idea all did part seasons.
Team 3 joined the Championship from Anglesey to complete the year and The James Gang, Team MSBW and Three Shires also made appearances.
Published by Peter Scherer for the Fun Cup Endurance Championship, December 1st, 2022
