FUN CUP ENDURANCE 2023 – ROUND FIVE – OULTON PARK PREVIEW
Former Fun Cup Endurance Champions Team Olympian and UVio Hofmann’s head for Oulton Park this weekend, with two wins each. But Farquini Deott/Fabio Randaccio currently hold an 18 point lead in the Championship for UVio/Hofmann’s after podiums at Brands Hatch and Snetterton too.
Olympian’s Chris Dovell/Riley Phillips/Kristian Rose were second in the Anglesey night race though, and will be looking to close the gap on their rivals at Oulton.
Masters Class leaders Ben Pitch/Neil Plimmer for PLR Racing and have been in the top six in all four races, with a best of second place at Brands Hatch.
Ellis Hadley is back for GT Radial after missing Anglesey, teamed up with Praga racer Jimmy Broadbent, who had a couple of Fun Cup outings last year. Toyota MR2 racers Darren Cook/Dan Silvester shared the car at Anglesey and not only led race one, but finished fifth too.
Greenheath’s Gary Bate/Paul Turner are still waiting for good fortune to find them. Fifth in the table after two top six finishers, but their pace could easily have brought them more.
Team Viking & Ursus Capital Racing took their first podium of the season with third in the Anglesey night race. Mark Holme and Colin Kingsnorth had previously been fourth at Brands, but lost a possible double podium at Anglesey, after Holme spun and was hit.
Simon Coles/Rob Croydon in EDF 212 have been on the pace all season, but they are another crew whose results don’t do them justice. Fourth in the Anglesey opener was their best, but they were early retirements in the night race.
Vapeclub’s Matt Dorkings/Vlad Vassiliev are tied in seventh with their EDF team mates, but have struggled so far this year. They have made the top 10 twice, with seventh in Anglesey’s first race their best so far.
The Signature RV pair of Steve Ruston/John Whitehouse are both experienced GT racers, but are still finding their way in Fun Cup. Ninth in the points, with a best of ninth in the Brands opening round, they are joined by British GT ace Marcus Clutton at Oulton.
MJ Tec missed the first round of the Championship, but Scott Jeffs/Will Abraham were fifth at Snetterton in round two. Greg Evans stepped in for Abraham at Anglesey, and after finishing second in race one, came home fifth in the night race.
Chris Weatherill and Neil Burroughs returned to Fun Cup this season as Team Axiametrics/GRD Racing and have experienced GT and Saloon racer Simon Rudd sharing. They haven’t had the best of luck, apart from third in the Anglesey opener.
Team Ratters were new to the Championship this year, with Caterham racer Peter Ratcliff sharing with sons David and John. The opening round at Brands was John’s first ever race, and David’s first for about 16 years since his Saxmax days. They finished seventh and were eighth at Snetterton, but gave Anglesey a miss.
Mike Devlin/Matt Hogg have teamed up as Seed Data this season. They had two top 10’s Anglesey, with a best of eighth in race one.
The EDF 104 car has a change of line-up this weekend, David Farrow has previously raced the Smart ForFour car in the British Endurance Championship and is teamed with Garry Summers this weekend.
The James Gang of Paul Calladine/Brandon James came home 10th in race one at Anglesey and will be looking for a repeat, as experienced Mini Challenge and C1 racer David Meenan joins them too. Similarly Team 3 Motorsport’s Andy Bennett/John Perrott/David Postins, currently sixth in the Masters, after finishing ninth in Anglesey’s first race.
Fuelled Up Racing’s Paul Ellis-Smith, Jamie Price and Paul Taylor are still seeking their first top 10 of the season. They have improved by one position in every race so far, from 14th at Brands to 11th in the Anglesey night race. They are currently fifth best Masters crew.
Jason Cheetham has already done Anglesey with easy2reach, but this weekend has Mazda MX5 race winner Adam Bessell and Kalem Fletcher joining him.
Team MSBW’s Morgan and Roger Sparrow return for a seasonal debut with Mark Walker, while JPR 106 has F4 race winner Ted Bradbury, with sportscar racers Ross Dunstan and Steve Riley.
Finally Jackpot Racing complete the line-up, with experienced GT racer Chris Brown heading the line-up, with Nathan Harrison and Martin Davies.
Qualifying for Saturday’s race is 9.50 to 10.35 with the four-hour race starting at 13.25.
Published by Peter Scherer for Fun Cup Endurance, July 12th 2023
