About Fun Cup

Fun Cup offers the excitement, drama and passion of long distance endurance racing, with a team of like minded drivers.

The tension of the start …fuel stop strategy…driver changes…refuelling…and the drama of dealing with racing incidents…just a small part of the adrenaline rush which goes with this type of racing, whether behind the wheel, or working in the pits.

Just look at your time in the seat too. In a year’s average club sprint racing you’ll maybe drive for around 3.5 hours total. With the Fun Cup Endurance Championship, in just one season in the UK races, you’ve got something like 35 hours. Even split 2 or 3 ways, that’s a huge amount of driving for your money!

Originally conceived in mainland Europe in 1997, this unique class of racing has been supremely successful, spreading from country to country; Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Germany and of course, the UK…Fun Cup is growing all the time.

It has been born out of a passion to provide motor racing which is enjoyable for everyone concerned. A fun based championship, but with some of the closest, most competitive and affordable racing you’ll find anywhere!

How It Began

The Fun Cup endurance championship was launched in the UK in 2002, as a step forward in motor sport with the clearly defined objective of providing cost effective, close, exciting and above all, good fun racing for all competitors.

The concept was originally conceived in Belgium, based on the success of endurance karting. From small beginnings, it has taken off to massive success with regular grids topping 30 cars in the UK.

The Cars

The cars are race designed, single-seaters, with super-strong space frame chassis. They are powered by an 1800cc, 130 bhp VW/Audi petrol engine, with the ultra reliable Sadev sequential gearbox. Paddle-shift and pit-to-car radio are also available as optional extras and they all feature race brakes and fully adjustable suspension. 

All cars are identical in specification, with no performance modifications. The championship consists of two classes and a trophy is awarded to the top 3 teams in each class after each race. The Masters Championship is for any teams who have a driver or drivers aged 55 or above.

The Racing

The races usually last between 3 – 6 hours, with a 45 minute or 1 hour qualifying session on race day. Exclusive Fun Cup testing takes place the day before the race and the grid positions are made from a random ballot, rather than times set in qualifying. At each round, the overall winning team from the previous event starts the race from the back of the grid too.

Each race is split into stints of between 30, 40, 50 and 60 minutes (depending on the length of the race), at the end of which, there is a ‘pit stop window’ when each car must stop and may refuel. Refuelling cannot take place at any other time. When in the pits, the driver must get out and either run round the car before getting back in again, or be replaced by another driver. That way, however many drivers in a team, there is no disadvantage.

So, with the car engines and gearboxes sealed and regulations strictly controlled, the racing is super close and the running costs remarkably low for this type of racing.

The racing is ultra close, with fractions between the leaders. Frequently, just 1 or 2 seconds separate them at the chequered flag, after hours of action.

The Events

Held at prime UK circuits, including famous names like Brands Hatch, Oulton Park, Anglesey, Donington Park, Silverstone, Snetterton and Croft, a typical calendar involves 10 races over 7 weekends. You will also be allocated a pit garage at all events and benefit from prime parking and top billing. We always run 2 day events with exclusive testing on Friday, followed by qualifying and the race on Saturday. This means that you can be at home with the family by Saturday evening!

In addition to selling cars, many teams also offer cars for hire. So, without the need to buy, you can rent one-off drives, a seat for a complete season, or a car for the season, including full circuit support. Tell us what you want and we will do our best to make it happen. All of this makes it easy to try out the championship and to enter the world of endurance racing. It is effortless to enjoy real, cost-effective motor sport with Fun Cup.

The Fun Cup Endurance Championship is always the main event at the race weekends. Each and every exciting moment is captured on our premium live streaming service – This can be watched directly via our website when you click the Live button in the top right of the navigation bar.

Fun Cup also has its own hospitality awning, where teams/sponsors/family/friends/guests can enjoy lunch on race day and unlimited drinks for the entire event.

The Organisation

Fun Cup UK has its own organisation team making every race weekend as efficient and enjoyable as possible. We have a fully staffed office, dedicated to answering your questions and tackling many of the detailed arrangements, where other championships leave you scratching your head. Our website provides you with a great deal of information on the Fun Cup, the cars, the team line up for each event, rental drives available and much more.

Championship Director Paul Rose has more than 50 years experience as a competitor, winning many championships along the way. Sales & Marketing Manager, Kristian Rose, focuses on the promotion of the championship. Eligibility Scrutineer, Chris Wesley has worked with the championship for many years. We have a permanent Clerk of the Course, Julian Floyd, he is one of the most experienced endurance officials in the UK and is supported by one of the largest clubs in the UK, the BRSCC.

Promotion

The Fun Cup Endurance Championship receives widespread promotion, across a whole range of prime media. We feature regulary in Motorsport magazines, have a large and constantly growing fan base on Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok, Youtube, and of course all of our races are live streamed using a premium service that will be shown right here on our website! 

Fun Cup provides a fantastic platform for sponsors looking to make the most out of Motorsport; with around 10,000 hours of Fun Cup racing content being consumed every year, on top of the thousands of images and adverts being shared around our major social channels and a reach of over 2 million in the UK.

Every car must carry specified championship sponsor stickers, but that still leaves plenty of room for the inclusion of your own sponsor’s decals. Apart from a small badge on every race suit, the remainder of space is also free for your promotional use.

The Regulations

The regulations for the UK championship are all geared to fair and competitive racing. Strict controls are in use on the cars and policed at each race event to ensure zero modifications happen in the series. The engine and gearbox are sealed, and the cars run controlled parts. Any major repairs must be carried out by JPR Group, the UK distributors.

Most parts on the cars are carefully governed and specified. All parts can be obtained from JPR, who have a parts truck at all events. The suspension allows for a choice of three spring rates. The suspension settings for items such as camber and toe etc, are left for the team to decide, but we will provide you with a detailed base set-up to get you started.

The aim of the regulations is to keep the racing close, fair and at sensible costs. The regulations are firmly applied with a championship eligibility scrutineer checking cars at each event.