FUN CUP ENDURANCE 2026 – ROUND EIGHT – SILVERSTONE – RACE REPORT
RIGHT SAID TED………..VAPECLUB DUO WIN AGAIN
For all but four laps of the four-hour action at Silverstone, the Vapeclub duo of Ted Bradbury and Vlad Vassiliev were out in front. Not only their second win of the season, but a repeat of las year’s success too.
Northern Velocity’s Alan Henderson drew pole and had just managed to keep his nose ahead as they charged down the Wellington Straight for the first time, with Racelogic’s David Denyer, Track Focused’s Sean Cooper, UVio Hofmann’s Farquini, AxiaMetrics’ Will Smith and Tropical Rockets’ Neo Clarke the initial top six.
The top four were trying to make a break by the end of lap three, with Denyer challenging for the lead, but Smith and Clarke had made contact, which brought Bradbury into the top five.
It was still close at the front but by Becketts on lap four Bradbury was up to third then second into Brooklands and led over the line. He didn’t stop there as a lap later he had already pulled out a 1 ½ second lead, leaving a train of cars in his wake, fighting for second.
Henderson was still second, from Denyer, Farquini, Cooper and Smith, while in seventh Clarke had a rear bodywork rubbing on the tyre, as Rudd began to close on them all for Team GRD. “Me and Simon tried to work together, but happy to just sit there in contention,” said Cooper.
The growing intensity of the second-place scrap only helped Bradbury continue to increase his lead. But on lap six Farquini finally made it passed Denyer for third, with Smith and Clarke soon following and Rudd looming ever larger in their mirrors.
Clarke in particular was showing incredible pace and bravery into Brooklands and after constant reshuffles in their group, he finally made it into second on lap 19, with Rudd and Farquini soon following, as Henderson lost ground. “No straightline speed either, so I did what I could to stay in line, trying to be smart,” Henderson explained.
It was self-preservation, we could have worked together to close on Ted, but there were different strategies,” said Rudd. “I got damage after early contact, but the bodywork rubbed away and it didn’t seem to affect the car too much,” Clarke added.
The race continued in a similar vain up until the first pitstop window, with Bradbury, Farquini and Rudd last to stop as the lead trio, with Bradbury handing a 47 seconds plus lead to Vassiliev.
“Brilliant racing,”Farquini enthused. “I just got my head down, looked which way they went and I went the opposite and worked my way through to lead. Some good driving though,” Bradbury added.
It wasn’t long before the first hour was completed too. Vassiliev had kept the lead to over 40 seconds, with Jack Harding now in the Northern Velocity car for second, from GRD’s Chris Dovell, GCI’s Craig Butterworth, UVio’s Fabulous Randaccio and Tropical Rocket’s Josh Phelps, with Red River’s Kristian Rose, Rare Vinyl’s Tom Roche, AxiaMetrics’ Chris Weatherill and RBR’s James Reilly the rest of the top 10.
It developed into a great scrap for third between Randaccio and Butterworth, before the UVio Hofmann’s driver took the upperhand. Although Dovell managed to keep GRD in fifth for a while, he had to succumb to the duelling Rose and Roche eventually, with Phelps following a few laps later.
Roche was first in for the second stop, handing back to Rob Croydon, while second placed Harding came in a lap earlier than Vassiliev and four laps earlier than Butterworth. “The car was OK in the tow, but we had a power issue, so I was thankful for Kristian for towing me around,” said Roche.
The lead was still 45.862 secs for Vapeclub when Vassilev pitted, enabling them to rejoin with their lead still substantial. Only a few laps after the pit stop window Northern Velocity’s Jack Harding and Farquini both went a lap down, which left GCI’s Ian Wood on the lead lap with Bradbury, as a six-lap safety car intervention followed.
“The car felt really good and I was lucky to come out behind Clapham North’s Abbie Eaton, she just towed me around for the whole stint,” said Vassiliev. “We were lucky with our strategy and the safety car, as a single dump refuel kept us on the lead lap,” Butterworth explained.
“We were unlucky as we got lapped just before the safety car, but I had to run close as I struggled for power,” Farquini explained. “We messed up our strategy and the stops today or we could have been up there,” added team mate Randaccio.
From the green flag Bradbury’s lead was down to 11.697 secs over Wood, but it soon grew again. Clarke ousted Farquini, who then started duelling with GRD’s Riley Phillips, while Clarke’s charge continued, taking him passed Harding for third on lap 90.
With half distance reached Bradbury’s lead was back to over 20 seconds from Wood, followed by Clarke, Phillips, Farquini and RBR’s Will Blackwell-Chambers. AxiaMetrics’ Shay Brennan, Track Focused’s Cooper, Rare Vinyl’s Croydon and Red River’s Gareth Wiliams were the rest of the top 10, after Northern Velocity pitted to serve a penalty, dropping them to 11th. “I had been in no mans land a bit, but well annoyed to get my penalty,” Harding admitted.
“It was one of my best races, I battled with people and if I couldn’t stay ahead of them I dropped back and looked after the car,” Williams explained.
While Vapeclub and GCI continued to run a lap ahead through the third hour, the fight for third showed no signs of abating. Tropical Rocket, UVio Hofmann’s, Northern Velocity and GRD were all in with a shout, but as we entered our final hour Bradbury had over a minute in hand in over Wood, with Clarke holding off Farquini and Croydon for third, while Northern Velocity’s Jake Simpson was sixth, followed by AxiaMetrics’ Brennan and GRD’s Rudd, now two laps down.
When the final stops were complete it was Tropical Rocket in third from UVio, GRD and Northern Velocity, with all to play for. But on lap 184 Phillips was ahead for GRD, having just taken third from Clarke. But behind them Northern Velocity’s Henderson and UVio’s Randaccio had swapped but were still wheel to wheel and challenging Clarke.
As they headed down the Wellington Straight Randaccio and Henderson touched as the UVio driver tried to force his rival wide to the right. But Clarke was already there and there was an interlock of wheels, before Randaccio crashed heavily at the bridge.
“I thought I was heading for the wall too, it took the wheel out of my hands when we locked wheels,” Henderson explained.
The safety car was back out and by the time it was green again there were just minutes on the clock. With Vassiliev in for the final stint, it was a cruise to the finish for Vapeclub and a dominant victory, with Butterworth bringing GCI to the flag for an equally comfortable second.
“I felt less pressure than when we won last year, still stressy though. Confident with the car and Morpheus did a great job for us,” said Vassiliev. “Extremely happy with that, Vlad drove brilliantly, we set a pattern and extended it,” Bradbury added.
“Great race and one of our best results. The strategy was bang on, we were really consistent,” said Butterworth. “Hugely satisfying, no track limits and not a scratch on the car,” Wood added.
Henderson had dropped to fourth behind Phillips but they swapped again on the last lap, when the GRD driver was forced wide by PLR UVIo’s Neil Plimmer and had to settle for fourth and victory in the Masters Class, as Henderson completed the podium for Northern Velocity. “100% happy with that, apart from me speeding in the pitlane,” Harding admitted.
Clarke lost ground in the final laps too, having lost out to the recovering Henderson, he was pipped by Rare Vinyl’s Roche on the final tour. “That was the best we could do really,” said Roche
Rose brought Red River in seventh, after demoting Axia Metrics Weatherill on the last lap, while RBR’s Blackwell-Chambers and Racelogic’s Julian Thomas rounded off the top 10.
“That was a crazy weekend of ups and downs,” said Rudd. We worked our way back up, but the main podium would have been nice,” Phillips added. “I have never been happier with fourth, as it almost felt like a win,” Dovell concluded.
Published by Peter Scherer for Fun Cup Endurance, September 21st 2026
