FUN CUP ENDURANCE 2026 – ROUND ONE– OULTON PARK – PREVIEW
HUGE ENTRY FOR FUN CUP OPENER
It’s going to be a bumper grid for this Saturday’s Fun Cup Endurance opener, with a 29-car line-up expected at Oulton Park.
Can Team GRD’s Chris Dovell, Riley Phillips and Simon Rudd make it four in a row as Champions? They were pushed all the way to the 2025 title by UVio Hofmanns’ Farquini and Fabulous Randaccio and we can expect more of the same this season.
Vapeclub EDF were third in last years championship, with Vlad Vassiliev and Ted Bradbury taking their first win at Silverstone. They are in a different car though, the EDF car they used for testing last season.
AxiaMetrics finished fourth last season, but didn’t manage to reach that top step of the podium. Chris Weatherill has a change in his line-up this year, with Tom Greensall and Wiliam Smith sharing. Both have had Fun Cup experience in the past.
Greenheath are still seeking their first their first overall victory, despite having led races on a number of occasions. Gary Bate and Paul Turner are sure to be on the pace again, but is the podium beckoning?
PLR Racing’s Neil Plimmer and Tim Wheeldon have a new car too. Despite some bad luck, they had a fairly successful 2025 too, third in the Masters Championship and sixth overall.
Their previous car is now in the hands of newcomers Clapham North, with George Grant due to have his second Fun Cup race this weekend, after years of Mazda MX-5 racing and C1 Endurance experience.
Sharing with Grant is the vastly experienced and versatile Abbie Eaton, who has previously raced in MX-5’s with Grant and contested Australian Super Cars, Formula W and numerous GT and Endurance races, as well as being part of the Top Gear World Tour team.
Last seasons Masters Champions Red River Sport are back to defend their title, but it’s only Bonamy Grimes and Johnny Mowlem sharing this weekend.
Demon Tweeks are fielding two cars again, the first for Jason Minshaw, with brother Guy and nephew Jack, while Mark Burton leads the second line-up again, with Historic F1 ace Michael Lyons and Caterham racer Matthew Reeve, Lyons took apart in last season opener at Brands Hatch too.
Former Champions Racelogic and GCI Racing are back for more, with Julian Thomas/David Denyer and Craig Butterworth/Ian Wood sharing.
After a two-year absence it’s welcome back to Team Viking Ursus Capital, with Mark Holme and Colin Kingsnorth. They have been contesting the French Championship, but have been previous UK race winners. Holme will be contesting the whole of this years Championship, but this weekend is one of three outings for Kingsnorth.
Team FFS made their Fun Cup debuts at Donington in 2024, with Caterham Champion Lewis Thompson sharing with father Barry and fellow Caterham racer Nick Highton. They won the final sprint race of the season at Oulton, but had been on the pace all season and finished seventh in the Championship.
Signature RV are previous race winners too, but had an up and down 2025 with their new car. But with Marcus Clutton sharing again with Steve Ruston and John Whitehouse, they can never be discounted.
There is just the one car from Morpheus Motorsport, with Stephen Walton and Greg Evans back together in the FNS car after forays into GT Cup. Evans was part of the AxiaMetrics line-up last year too.
Track Focused have been absent for a while, but it’s welcome back to Sean Cooper and Mike McCollum, while Seed Data’s Mike Devlin and Matt Hogg will be hoping for better fortunes than last year too.
This weekend Miguel Faisca and Andrea Seminara are racing under the AI Racing Tech banner, having been out with FF Corse last season in the same car.
Morgan and Roger Sparrow are returnees too, having raced with Nigel Greensall’s team a few years ago. They also race and rally a Mazda MX-5.
The Tropical Rocket duo are probably the youngest pairing taking part, with Neo Clarke and Josh Phelps. Both made their debut’s last season, Phelps was a complete novice, while Clarke’s karting experience showed with an impressive drive at Donington.
Simon Lidzen and Anthon Jahreskog had been out occasionally in the past with Fuelled by Data, as have 22GT Racing, with Chris Brown and Nathan Harrison, the latter pairing having raced a GT4 Aston Martin too.
Fun Cup stalwarts Steve “Snooker” Harris and David “Scrappy Clark are back again too, sharing the Anglo Asian Mining car with former British F3 and 3000 racer and Polo player Guido Basile.
Brian Heerey was a Fun Cup star in years gone by and has had occasional outings since, as well as winning races in 2CV Racing. He’s back at Oulton with 750MC Suzuki Swift racer Shay Brennan making his debut in the Leigh Tec car.
G-Force’s Garry Summers returns too, with Graham Winstone sharing and there’s a JPR Hire car out to for Mikesh Parekh and Shiv Sapra. Sapra has also raced in the Ginetta Junior’s and Academy and in the Middle East.
Although more entries are expected there are two confirmed from Rob Boston Racing. With many successes under their belts in Mazda MX-5’s, the Lotus Challenge, Renault Clio’s and as Race of Remembrance winners, Will Blackwell-Chambers and James Reilly share their first car.
Blackwell-Chambers was last years Mazda Supercup Champion and previously won the MX-5 Cup, while Reilly has already experienced endurance racing in Citroen C1’s. They will be racing alongside Steve Roberts.
Rob Croydon can’t make it to Oulton Park and instead has the competitive pairing of Sam Heading and Tom Lebbob.
Qualifying is on Saturday morning at 9.45 and it’s lights out for the four race at 12.45.
It can all be followed too on the Fun Cup website livestream.
Published by Peter Scherer for Fun Cup Endurance, April 8th 2026
To find out more about the Fun Cup Endurance Championship visit www.funcup.co.uk for more information and how to get involved.
To view the championship calendar, visit https://funcup.co.uk/events/ for more information.
