03 September 2010 - Anglesey International, 10th and 11th September - Provisional Timetable

Friday 10th September

09.30 - 17.30: Fun Cup Exclusive Testing (Private Teams)

09.30 - 11.30: Fun Cup Exclusive Testing (JPR Rental Teams). If JPR Rental Drivers wish to book extra testing, please email Roxie at roxie@funcup.co.uk

Saturday 11th September

07.30: Sign on

Scrutineering: 07.30 - 08.30

Quallifying: 09.00 - 09.40

Race 1: 10.00 - 10.40

Race 2: 12.00 - 17.00

01 September 2010 - End of Season Party!

Unbelievably, the end of season Fun Cup party is once again nearly upon us. So, boys, it’s time to take the moth balls of those tuxes and I dare say, only a new slinky little number with matching accessories, will do for the girls! After all, it’s the least they deserve, after supporting their men, by re-living every track triumph (and disaster) with them for a whole season!

The dinner will be held, once again, at the Barcelo Hinckley Island Hotel, in Leicester, on Saturday 6th November. Tickets will cost £42 including vat and will include a three course dinner, disco and of course, Chris Hartley’s legendary and much anticipated presentation and “out-takes!”

Accommodation

The rooms will be held at the special rates shown below, until October 8th. Please quote “Fun Cup” when making your booking. After October 8th, the special rates will no longer be available.

Double Room (inc bed and breakfast)- £69

Single Room (inc bed and breakfast)- £59

Executive Room (inc bed and breakfast)- £79

Deluxe Room (inc bed and breakfast)- £89

To order your tickets, please email Roxie at roxie@funcup.co.uk, before October 1st.

We are looking forward to seeing you all there! Don’t miss out!

01 September 2010 - Saker Sortcars Sell Sixth Car

Saker Sportscars UK is delighted to have sold our sixth car in the UK. Fun Cup regulars, Bob Tomlinson and Alan Honarmand placed an order, after testing the Saker GT at Donington Park on Sunday. They will compete in both Fun Cup and the Saker Sportscar Challenge in 2011.

01 September 2010 - Saker GT Win for Graham Tilley

Grahame Tilley, the first racer to purchase a Saker in the UK, stormed to an overall victory at Rockingham on Bank Holiday Monday in the Euro Saloon and Sports Car Championship.

Grahame shared the story of his victory with us…

He said: “Race day started with a twenty minute qualifying session on a dry, but cool track. There was a strong breeze blowing down the main straight, which no doubt helped the car’s speed. On Friday, during testing, I was going through the first banked turn at 122 mph. During qualifying, with the tail wind, the speed increased to 132mph. Unusually, for a racetrack, it actually felt very quick, especially with the wall looming up on the outside. However, the Saker was really good in the high speed turns and absolutely awesome on the infield section, to the point where I managed to gain pole by almost nine tenths of a second.”

He continued: “The Championship has a wide variety of vehicles entered in four classes, ranging from the slowest, which is probably a Mini Cooper S, up to the fastest, which is an Australian V8 Supercar (Ford Falcon) that previously raced at Bathurst and produces 650 bhp. After qualifying, my nearest rival was a Lotus Exige, driven by extremely experienced racer, Rex Stamp. His supercharged car is exceptionally quick in a straight line and through the corners. Although I had managed to better him in practice, I knew from qualifying that if I did not get ahead of him at the beginning, I was going to struggle because of his straight line speed.”

Describing the race, he added: “Although I was out dragged into the first chicane by both the Lotus and V8 supercar, they were preoccupied with holding each other up and I managed to squeeze my extremely nimble Saker GT inside them to take the lead. This was all I needed and I managed to open a gap through the infield section, which meant that they could not attack me on the long straights. I then managed to control the race from the front and hold the gap to the Lotus at about 2.5 seconds throughout the race. I was delighted to win my first race at Rockingham. It was a such a memorable win, as it was also the first victory for the Saker GT in a British championship event!”.

For further information about Saker, please visit www.sakercars.co.uk, or call Paul, on 01538 306921.

30 August 2010 - Saker Sportscars Sell Fifth Car

Congratulations to Graham Pattle and Mark Burton, who are the proud new owners of a Saker GT!

www.sakercars.co.uk Graham Pattle, said: “New to racing, Mark and myself joined the Fun Cup in 2006 and have enjoyed the experience immensely since. We feel that our driving and general race-craft has come on leaps and bounds and now, the time is right to further challenge ourselves. The aim is to try something that is quicker and perhaps more technically sophisticated than Fun Cup cars. And so, we have been looking at possible series to take part in. That said, we didn t really want to lose touch with the great bunch of people associated with Fun Cup.”

He added: “The Saker offers us a chance to drive a faster, lightweight, sports car that has been specifically designed for the purpose. With Mark having tested the car at Oulton Park, I briefly drove it at Mondello Park last weekend and it certainly lived up to it s advertised billing. With the Saker running alongside the Fun Cup weekends, where costs are clearly controlled, we feel it s an ideal series to move into. We expect to be able to rationalise the costs of mechanical/technical support, and transport, via our existing relationship with Solutions Racing, who currently support us at all Fun Cup meetings”.

If you are interested in testing a Saker, or would like any further information, please call me on 01538 306921.

17 August 2010 - Fun Cup and Saker Test Days

If you wish to test a Saker on the 29th August at Donington Park, please call Roxie on 01538 306921. Alternatively, you can test a Fun Cup car, or a Saker, at Oulton Park on the 14th September. Call Roxie on the same number for details, or to book.

17 August 2010 - Spa 25 Hours, 10th and 11th July - Sky Sports TV Coverage

Please find below, Motors TV and Raceworld coverage dates and times, for the Fun Cup Spa 25 hour race:

MOTORS TV - Full one-hour show

Fri 20th August: 7.35pm

Sat 21st August: 3.05am and 3pm

Mon 23rd August: 3.05am

Tues 24th August: 2.30pm

RACEWORLD ep 37. - Spa part 1 (first half hour)

Thu 23rd September: 5.00pm, 8.00pm and Midnight (all Sky Sports 4)

Fri 24th September: 1pm (Sky Sports 3)

Sat 25th September: 4.30am (Sky Sports 4)

Sun 26th September: 6.00am and 9.00am (both Sky Sports 4)

Mon 27th September: 12.30am (Sky Sports 4)

RACEWORLD ep 38. - Spa part 2 (second half hour)

Thu 30th September: 7.00pm (Sky Sports 3) and Midnight (Sky Sports 4)

Fri 1st October: 1pm and 5pm (Sky Sports 3)

13 August 2010 - Mondello Park, 20th and 21st August - Race Day Timetable

Saturday 21st August

08.30 onwards: Scrutineering and sign on (scrutineering will take place in pit garages and sign on will be in hospitality suite 3 above garages 5 and 6)

09.30 – 10.30: Qualifying

10.30 – 11.45: Saker testing, open to anyone that is interested

12.00 – 18.00: Race

12 August 2010 - Saker Feature in Track Driver Magazine

http://www.sakercars.co.uk/media-coverage.html

Check out the link above which shows the Saker feature in Track Driver magazine.

12 August 2010 - Mondello Park, 20th and 21st August - Provisional Timetable

The format for testing at Mondello Park has now changed. On the Friday, there will be Sunday competitors in addition to the Fun Cup. Sunday’s event reverts to the short circuit, so Mondello Park will run testing on the short circuit from 9:30am until 3:00pm, reconfigure the circuit and have exclusive Fun Cup long circuit testing from 4:00pm to 6:00pm.

If competitors wish to run on the short circuit for the earlier session they may do so at a cost of €100 per car. This can be booked with the circuit on the day.

If you wish to book the exclusive Fun Cup testing, please request a booking form by emailing Roxie at roxie@funcup.co.uk. All JPR Rental drivers have the two hours of exclusive Fun Cup testing included in their rental package. If JPR Rental drivers wish to book the extra track time on the short circuit, please email roxie@funcup.co.uk

06 August 2010 - 2010 Race Reports

To read the full race reports from each exciting round of the Fun Cup, please visit the newsletter section of the website.

06 August 2010 - Mondello Park, 20th and 21st August - Provisional Timetable

Friday 20th August

There will be no exclusive Fun Cup testing at Mondello Park, due to the fact that the cost of general testing is so cheap. Therefore, teams have to option to take part in general testing for the morning, afternoon or a full day.

The timings and prices are as follows:

09.30 to 13.00 – 100 Euros

14.00 to 17.30 – 100 Euros

09.30 to 17.30 – 200 Euros

The lunch break is from 13.00 – 14.00

Payment and bookings are to be made with the circuit on the day. Please note that the testing will be split into half hour sessions for open and closed wheels.

JPR Rental drivers will have from 09.30 to 13.00, included in their rental package. If any JPR Rental drivers would like to book the afternoon session, please email Roxie at roxie@funcup.co.uk

Saturday 21st August

The provisional times are as follows:

Qualifying: 09.00 – 10.00

Race: 12.00 – 18.00

05 August 2010 - Check It Out!

http://weltchmedia.wordpress.com/

Check out the link above which features Fun Cup!

19 July 2010 - Fun Cup To Arrive in Dubai!

The Fun Cup is excited to announce its first race in Dubai! Please click on the following link to read more about it:

http://circuitprodigital.com/2010/07/16/funcup-endurance-series-soon-to-arrive-in-uae/

02 July 2010 - Silverstone, 26th June - Sky Sports TV Coverage

RACEWORLD EP 29:

Thurs 29 July - 7pm (Sky Sports 3)

Fri 30 July - 3am (Sky Sports 2), 1pm (Sky Sports 3)

Sun 1 Aug - 6am (Sky Sports 4), 10am (Sky Sports 3) and 11pm (Sky Sports 4)

MOTORS TV:

Airs on 7.05pm on Fri 6th August. Repeated several times over the course of the following week (full schedule TBC in July).

29 June 2010 - Spa 2010 - Hospitality

Due to the somewhat special nature of this event, the catering aspect differs from that of UK rounds, in that Fun Cup UK does not offer complementary hospitality at the Spa 25 hour. However, from Thursday 8th to Sunday 11th July, the following packages are available:

Package one is for JPR hire teams only. This includes breakfast, lunch, evening meal, snacks and drinks, at a cost of £40, per person, per day, plus vat. However, each JPR rental driver will receive complementary breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and drinks including hot snacks throughout the night on race days, as part of the hire package.

Package two is drinks only. This is £25 per person, per day, plus vat. Both JPR hire and private teams may take this option. Please be aware that there will be no complementary drinks available for each team, if you have not purchased the necessary wristbands, with the exception of JPR hire drivers on both race days.

Please remember that water at Spa is more precious than gold. The tap water is yellow and undrinkable. So, please ensure that you bring plenty with you, as JPR will be unable to allow jugs, large bottles etc to be filled from our limited supplies.

Please contact Roxie by Friday 2nd July, if you wish to place an order.

29 June 2010 - 2010, Silverstone, Round 3, Photographs Courtsey Of Scott Mitchell.

To View Pictures From This Round Please Visit Http://www.scmmotorsportpictures.co.uk/portfolio103706.html

29 June 2010 - 2010, Silverstone, Round 3, Photographs Courtsey Of Dennis Goodwin.

To view pictures from this round please visit Http://www.flickr.com/photos/dennisgoodwin/sets/72157624237578499/

22 June 2010 - Massive Entry For Fun Cup Race At Silverstone!

A staggering 33 cars entered for our race at Silverstone this weekend! For more information, visit the team line up section of our website.

22 June 2010 - Rockingham, Sky Sports TV Coverage - Amended Times

The Raceworld times have now changed. They are as follows:

Thurs 24th June: 7pm (Sky Sports 4) and 11pm (Sky SPorts 2)

Fri 25th June: 2.30am (Sky Sports 2), 10am (Sky Sports 2) and 1pm (Sky Sports 3)

Sun 27th June: 10.30am (Sky Sports 4)

18 June 2010 - Silverstone National - 25th and 26th June

Friday 25th June

All drivers must sign on at Race Administration (1st floor of Race Control) between 7.45am and 10.30am. Late signing on from the Innovation Centre which can be found by turning left at the roundabout before you access the venue – tall grey and glass building.

Exclusive Fun Cup Testing: 10.20 - 11.20 and 13.30 - 14.30

Saturday 26th June

Sign on: 08.30

Qualifying: 09.55 - 10.55

Race: 14.00 - 18.00

28 May 2010 - Spa Transport

If any teams need transport for their car(s) to the Spa 25 hour race in July, Beacon Racing have three spaces on their transporter. They have space for the car, plus spares and tools etc. The price is £450 plus vat.

If you are interested, please call Paul on 01538 306921.

27 May 2010 - Snetterton, 23rd and 24th April - Sky Sports TV Coverage

Just a reminder that highlights from round one at Snetterton are on ‘Raceworld’ tonight. They are on Sky Sports 3 from 6pm, Sky Sports 4 from 8 pm and again at Midnight. This is repeated tomorrow morning and afternoon. The first half of the show covers a different series from Silverstone, Fun Cup is on the second half of the show. A Fun Cup stand-alone half hour show from Snetterton is then on Motors TV at 7.35pm next Friday, repeated several times thereafter.

26 May 2010 - Rockingham Race Report

To read all about round 2 at Rockingham, please visit the newsletter section of the website and click on the end of May newsletter.

12 May 2010 - Rockingham,14th and 15th May - Important Information

1. Fuel Station – Opening Hours

Friday, 14th May: 10:00 – 11:00 and 15:00 – 16:00

Saturday, 15th May: 11:00 – 16:00

Payments accepted – credit card, debit card, cash (no cheques or amex cards accepted)

2. Rockingham Catering Van

Friday, 14th May: 07:30 – 15:00

Saturday, 15th May: 07:30 – 15:00 (or until trade ceases)

3. Briefing Room

Saturday, 15th May – garage 35/36 will be used for the mandatory driver’s briefing at 08.15

4. Sign on for the race will take place from 14.00 on Friday.

5. Scrutineering will take place from 14.00 – 18.00 on Friday. Please be aware that the scrutineers are doing us a favour by scrutineering on Friday, so please be helpful.

6. We will be using the International Supersports Car Circuit

7. The mandatory driver changes will take place every 35 minutes during the race. Cars must remain in the pit lane during the lunch break on race day. For further information please read your final instructions. Any questions will also be answered during drivers briefing.

8. Sign on for testing will take place from 09.00 – 12.00, in the Fun Cup hospitality awning.

9. The parts truck will be open as follows:

Thursday evening: Closed

Friday: 09.00 – 20.00

Saturday: 08.30 – Race end

Please remember to take any parts that you require for the Silverstone race, before the end of the Rockingham race.

11 May 2010 - Rockingham, 14th and 15th May - Ammended Timetable

Friday 14th May

Exclusive Fun Cup Testing: 10.00 - 17.00 (lunch break 13.00 - 14.00)

Saturday 15th May

Sign On: 07.30

Scrutineering: 07.30 - 08.30

Qualifying: 09.00 - 09.45

Race Part 1: 10.00 - 13.15

Lunch: 13.15 - 14.15

Race Part 2: 14.15 - 18.00

Part 1 is now for 3 hour 15 minutes to ensure that scheduled pit windows have closed in good time.

07 May 2010 - Rockingham, 14th and 15th May - Timetable

Friday 14th May

Exclusive Fun Cup Testing: 10.00 - 17.00 (lunch break 13.00 - 14.00)

Saturday 15th May

Sign On: 07.30

Scrutineering: 07.30 - 08.30

Qualifying: 09.00 - 09.45

Race Part 1: 10.00 - 13.00

Lunch: 13.00 - 14.00

Race Part 2: 14.00 - 18.00

28 April 2010 - Snetterton, 23rd and 24th April - Sky Sports TV Coverage

RACEWORLD (SKY SPORTS)

Thursday 27th May - 6pm (Sky Sports 3), 8pm (Sky Sports 4) and Midnight (Sky Sports 4)

Friday 28th May - 10am (Sky Sports 3) and 1pm (Sky Sports 3)

Saturday 29th May - 3am (Sky Sports 4)

MOTORS TV

The show will premier on Motors TV at 7.35pm on Friday 4th June and will be repeated several times during the following week.

20 April 2010 - Snetterton, 23rd and 24th April - Timetable

Friday 23rd April

Sign On: 11.00 onwards

Exclusive Fun Cup Testing: 12.35 - 13.35 and 17.15 - 18.15

Scrutineering: 18.00 - 20.30

Saturday 24th April

Sign On: 07.30

Qualifying: 09.00 - 10.00

All cars on grid: 11.25

Race: 12.00 - 16.00

12 April 2010 - 2010 End Of Season Fun Cup Party - Make A Note In Your Diaries!

Make a note in your diaries! The end of season party will be held on Saturday 6th November at the Hinckley Island Hotel in Leicester!

This event is renowned for its hilarity and Chris Hartley’s prize-giving is always a side-splitting spectacle not to be missed!

30 March 2010 - Snetterton, 23rd and 24th April - Exclusive Fun Cup Testing

Exclusive Fun Cup testing at Snetterton will take place from 12:35 – 13:35 and 17:15 - 18:15. All private teams must return the testing booking form to Roxie, no later than Monday 19th April. If you are a JPR Rental driver, this testing has been booked for you.

28 February 2010 - JPR Motorsport Is Thrilled To Be Appointed UK and Ireland Importer

JPR Motorsport is proud to announce its new association with the well established Dutch sports car manufacturer, Saker Sportscars. Based in the Netherlands, the Saker is an amazing spectacle which comprises two models: the immensely popular GT and the open top sprint. Both are two-seaters, boasting a mid mounted 2 litre, turbo charged boxer engine and restricted to 275BHP (353 BHP per tonne). The truly slick power house is a commanding yet ultra reliable machine, built for thrilling, affordable GT endurance racing. This is a highly exciting time for JPR, who will create a one make endurance championship with the slick Sportscars, in 2011.

The beauty of Saker is that it is an already well proven product, strongly established in Australia and the Netherlands for many years. The latter currently entering its sixth year of the hugely successful Saker Sports car Challenge, with over 65 cars having already been built.

The Saker has an outstanding appearance and is a pure racer that can easily compete with much more expensive race cars, like Porsche and BMW. It uses a strong space frame chassis with a GRP sectional bodywork, including gull-wing doors (GT model) and runs on Avon slicks.

Although JPR will create a one-make Championship in 2011, both the GT and Sprint can take part in all kinds of national/international race classes, with more manageable running costs than the other cars in the same category.

JPR, organisers since 2002 of the hugely successful and popular Fun Cup race series, will run the Saker Challenge side by side with the Fun Cup events.

Paul Rose, the UK’s Saker Championship Director, said: “Initially, we will run two one hour Saker Challenge races, the same weekend as our Fun Cup events. The Fun Cup is stronger than ever this year, with over eight new teams since the end of 2009, the stage is set for huge thirty plus grids. The addition of the Saker races at each event will not only enhance our meetings, but also enable Fun Cup drivers to sample Saker and vice versa.”

He added: “The Saker is a fantastic opportunity for drivers to compete in a stunning, powerful endurance car, with sensible running costs. I am excited at the prospect of welcoming both new and existing drivers into the Fun Cup for 2010 and new drivers into the Saker Challenge in 2011. Fun Cup is recognised for its friendly, fun nature off track, whilst the competition on track is extremely high. I have no doubt that the same will be achieved with the Saker challenge in the UK.”

Initially, JPR will be taking the car to test and track days, allowing perspective customers to experience the exhilaration of the Saker. They will be on sale from the 1st March.

For further information regarding the Saker Sportscars, please email paul@jprmotorsport.com, or call 01538 306921.

09 February 2010 - Nick Pascoe: 1957 - 2010

It is my very sad duty to inform you all of the death of Nick Pascoe . After battling with cancer for quite a few years, Nick sadly passed away at home, on Sunday 31st January 2010.

I am sure many of you will remember him as “Nutty Nick” and those of you who knew him well, will know exactly why he was so called. He joined Fun Cup at its inception in the UK in 2002 and raced in the series every year, until he became ill. We will remember him with great fondness and laughter.

Nick has been the nucleus of many hilarious, if not side splitting moments, within Fun Cup.

A few that immediately spring to mind are where Nick turned up to the end of season party wearing a pink bunny suit. The event was in fact “Black Tie”, but we gave him his own special invitation, stating that the event was fancy dress. In true “Nutty Nick” spirit he turned up in a pink bunny suit and kept it on, even when he realised we had played a joke on him.

Another hilarious moment, was when Nick donned his batman outfit on the ferry from Spa to Dover , after the 25 hour race. There was no reason whatsoever for him to wear the outfit, it was just typical “Nutty Nick” antics, unless of course it really was Batman!

Like many of us, Nick enjoyed a “noggin” or two and on one such occasion, after several “noggins” was asked if he had a drink problem. He replied, “only when I run out!”.

I am sure many of you will have your own memories of him to treasure.

All that remains is for me to offer my deepest condolences to his wife Tracy and the family.

If you wish to attend the Funeral, it is on Thursday 11th February, 2.30pm, at Guildford Crematorium, New Pond Road, Godalming, Surrey GU7 3DB. The reception will be at the Drummond Arms, The Street, Albury, Guildford, GU5 9AG.

04 February 2010 - Spa 25 Hours 11th and 12th July - Extra Sky Sports TV Covergae

There will be some repeat showings of Spa 2009 on Raceworld. Air times as follows:

Raceworld feat. Spa 25 Hours 2009 - part 1 Thursday 11th Feb - 5pm & midnight (Sky Sports 4)

Friday 12th Feb - 12.30pm (Sky Sports 2)

Saturday 13th Feb - 1pm (Sky Sports 4)

Raceworld feat. Spa 25 Hours 2009 - part 2 Thursday 18th Feb - 7pm (Sky Sports 4) & 11pm (Sky Sports 2)

Friday 9th Feb - 10am (Sky Sports 4)

02 February 2010 - Fun Cup - Important Information

At Fun Cup we respect your privacy and as such we have implemented new procedures for the distribution of our newsletters via mail about the Fun Cup Series and the Fun Cup Website at http://www.funcup.co.uk . If you are a rental driver and wish to continue to receive information regarding Track Days, race days, race time tables, and newsletters etc, please click on the link below and enter your email address.

http://www.funcup.co.uk/hire_drivers_newsletter.html

Alternatively, if you are a general driver, please click on the following link:

http://www.funcup.co.uk/drivers_newsletter.html

Once you have entered your email address and clicked the “Do it Now!” button you will receive an email to the email address you gave to confirm you have subscribed, please click on the link in that email to confirm your subscription.

In order to comply with current legislation you can unsubscribe at any time on the front page of our website. Thank you for your co-operation in this matter.

21 January 2010 - Oulton Park Track Day - Friday 19th February

If you wish to test a petrol Fun Cup car, we will be attending a track day at Oulton Park International on February 19th. For further information, or to book, please email roxie@funcup.co.uk

11 January 2010 - Provisional Calendar Updates

Please check the provisional calendar section of the website for the latest 2010 updates.

08 January 2010 - Fun Cup UK To Exhibit at Autosport International Show

Fun Cup UK will be exhibiting a car at the Autosport International Show, on the 14th - 17th January at the NEC, Birmingham. If you are attending the show please do come and see us, we will be in hall six, stand number 6400.

04 January 2010 - Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you all, from everyone at Fun Cup UK.

24 November 2009 - Fun Cup Hosts Celebrity Drivers at Snetterton

It was great to see Ben Collins racing in the Fun Cup at Snetterton and Jay Kay, who competed in his first ever motor race at the event.

18 November 2009 - Fun Cup End Of Season Party

It is nearly time to celebrate a fantastic 2009 Fun Cup season in style, at the end of season party!

The event, at the Hinckley Island Hotel, Leicester, will start at 7.30 pm in the Triumph Bar, where we will all meet for drinks. We will then move into the Westminster and Piccadilly Suite at 8pm where the party will truly begin!

I look forward to seeing many of you there. If you need to order more tickets, please email Roxie, at roxie@funcup.co.uk asap.

04 November 2009 - Anglesey, Oulton Park and Snetterton - Sky Sports TV Coverage

Please find below the viewing dates and times for the Fun Cup round at Oulton Park and the next round at Snetterton.

RACEWORLD EP 33, FEAT. FUN CUP OULTON PARK

Thurs 19th Nov: 5pm (Sky Sports 2), 7pm (Sky Sports Xtra) and Midnight (Sky SPorts Xtra)

Fri 20th Nov: 4am (Sky Sports 3), 10am (Sky Sports 3) and 5pm (Sky Sports Xtra)

Sat 21st Nov: 6am (Sky Sports Xtra)

RACEWORLD EP 36, FEAT. FUN CUP SNETTERTON

Thurs 10th Dec: 6pm (Sky Sports Xtra) and Midnight (Sky Sports Xtra)

Fri 11th Dec: Midday (Sky Sports 3), 3pm (Sky Sports 3) and 5pm (Sky Sports Xtra)

Sat 12th Dec: 6am (Sky Sports Xtra)

Sun 13th Dec: 2.30am (Sky Sports Xtra)

Please also find below, viewing dates and times for the Motors TV one hour compilation, featuring Anglesey, Oulton Park and the forthcoming event at Snetterton:

Sat 28th Nov: 4pm

Sun 29th Nov: Half-past Midnight and Midday

Mon 30th Nov: 11.25pm

Tue 1st Dec: 6pm

Wed 2nd Dec: 2.35am

Wed 9th Dec: 9.15pm

30 October 2009 - Snetterton, 13th and 14th November - Timetable

Friday 13th November

Exclusive Fun Cup Testing: 10.00 - 16.00

Night Qualifying: 17.15 - 18.15

Saturday 14th November

Day Qualifying: 09.00 - 09.40

Sprint Race: 10.10 - 10.55

Lunch: 11.20 - 12.20

Day Into Night Race: 12.20 - 18.20

27 October 2009 - Oulton Park International, 16th and 17th October - Race Report , by Tim Arnold

Please visit the following link http://timarnold.com/component/content/article/3-history/21-oultonfuncup.html, to read about Outlon Park from Tim Arnold s view point. Tim is an Ards instructor and Oulton Park was his first ever Fun Cup race.

26 October 2009 - Oulton Park International, 16th and 17th October - Fundraising

I am thrilled to reveal that the grand total raised at Oulton Park for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, was a superb £6,697.63.

Thanks to all of you who donated, many children with life threatening illnesses will now be able to look forward to some very special and memorable events. You are a truly amazing and generous group of people. Your kindness will make a massive difference to the lives of these children and we simply can not thank you enough.

Special thanks go to Bram de Groot, Frank Johns, Austin Reynolds, Mark Owen, Terrance Woodward, Dominic Jackson, Andrew Beverley, Ben Gill, Tim Wheeldon, Graham Pattle, Paul Rose, Ally McKever, Harry Vaulkhard, Victor Buchannan, Jim (Martindales), Chris Hartley, Richard Ince, CCS Media and Tegan Ramsey.

26 October 2009 - Oulton Park International 17th October - Photographs

If you have any pictures from the event, which you would like adding to the website, please email them to roxie@funcup.co.uk

Thank you to David Goose, Rachel Bourne, Nualla Scully, Norman Hayes, Tim Williams, Marvin Hall and Chris Hall for providing some fantastic pictures of the event.

26 October 2009 - Oulton Park International 17th October, Race Report

TDI Classification

On the 17th October, thirty Fun Cup teams arrived at Cheshire’s Oulton Park, for what proved a to be a dramatic penultimate round showdown.

Having traced the cause of the dire handling at Anglesey to a cracked chassis, car 147, Team Honeywell, was intent on a podium finish for the four hour race.

Honeywell’s ever strong line up of Neil Plimmer and Geoff Fawcett had a poor grid draw of 23rd, after the random ballot.

Plimmer settled in strongly at the start and climbed steadily through the field to 7th during the first forty minute stint. He then handed over to Fawcett and the pair consolidated each others hard work, running in the top five throughout the second and third hours of the race.

Plimmer took over for stint five and took the lead from JPR Motorsport car 131, before being handed a devastating stop and go penalty, for speeding in the pit lane, pushing him back to 7th.

A charge back to 2nd before the final pit stop, brought about a decision to double stint Plimmer for the final session.

Having snatched the lead from car 252, Happy Racing, a second stop and go penalty for speeding once again, dropped the team back to 4th, with only twenty minutes remaining.

With the pressure of a victory firmly on Plimmer’s shoulders, he proved his worth as a quick peddler, snatching the lead from Austin Reynolds in the 245 Team RAM car, to take a ten second lead, well clear of the field.

Neil Plimmer, said: "The strategy the team employed and the driver s pace and determination to overcome the additional stops brought about a very satisfying team result".

In car 245, Team RAM s two driver line up consisted of Austin Reynolds and Mark Owen, minus RAM regular, Richard Ince.

The pair had a lucky grid draw, starting in 3rd position and after the first lap, Owen was dominating the race.

With both drivers putting in strong consistent lap times during their stints, Team RAM were hopeful and remained in the top five throughout the race, despite an unscheduled pit stop to repair a damaged exhaust.

With only one pit stop remaining and a number of front running cars abusing the pit lane speed limit, a handful of stop and go penalties were dished out, all landing in Team RAM’s favour.

The atmosphere was tense in the RAM pit garage, as Reynolds was now in the lead, with only half an hour remaining. But, handling problems dashed all hopes of that elusive first victory, as Plimmer’s charge into the lead demoted Reynolds and Owen onto the second step of the podium.

In car 251, Team “Cuisine de France / SPAR” raced to their third podium of the year.

Driven by Richard, Marc and Ian Connell with the addition of Franck Pelle, the team crossed the line after four hours just thirteen seconds behind the winners.

They drew a disappointing 26th place on the grid and Pelle had stormed into 18th place by the end of lap one, before handing over to Marc Connell in 15th spot for the second stint.

Marc Connell settled down quickly, putting in quick times and moving into 11th place, while Richard Connell continued the solid work by powering into 8th at the half way point.

They remained competitive in the second half of the race and were running in 5th place with one hour to go, but like Team Honeywell and many others, fell victim to the pit lane speed gun and were forced to take a ‘stop and go’ penalty, for exceeding the pit lane speed limit.

This dropped them back to 7th, but with many other teams punished for breaking the pit lane speed limit, Richard Connell took advantage and moved to 3rd overall, to take the chequered flag.

Ian Connell, said: “Thanks to our engineer Stuart, plus Mike, Pete, Steve and all the Solutions Racing Team who did a fantastic job running and preparing the car on race day. Thanks also to Connell Racing crew members, Marvin who did our refuelling and Mike and Emma who ran the race strategy from the pit wall.”

Petrol Classification

JPR Motorsport, car 110, was driven by Ed Cole, in his third outing this season, Angus Ashton in his first endurance race and ex saloon car racer, Chris Weatherill.

Cole started 14th and was 9th by the second corner, Cascades, and stormed ahead of key rivals (and Spa team mates) Credit Crunch Racing, a few laps later when Wheeldon was forced into an error exiting Island Bend into Shell hairpin.

Ashton played it cool with consistent lap times for his middle stint and Weatherill picked up the pace in stint three.

The safety car was out for a prolonged period in stint four when Cole was driving, which enabled some ground to be gained on second placed Credit Crunch car 103 and JPR Motorsport car 102 in first place. Another steady session by Ashton, left it to Weatherill in the final stint to catch and pass both Credit Crunch and also car 102 on the second to last lap, taking the honours as winning petrol car and highest placed JPR rental team, finishing 6th overall.

However, a jubilant team were disappointed to learn that due to the rear wing being a fraction outside the technical specification, a disqualification ensued.

Ed Cole, said: “ Second and third placed Teams 103 JPR/Credit Crunch and JPR 102 were very sporting in saying that we had won fair and square. We live to fight another day!”

JPR Motorsport, car 102, had a strong line up of Radical racers, Jon White and Rob Wheldon.

It was only the second Fun Cup race for the team who were incredibly lucky to be drawn on pole.

Wheldon took the first stint, losing three places to the faster diesels, but was impressive and kept them in his sight.

After fifteen minutes racing and a twenty second lead, the safety car was deployed, which cancelled Wheldon’s hard work. But, the experienced racer soon pulled back a ten second lead when racing commenced.

White enjoyed an action packed stint, before handing back to Wheldon, who was flying and pestering the front running diesels again!

The duo were on the long list of teams to succumb to the ‘stop and go’ penalty for speeding in the pit lane and so their twenty second lead in the last stint, dwindled to a mere six seconds, with only ten minutes of the race left.

White, who was at the wheel for the final stint and leading the petrol class, was being rapidly hunted down by the 2nd placed petrol of car 110, JPR Motorsport and with two laps to go, the mounting pressure proved too much, as he locked up going into the chicane and could only try in vain to keep up with the new leaders, car 110, JPR Motorsport, as they flew past him and down the straight.

Jon White, said: “I was devastated to lose 1st with only two laps to go and a huge amount of mick taking then followed, which was well deserved! It was a hollow turn of events when car 110 was found to have a low rear wing and we returned to 1st.”

The JPR Motorsport/Credit Crunch team have been strong all year in car 103. Tim Wheeldon, Nigel Griffiths and Dominic Jackson have proved themselves a force to be reckoned with in the petrol class.

But, Friday’s testing was a tense time for the trio, when Griffiths planted the car into the barrier at the exit of Cascades and the JPR mechanics joined forces until 3am on Saturday, to make sure the car was ready for the race.

Wheeldon made a great start, taking three cars before the first corner to move up to an overall 8th position. He managed to move up to 2nd place in the petrol class by the end of his stint, having kept several of the leading diesel cars in his sights.

Griffiths took to the track with the team in 3rd petrol position and 8th overall.

Griffiths revealed: “As far as my race goes, apart from feeling a bit of a ‘numpty’ for smashing the car to bits the race actually went very well. On exiting the pits, I immediately started dicing with Mark Hope in JPR car 101. Eventually, we both settled down and pushed each other to quicker and quicker times and I eventually overtook him in some traffic.”

The race progressed with the team continuously changing between 2nd and 3rd petrol position.

It was a nervous final stint for the team, as the times showed Jackson obviously had a mechanical problem. However, he drove round it and brought the car home safely in 3rd place.

Tim Wheeldon, said: “After four wins out of six it is testament to the standard the team have achieved this year. Unfortunately for car 110 the chequered flag wasn t the end of the race: the scrutineers had a surprise in store when they disqualified them, which promoted us to 2nd petrol and 7th overall.”

He added: “Particular thanks after this race go to the JPR mechanics for pulling out all the stops and working so hard into the early hours to get 103 back on the track and also to the support team. Thank you also, to Rick and Jonny who had to go back JPR H.Q. base for parts to fix the car”.

Alistair Stenhouse and Steve Darbay had the worst luck with the grid draw, as their car 41, Prestige Motorsport, was drawn last.

Stenhouse had a clean start. During the first couple of laps he climbed up to 19th and between them, they progressed steadily to 13th place by the second hour.

Darbay was running behind the top three in the petrol class, just behind the leading diesel car, when the safety car came out for the first time, which meant they lost a lap from the other front petrol runners.

After some swift pitstops and helpful pitwall management from their Bubble and Kick race crew, the pair managed to move up behind the top three again, only to be caught behind the safety car once more.

Alistair Stenhouse, said: “We refused to be defeated. The car never missed a beat thanks to the tuning by JPR and the set up by Guy”. He added “We were able to put in some consistent times and gain another couple of places before the end of the race, finishing in 3rd for the petrol class and 10th overall.”

Steve Darbay, said: "We came home feeling that we had had one of the hardest chases this season, but grinning just the same!”

JPR Motorsport/Team Norsound, car 101, won the “Highest Placed JPR Rental Team” award in the diesel class. Drivers Mark Hope and Steve Johansen finished 9th overall.

In car 102, Jon White and Rob Wheldon took the award for the “Highest Placed JPR Rental Team” in the petrol class, with a 6th place overall.

Phil Martindale set the fastest diesel lap with a 2:03.074, in car 0, for the Martindale’s team.

The fastest petrol lap was a 2:04.306 by Rob Wheldon, in JPR Motorsport car 102.

21 October 2009 - Oulton Park International, 16th and 17th October - Race Report

Visit www.brscc.co.uk for a race report from Oulton Park.

06 October 2009 - Oulton Park International, 16th and 17th October - Provisional Timetable

Friday 16th October

General Testing: 09.35 - 10.05

General Testing: 10.50 - 11.25

Fun Cup Exclusive Testing: 11.30 - 12.30

Lunch: 12.30 - 13.30

Fun Cup Exclusive Testing: 13.30 - 14.30

General Testing: 15.10 - 15.40

General Testing: 16.20 - 16.50

Saturday 17th October

Sign On: 08.10

Scrutineering: 08.10 - 08.30

Qualifying: 09.35 - 10.35

Grid Walk: 13.30 - 13.50

Race: 14.00 - 18.00

29 September 2009 - Anglesey 29th August - Sky Sports TV Coverage

Please find below the dates for the Anglesey TV coverage, which will be shown on Sky Sports’ “Raceworld” programme:

Thurs 22nd October - 5pm (Sky Sports Xtra), 7pm (Sky Sports 3) and 10pm (Sky Sports Xtra)

Fri 23rd October - 10am (Sky Sports 2), 1pm (Sky Sports 3) and 4pm (Sky Sports 3)

Sat 24th October - 6am (Sky Sports Xtra) and 10am (Sky Sports Xtra)

15 September 2009 - Fun Cup - BRSCC North Western Website

Please visit the following link on the BRSCC North Western website, to read about the Fun Cup race at Anglesey on the 29th August 2009: http://www.brscc.co.uk/latest-news/156-gallic-flair-brings-funcup-victory.html

02 September 2009 - Donington - Cancelled!

It is with regret that our race at Donington Park on September 12th will no longer go ahead. This is a huge shame for Fun Cup, as we anticipated forty plus cars on the grid, with thirteen foreign entries already confirmed, as well as thirty UK entries at least. However, we hope to replace Donington Park with a day into night race on November 14th at Snetterton, so please keep this date free. Once we have confirmation of this race, you will be informed immediately. I hope that the cancellation of Donington Park has not caused too much inconvenience for any Fun Cup teams, but sadly, as I am sure you can appreciate, the situation is beyond our control. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01538 306921.

01 September 2009 - Anglesey International 29th August, Race Report

TDI Classification

On the 29th of August, twenty four Fun Cup teams moved to the west coast of Anglesey, to compete on the technically challenging costal circuit.

Car 251,Team Cuisine de France/SPAR, driven by Ian and Marc Connell along with Frank Pelle, raced to their second victory of the year in the fourth round of the 2009 UK Fun Cup season, in their TDI.

They drew 10th place on the grid, after the random grid draw and Pelle took the start. By the end of lap one he was already up to 3rd place, before moving into the lead on lap four. By the end of his stint he had put in a great drive to extend his lead to sixteen seconds, before handing over to Marc Connell.

Marc Connell settled down quickly, putting in very good times to increase the lead to over thirty seconds, before handing over to Ian Connell. He suffered in his stint with changeable weather conditions, which made the circuit slippery and a safety car period closed everyone back up again. Deciding to be very cautious in these conditions, rather than make an error, he dropped to 3rd, six seconds behind the new leaders, car 245 Team Ram, but was confident that Pelle and his son had the pace to lead again when conditions improved.

By the end of hour four, Pelle brought the car back up to second behind car 252 Happy Racing, handing over to Marc Connell, who took an immediate lead with a quicker pit stop. Just after this, car 252 Happy Racing unfortunately crashed out of the race, after losing their brakes at the end of the back straight.

By the final hour Pelle was back in the car and leading now, by over a full lap. However, the team were worried about rear tyre wear, so just fifteen minutes from the end, they pitted to make a precautionary rear tyre change.

The race now ran the last few minutes with the team around one minute ahead of car 245 Team RAM, to give them a great win on Ian Connell’s birthday!

He said: “Thanks to our engineer Stuart, plus Mike, Pete, Steve and all the Solutions Racing Team who did a fantastic job running and preparing the car on race day. Thanks also to Connell Racing crew members, Marvin who did our refueling and Mike who ran the race strategy from the pit wall.”

With a grid draw of 4th playing into their hands, Richard Ince and Austin Reynolds were immediately on the pace and when Mark Owen finished his first stint at the halfway point, car 245 Team RAM were leading the race.

“Richmond Racing prepared the car superbly, and we were pleased to do all their hard work justice. Hopefully we can go one better at the next round at Oulton Park.” Paul McManus, Team Manager.

In the 211 Track Torque car, Tim Hartland made a shaky start from 12th on the grid. However, he settled into a rhythm in accordance with the team plan, and worked his way up to 6th place without breaking into a sweat.

Nick Jarvis, impressive in his first season of racing, took the wheel for the second hour and chiselled away at his lap times to great effect, but still the car remained mired between 6th and 8th place.

It became clear that if the team were going to put the car into contention for a result, a change of strategy was required and Neil Primrose climbed aboard with instructions to throw caution to the wind.

For the next four hours, all three drivers drove flat-out, pulling back over a lap to close the gap to the front of the field. As Primrose strapped himself in for the final hour, the car was into 5th position and hard on the heels of their 104 sister car in 4th place, which he quickly dispatched.

The car was running like a Swiss watch and getting faster with every lap, but with time running out and with the leaders, cars 251 Cuisine de France/SPAR, 131 JPR Motorsport and 245 Team RAM all turning in quick laps, it appeared that 4th place was to be as far as the 211 car would go.

However, luck was on their side when the 2nd placed, car 131 JPR Motorsport, cruised past the pits at half speed with their driver Steve Harris gesticulating at his crew. A lap later Harris was forced to pit having miscalculated his fuel strategy, which promoted Primrose to 3rd place until the flag.

Fastest lap in the diesel class was a 1.21.853, set by Mark Owen in car 245 Team RAM.

Car 101, Team Norsound, won the “Highest Placed JPR Rental Team” trophy for the diesel class, finishing in 9th overall. Congratulations to Steve Johansen, Mark Hope and Dan Jones.

Petrol Classification

Starting 21st on the grid, Nigel Griffiths took up the challenge of starting the race for JPR Motorsport/Credit Crunch Racing in car 103. He pulled past a couple of cars, before being caught in an incident with car 190 my.handle.com, who were spinning after some contact and collected Griffiths as he tried to go around the outside.

Griffiths lost the front splitter, which introduced masses of understeer and after forty minutes the team were in 7th place.

Jackson then took over followed by Wheeldon, who put in some very hard driving and pushed car 103 to its limits, taking the team to 4th overall.

It seemed the podium would elude the team, however, until the penultimate driver change brought about a break in the status quo. Jackson maintained the low 1:23 s and shortly before he finished his session, misfortune further up the field gifted them with 3rd place.

Wheeldon took the wheel for the final drive in 3rd place and sixty eight seconds down on 2nd place. Car 107, with brothers Arran and Kristian and father Paul Rose were in the lead, followed closely by Track Torque car 104.

Suddenly what seemed an inevitable finish and a predictable race end turned into a tense battle between the top three. The team watched Wheeldon drive mercilessly through the field to catch Track Torque car 104. Within moments of narrowing the gap to within sight of them, Wheeldon had drafted his rival down the straight and confidently outbraked him into Rocket. By the time the team caught sight of him round the bend on the other side of the hill he was approaching the corkscrew in 2nd place with a comfortable gap.

The last thirty minutes of Anglesey for Credit Crunch Racing was a thrilling battle for 1st place, between them and car 107 JPR Motorsport. In the JPR Motorsport car, Arran Rose, was suffering from a new set of tyres which were changed during brother Kristian’s previous session and was slowing, with Wheeldon approaching fast.

He chased relentlessly until the gap was only three seconds. Wheeldon had ten minutes to hold on and overtake.

“Some help came when Arran was involved in a collision with car 214 team Tiger, which sent Arran spinning into Rocket. I passed him and moved into 1st place petrol and 4th overall and I’m delighted, as that is where we finished.” Tim Wheeldon.

“The team would like to take this opportunity to thank their outstanding mechanic Henry, Chris Weatherill for his excellent management and strategy, their pit wall team”. Tim Wheeldon.

They were also awarded the trophy for “Highest Placed JPR Rental Team”, in the petrol class.

And so, it was car 107, JPR Motorsport who took 2nd placed for the petrol class.

Regular Fun Cup driver Alex Ashby, was joined in the 104 Track Torque car by John Chambers, a senior ARDS instructor from Brands Hatch and David Webb. This was to be not only David’s first experience of Fun Cup, but also his first ever motor race.

Car 104: From left, Track Torque racers Alex Ashby, David Webb and John Chambers.

The 104 car drew 3rd on the grid and Ashby took the first stint. He pushed hard trying to make up the lost places, but spun at Rocket on the 13th lap, dropping back to 13th place. From there, he made a brilliant recovery, ending up 5th overall and second in the petrol class at the end of the first hour.

Chambers took over the second stint, putting in consistently quick lap times, which moved them up to 4th overall and 1st in the petrol class as he handed over to Webb.

Halfway through the stint, the safety car came out which allowed both JPR Motorsport cars 103 and 107 to run round to the back of the convoy to put them nearly a lap down and they finished the stint as the 4th petrol car.

Ashby put in a fantastic second stint bringing them back to 6th overall and 2nd in class. Chambers took the 5th stint and with some quick lap times and another safety car, which was in their favour, they were able to unlap themselves from the 103 and 107 JPR Motorsport cars, to hand over to Webb in 4th overall, as the leading petrol car.

Partway through the stint, Webb was overhauled by the JPR Motorsport 103 and 107 cars, but he pushed on and looked about to re-take 2nd in class when he spun at the foot of the corkscrew. He made a brilliant recovery to finish 6th overall, clocked a 1:23.4 lap time and was only nine seconds behind the 2nd placed petrol car.

In the petrol class, Track Torque’s Alex Ashby recorded the fastest lap, with a 1.22.397, in car 104.

26 August 2009 - World Cup 2009

The World Cup will be held at Misano on the 21st and 22nd November at Misano, in Italy. We are awaiting confirmation of the race duration and timetable. Once we have more information, it will be added to the latest news.

20 August 2009 - Anglesey International - Driver s Briefing

There will be a briefing for all drivers at 9am on Saturday 29th August in the bar/restaurant.

All drivers MUST attend.

14 August 2009 - Anglesey International 28th and 29th August - Provisional Timetable

Friday 28th August

Exclusive Testing (Private Teams): 10.00 - 17.00

Exclusive Testing (JPR Rental Drivers): 14.00 - 16.00 (If you wish to book exta testing, please email roxie@funcup.co.uk)

Lunch: 13.00 - 14.00

Saturday 29th August

Sign On: 08.25

Scrutineering: 08.30 - 09.00

Qualifying: 10.00 - 11.00

Race: 11.55 - 17.55

24 July 2009 - Spa 25 Hours 11th and 12th July - Sky Sports TV Covergae

Please find below the dates for the Spa TV coverage, which will be shown on Sky Sports’ “Raceworld” programme, in two parts:

Part One:

Thurs 30th July: 7pm (Sky Sports Xtra), Midnight (Sky Sports 2)

Friday 31st July: Midday (Sky Sports 3)

Sunday 1st August: 5am (Sky Sports 3)

Plus, it will be available on “Sky Anytime” from Monday the 27th July, until Sunday 2nd August.

Part Two:

Thurs 13th Aug: 6.30pm (Sky Sports 3)

Fri 14th Aug: 1.30am (Sky Sports 2), 10.30am (Sky Sports 2), 1pm (Sky Sports 3) and 3pm (Sky Sports 3)

Sat 15th Aug: 4am (Sky Sports Xtra) and 6am (Sky Sports Xtra)

Sun 16th Aug: 4.30am (Sky Sports Xtra)

It will also be shown as a stand-alone one hour show on Motors TV in August on the following dates:

Sat 15th Aug: 7pm

Sun 16th Aug: 2pm

Mon 17th Aug: 7.05pm

Weds 19th Aug: 6am and 9.15pm

Thurs 20th Aug: 4pm

Fri 21st Aug: 11am

Also, don’t forget that all the TV coverage will be added to our You Tube site. Please visit it at the following link http://www.youtube.com/thefuncup

24 July 2009 - Spa 25 Hours 11th and 12th July, Race Report

On the 11th and 12th July 2009, one hundred and fifty one Fun Cup teams from across Europe and a staggering seven hundred and twenty one drivers from around the world gathered at the prestigious Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, to compete in the world’s longest race, the 25 hours of Spa.

TDI Classification – UK Teams

For car 211, Track Torque, qualifying in 24th place after two days at Spa was a brilliant result for the team. The driver line up consisted of Tim Hartland, Neil Primrose, Simon Ward and Graham Howells.

The race began at 16.00 on Saturday and their car was placed nicely on the hill, two places behind the 106 Track Torque sister car, driven by Ross Kaiser, along with team mates James Swift, John Stanley and Bob George.

From the start, Hartland pushed hard and managed to reach 11th place until just before the end of his first stint, when he pitted with a puncture to the right rear. The wheel was changed, extremely quickly, by the pit crew, who had just completed a full engine change on car 106 in just under an hour.

The incident occurred so early in the race that it was costly in terms of places and knocked car 211 back into 44th place. Back on track, Hartland claimed back ten places before the end of his session.

Graham Howells took over from Hartland for only his second race in a Fun Cup car, and put in some very consistent laps times to bring the car further up the field, prior to handing over to 2009 Fun Cup regular, Simon Ward. Ward set about the field in an aggressive first stint, posting some of his best times of the weekend and carrying them into the change to the night drive.

During the last twenty minutes of Ward’s stint, he collided with a spinner, which left the light bar illuminating most things at Spa except the track!!

Primrose took over and suffered a little for the first part of his stint, but as his eyes became accustomed to the dark produced by the light bar and as he started to use trees and stars as braking references, the lap times came down again.

“A pattern was beginning to emerge for the team, as we moved into the drivers second stints. Places were being gained in each session, up to eight at a time, but we were losing maybe four or five during refuelling and each driver change. It also gave us a chance to do a visual check on the completeness of the refuelling, as last year we noticed that on the odd occasion in their rush to get going again, drivers inadvertently fuelled a few litres short of the maximum. That caused us to run out last year, so we were paranoid this year.” Clive Reay-Young, Team Manager.

He added: “Thankfully, incidents through the rest of the night were few and the drivers kept things together incredibly well with consistent lap times, which helped them continue the climb through the field. There were only two minor problems, the first during the first serious rain shower, when the right hand windscreen wiper flew off as Tim hit the ‘on’ switch. The second, when the rear lights failed during Simon’s second stint. A rapid message was posted on the pit board to turn on the rear fog light, which fortunately satisfied race control, leaving Simon to complete his stint one hour later, as dawn was just starting to break.”

The early morning was handled by Primrose and then Hartland, who then handed over to Howelles, for an extremely wet session. Howelles brought the car home at the end of his stint lying in 11th place overall and 4th placed British car. It was a great drive through some miserable conditions.

“He handled the car superbly, and brought it home, just as importantly, without any damage”. Clive Reay-Young.

With just under six hours to go, Ward took his last stint and with the track now drying, most team’s lap times started to fall again and as a result, safety car incidents rose. Ward, however, lying in 3rd place for the Brits, pushed hard in a controlled, strong stint, to make the changeover with Track Torque’s 106 car.

“This was the one time in the whole race where we did not suffer on safety cars. On every other occasion we either lost ground to the car in front, or a safety car was deployed five minutes after a re-fuel and driver change. However, this time the car came out as ours turned into the re-fuelling area.” Clive Reay-Young.

The team then made a decision to hold onto 3rd place and forget everything else.

“We were four laps ahead of the next placed British car and two and a half laps behind the 1st placed British car, with four hours to go. The strategy was to hold the position to the end and hope that further places would come to us. Finishing the race was so important for our team”. Clive Reay-Young.

So, Hartland went out and against all his instincts put in measured laps of around three minutes and twelve seconds, lap after lap, which helped them to maintain position, until car 251 Cuisine de France/SPAR suffered a mechanical fault, bringing them into the pits followed, not long after, by another top British contender, Team RAM, enabling car 211 to move into 1st place British car.

Primrose took over for the last stint under the same instructions. Lying 6th overall and 1st British team, his job was clear, he had to bring the car home!

The Belgian car 46, Dubois Racing, was lying in 7th and closing at around three seconds per lap, but Primrose put instincts aside and let them through rather than risking the car. But, there was no great loss, as the Cornelis car, at the front of the field, failed and 6th place was restored.

The last two hours seemed to last forever for the team, but as Neil crossed the line in 6th overall and as 1st placed British diesel team, the Track Torque crew all enthusiastically celebrated on the pit wall, as victory was finally theirs. This really was a superb team effort, from Track Torque and the drivers.

“Special mention has to be made about the pit crew, who during the course of the race, kept three cars in it to the end, including, a complete engine change, in just under an hour, a gearbox change in twenty five minutes and full brake and tyre change on three cars. Thanks also to JPR for all the organisation and support before and during Spa. I am now looking forward to Anglesey and sleep!” Clive Reay-Young.

In 2nd place for the Brits, it was last year’s overall winners, car 131, JPR Motorsport.

The 2009 driver line up consisted of British drivers Paul Rose, Steve Harris and the Scottish Ally McKever, with the addition of the Belgian Gilles Debrus.

They qualified on the 7th row and Rose was given the duty of starting the race. He maintained a steady pace to keep near the front of the pack, but luck was not on their side quite the same as it was last year. A collision in his first stint meant that they had to change the front body when he pitted to hand over to Debrus and this was only the start of many lost minutes in the pit lane.

At 22.00 Harris took over from Debrus for his first stint and was sandwiched between two cars, which damaged the left rear and forced him to pit for twenty seven minutes, whilst the mechanics changed the rear suspension.

Harris was unlucky once more on Sunday when two front left wheel studs fell out during his next stint and again, he had no option but to pit.

Mckever’s second to last stint brought the team more misfortune, as he was hit by a fellow British team, damaging the right rear suspension forcing another pit stop to change it and costing twenty five minutes.

After this time, Rose, Debrus and Harris all had incident free stints and with Harris handing over to McKever for the final few stint of the race, they were looking strong for a UK podium, despite their previous troubles. However, McKever was still tested as he had to pit, again, with a front left puncture and lost further time in the pits. Despite their many unnecessary pit stops, they still finished 12th overall and 2nd placed British diesel team.

After two 3rd place UK finishes in four previous attempts at the 25 hour race, Team RAM came to Spa with the 2008 driver team line-up of Austin Reynolds, Mark Owen and Richard Ince, as well as Austin Kinsella, who had raced with the team in 2005 and 2007. With the car prepared by Richmond Racing, they were strong in qualifying and Mark Owen posted a time quick enough to qualify on the fifth row of the grid.

Owen took the start and avoided trouble, whilst steadily climbing through the field. By lap twenty five he had taken the overall lead of the race, where he stayed until the first scheduled stop.

Although Owen’s early fast pace was impossible to maintain, the car ran consistently in the top ten throughout the first ten hours, until disaster struck just after 03.00 with a clutch problem, when the car was in 6th place. An eighteen minute pitstop followed, which forced the team down to 27th place after one hundred and sixty five laps.

Throughout the following ten hours, a series of consistent drives took the car back into the top ten and leading British team. However, just after 13.15 and with less than four hours of the race remaining, Kinsella experienced complete brake failure, and a thirty six minute pitstop to diagnose and sort the problem, which once again saw the car drop out of the top twenty.

With all hope of winning the British class diminishing, the main priority was to now finish the race and with this in mind, the car was brought home safely by Austin Reynolds in 17th place overall and 3rd UK diesel car.

Austin Reynolds said: “To finish on the podium for the third time in five attempts and to get our best overall classification was a great achievement, but we’ll be back next year to do even better.”

Petrol Classification – UK Teams

In Car 103, JPR Motorsport’s Credit Crunch Racing team were upbeat and optimistic about Spa. Their 2009 driver line-up consisted of UK regulars Tim Wheeldon, Nigel Griffiths and Dominic Jackson, with the addition of 2008 regular, Eddy Cole.

Thursday saw an extremely successful testing session with Tim setting a 3:09, before the rain and traffic dampened any hope of improving times.

Unfortunately, the sessions were plagued by yellow flags and 60 mph restrictions and Cole was denied an opportunity to put in a fast lap and was to suffer the same issues during qualifying on the Friday.

However, the drivers remained positive throughout qualifying, even though the rain and several safety cars prevented a replication of Testing times. Jackson managed a 3:11.4, which placed them 86th on the starting grid.

The team gathered at 13.30 on the Saturday for a final briefing and run through of the fuel strategy. By 15:30 all were assembled on the starting grid with a nervous Wheeldon, who was the first driver. He needn t have worried, as a few seconds into the race and he had progressed to a position in the early seventies and was climbing quickly.

A few laps into the race, one of the Belgian cars ran out of talent into Les Combes and hit Wheeldon, pushing him off the circuit and dropping about seven places, which were quickly regained.

Luckily, the car suffered no damage, but within a few minutes the first casualties of contact were appearing in the pit lane, reaffirming the team s plans to keep out of trouble.

By the end of his first session, a much calmer Wheeldon handed over to Jackson, who continued to improve positions, despite safety cars and worsening damp conditions. His lap times were on par with the leading petrol cars and better than many of the diesels.

By the time Griffiths commenced his first session, it was becoming apparent who the team would be competing with, for petrol podiums. The British cars 214 Team Tiger, car 102 JPR Motorsport and car 23 Atkins Motorsport were all proving difficult to move away from and two Belgian teams, in particular, were definitely not extending their hospitality to the track.

Griffiths again managed to steer car 103 away from the increasing number of incidents. He enjoyed his stint so much that he decided he would ignore the board and enjoy precisely one hour, fifty nine minutes and fifty nine seconds of his two hour session. This resulted in a fraught Team Manager, Chris Weatherill, recalculating his ever changing fuelling plans.

Night had fallen and the light had completely gone by the time Cole commenced his first session. Car 103 remained visible to the wall, with its distinctive additional lighting and Cole s innovative reflective stickers. However, a now extremely wet track and poor visibility assisted in the team losing its first piece of body.

Fortunately, Cole remained in control and achieved strong lap times, to put the team into 33rd position overall for the start of Wheeldon s second session.

With all the anxious first sessions out of the way, the second round commenced at 05.45 and with torrential rain and little sign of any dawn light, Wheeldon produced solid competitive laps into the morning.

Jackson picked up the baton as the rain eased off and he managed to put some distance between his Credit Crunch Racing team and JPR Motorsport car 102, as well as reducing the gap with car 214 Team Tiger, to just one lap.

“We had our mechanic Henry and the other mechanics to thank for cementing our position by completing the fastest brake pad change in an amazing 4:36! This meant no ground was lost in the pits to car 214 Team Tiger and the one lap trail was maintained.” Tim Wheeldon.

Griffiths revelled on a dry circuit and as the sun hinted at shining, he managed the first laps of the race at testing pace. With some assistance from the other teams pitting, he finished his race stint with the team in first place for the petrol class and had enough spark left to quip “my work here is done!”

After much debate between Henry, the drivers and Chris, the decision was taken to change the brake pads again. The pit wall crew looked on as Henry and his tireless assistants flew through another fast change.

Cole was away in no time and the others sighed with some relief as the change had cost them less than a lap on the competition, car 214 Team Tiger.

Fortune assisted greatly as their closest rivals were involved in collisions and the final few hours racing were focused on regaining first place petrol team.

However, with Cole’s flying laps, they all secretly had ambitions to reach the overall petrol podium. The gap between 4th and 5th place had shrunk considerably by the time Cole handed over to Wheeldon for what was meant to be the penultimate session.

Tension increased in the garage as Cole revealed to Henry, Jackson and Griffiths that the throttle seemed to be sticking and unresponsive.

Meanwhile, on the pit wall, Wheeldon had been signalling the crew - he had a problem. When he brought the car in, after causing much confusion and apprehension, it was quickly established that after twenty two and a half hours hard racing, much to Wheeldon s disappointment, the throttle cable had decided to stop working.

Again, Henry, worked his magic and an incident that should have cost places, merely reduced the time advantage the team had on the next car. Chris stood up to his greatest challenge of the race so far and quickly re-organised procedures. The broken throttle cable had meant that Dominic would be in the car for over two hours and an additional driver change was needed.

Cole, who had taken his first relaxed breath for twenty three hours had to abandon hopes of spectating and gear up to finish the race. Out on the track, Jackson improved his times lap after lap. 1st place UK petrol team was maintained and 5th place petrol car overall was gained. He handed over to Cole, with an hour to go and joined the others to watch the screen.

Cole displayed no hint of fatigue or anxiety, as he put in his quickest laps of the event. With five minutes to go, the other drivers threw caution to the wind and climbed up on the pit wall barrier to watch car 103 confidently approach race end. There was a collective holding of breath until the chequered flag was spotted and shortly after Cole and car 103 appeared on the pit straight, in 1st place petrol class for the UK.

“That was it; twenty five long hours of racing over. There was much emotion and elation. The drivers headed for the podium and the team began celebrating with just as much energy and vigour as they had started the race twenty five hours earlier.” Tim Wheeldon.

Jackson commented: "The Fun Cup 25 hour race at Spa was fantastic. A great track, challenging driving conditions and friendly, but competitive, rivalry between teams both on the track and in the pits. It was great to be joined by Eddy Cole, who complimented our regular driver line-up of myself, Tim and Nigel and he fitted right in with a similar attitude to the rest of us. He wanted to enjoy the experience, have fun, but be competitive and focussed on doing well in the race.”

He continued: “And what a result! 1st in the UK Petrol class, 3rd overall UK car, 5th in the overall petrol class and 16th place overall in the race. It was a great team effort. Yes I enjoyed stepping on the top step of the podium with my fellow drivers, collecting a nice trophy and spraying around a load of bubbly (boy does it sting when it gets in your eyes!), knowing that as a unit we had driven in a competitive and consistent manner, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the help and support of friends and family in the pits, including Susie, Nuala, Wendy, Chris, Wes, John, Rich and Johann, plus the JPR Motorsport mechanics with Henry leading the team on keeping our car running through this marathon race. A fantastic and enjoyable few days spent in the company of friends, within a great community of people who are enjoying the experience as well, which typified for me what being involved in Fun Cup racing is all about."

Car 214, Team Tiger, for the 3rd consecutive year, had a fantastic race at Spa. The driver line-up consisted of UK regular’s Chloe Noyce, Ben Beighton, and Chris Beighton, with the addition of Jon Finnemore.

They qualified 65th and Ben Beighton had a storming first two hour stint, pushing the car in to 41st. After a trouble free thirteen hours, including the night stint, they were in the top fifteen.

After nineteen hours, they suffered blocked fuel jets in the carburettor, which dropped them back into the thirties, after a six lap delay. Apart from the fuel problem, it was a faultless team effort, which resulted in 24th overall, 2nd UK petrol team and 11th overall petrol car.

In the JPR Motorsport/Fit Flop car 107, it was a truly international line-up, with American brothers Jameson and A.J. Riley, the Brazillian Bico Stupakoff and the French Thierry Boue. It was the first time competing in the Fun Cup for all of the drivers except Boue.

Thierry Boue recalled: “It is ironic that our team finished on the British podium, but we were most definitely a British team and their support got us to the end. It was a great adventure and none of us had ever driven a 25 hour race before.”

He added: “We came with the bare minimum, just the four of us and no support crew, except for the very friendly and professional mechanics from JPR Motorsport. Our strategy was quite limited initially, but thanks to the friendly paddock atmosphere we picked up a few good tips from the experienced crews and we put them to good use during the race.”

Their strategy included rushing to the bike store to purchase flashing lights to recognise their car at night and borrowing glow sticks to put on the back of their pit board!

They started strongly, as J. Riley stormed through the pack from 69th , his qualifying position, to 46th in the first forty minutes.

The team was delighted with his progress, until he was hit on the left rear tyre and was forced to limp back to the pits for a change of wheel and front splitter, which pushed them back into 76th place.

Shortly after, they hit their second and last major hurdle of the race, when they suffered from a broken driveshaft, which was changed in record time.

They were now at the bottom of the standings, in 111th place and eight laps behind the first petrol car. In some ways it was a blessing in disguise that they encountered their problems early, as they had time to make up for their losses.

After this time, they steadily climbed up through the field, in a relatively short stint of around one hour and fifteen minutes.

The night was a particularly interesting experience for most of the team, as only Bico had experience of racing at night. They handled and preserved the car well in the last eight hours, to avoid a change of brake pads and tyres and both Riley brothers did fantastic last stints after only two hours sleep on the concrete floor of the pit garage. They kept pushing until the last lap, to pass and catch the third place British petrol team of car 23 Atkins Motorsport, on the penultimate lap.

“The team was extremely proud to have achieved this on tenacity, with a great car and race management, combined with avoiding contact with other racers. It was a truly thrilling experience, one that we are all looking forward to doing again next year.” Thierry Boue.

24 June 2009 - Motors TV Coverage - Programme One

Please find below the Motors TV schedules for the first one-hour Fun Cup special, which will feature action from Rockingham, Snetterton and Brands Hatch:

Sat 4 July 2009 - 14:00

Sun 5 July 2009 - 04:05

Mon 6 July 2009 - 22:20

Tue 7 July 2009 - 10:00 and 19:05

Weds 8 July 2009 - 05:00

Fri 10 July 2009 - 13:00

Tue 14 July 2009 - 04:05

17 June 2009 - Brands Hatch 13th June - Sky Sports TV Coverage

Please find below the dates and times for the Brands Hatch TV coverage, which will be shown on Sky Sports’ Raceworld programme.

Thurs 16th July: 6.30pm (Sky Sports Xtra), Midnight (Sky Sports Xtra)

Fri 17th July: 5am (Sky Sports Xtra), 1pm (Sky Sports 3), 3pm (Sky Sports Xtra), 9pm Sky Sports Xtra

Sat 18th July: 1am (Sky Sports 3), 4am (Sky Sport 3), 7am (Sky Sports Xtra), 10.30am (Sky Sports Xtra)

17 June 2009 - Brands Hatch 13th June, Race Report, Round 3

TDI Classification

The Fun Cup fleet moved to Brands Hatch on Satuday 13th June, for a four hour race, with a strong twenty six car grid. The race was an extremely special one for the Fun Cup, with the presence of Double Olympic Gold medal winner Dame Kelly Holmes, who was the special guest of Nightingale Racing for the third round of the season.

Fun Cup were truly delighted and honoured to have Dame Kelly draw the random grid, wave the chequered flag and present the trophies.

It was car 147, Team Honeywell, driven by Goeff Fawcett and Neil Plimmer, who were beaming with confidence at Brands Hatch. After winning the previous round at Snetterton and a satisfying test day on Friday at Brands Hatch, they were on a high.

“On race day, the qualifying hour couldn’t have been better, with Geoff posting a 57.7 second pole time and a consistent low 58 second pace available from our JPR Motorsport prepared car, with special thanks to Big Rick.”

Dame Kelly drew the grid from the random ballot and Team Honeywell were lucky to be handed a 5th place.

On lap one, Plimmer had taken the race lead by Druids and despite two safety car restarts, as the first pit window closed, the team had pulled clear a twenty five second lead on the 2nd placed Team Norsound. By the end of the first stint, the team had a phenomenal full lap lead over the second placed team.

However, towards the end of the race, the team were struck with a leaking oil cooler, which necessitated a conservative drive to the flag over the final one and a half hours of the race.

“We were privileged and honoured to have Dame Kelly Holmes present us with our trophies on the podium. It was an extremely special moment for our team, in acknowledgement of our achievement.” Neil Plimmer.

Phil and Andrew Martindale took 2nd place in the Martindales Makes It Right car 0.

Starting from row twelve, Phil pushed the car to 6th in his first stint before a spin dropped the car seven places.

Despite a faulty bonnet clip requiring makeshift repairs at each pitstop, the Martindales’ team pushed the car into 2nd place.

Phil and Andrew did what they could to make up ground on the winning Honeywell car, but time ran out for them and they were content to settle for their hard earned podium finish.

In third place, JPR Motorsport car 131, started 18th on the grid and was driven by its usual trio of Steve Harris, Ally McKever and Paul Rose.

McKever started the race and stormed through the field to join the leading pack. After the first forty minute session, he handed over to Rose and who carried on Ally’s hard work and took the car to 2nd place.

The 3rd stint was Harris’ turn, but unfortunately the JPR Motorsport /Team Norsound car 101, touched the left rear wheel of Harris’ car, which damaged the left rear corner and cut the valve out of the wheel, resulting in a puncture. A pit stop for a new wheel and tyre was then vital and ruined all of their hard work, pushing them back to 12th place overall. So, they had it all to do again.

A safety car helped them to play catch up and by the final forty minute session, the team had, incredibly, reached 4th place with five minutes to the chequered flag. Harris was clearly on a mission and was cutting a second a lap out of the 3rd placed Happy Racing team, driven by Jason Porter and Matt Hayman.

A truly nail biting finish saw the pit wall full of teams desperate to see who would exit the last corner, Clearways, ahead. However, under great pressure from Harris, Hayman entered Clearways too wide and from the pit wall, the blue and yellow car 131 JPR Motorsport emerged first and Harris took the flag an incredible eight tenths of a second ahead, after four hours of racing.

Petrol Classification

In the petrol class, car 110 JPR Motorsport/Duggan Plumbing, sponsored by Duggan Plumbing and Michiels Immobilien, was sporting a truly international squad at Brands Hatch, with regular driver Ben Lack joined by Australian Graham Boulter in his first Fun Cup race and ex Fun Cup 2006/2007 racer Jon Flinn, now based in Shanghai.

The team ran steadily in qualifying with Boulter still finding his feet in the car and Flinn seizing the opportunity for some extra laps after missing Friday’s testing, as he was still flying in from China.

The team was drawn 17th on the grid and Boulter took the start, keeping out of major trouble, avoiding two cars spinning directly in front of him on the exit of Graham Hill bend and consolidating his position before handing over the car to Flinn in 19th place.

Flinn had a solid first stint, keeping the lap times consistent and handing the car over to Lack in 15th. He was able to push hard up to the two hour mark, although the car wasn t without its own challenges, as he had to cope with a big vibration on the front which was making it difficult under braking.

The team continued to execute their simple but effective plan of consistent lap times and looking after the car - all three drivers being able to lap within half a second of one another, around the sixty second mark.

They held 15th for the next hour or so of the race, as Lack handed back over to Boulter for his second stint. However, it was in the last hour and a half of the race that the race really moved into the team s favour as they were still sitting 5th in the petrol class, but a number of other teams faltered and they moved up the field.

A number of mechanical and pitstop issues for both car 107 JPR Motorsport/AUH Motorsport and car 23 Atkins Motorsport meant that Flinn was able to speed through in the penultimate stint, battling with car 106, the Track Torque TDI, for 10th place overall and handing the car over to Lack in 1st place petrol class.

“A slick pitstop from Mike and the rest of the JPR Motorsport mechanics meant that Ben started the last forty minutes with a comfortable lead of around twenty five seconds. He drove the final period faultlessly, keeping his laptimes consistently quick, even after more than three hours and keeping car 23 Atkins Motorsport, who were flying back through the field after an incident, at bay. We finished 1st in class and 11th overall, some ten seconds ahead of the car in second place.” Jon Flinn.

"The team weren t giving me a pit board with our position because they said they didn t want to distract me," Ben commented, "but I was reading the pit board of Atkins Motorsport, which said P2 so I knew that we had it in the bag." Jon added "All the guys drove fantastically, the team worked well together and the result proved it. Our plan at the start of the race had been just to keep steady and stay out of trouble, but we had not really considered that it could push us to the front of the class! Both Graham and I have agreed that we ll fly over more often to join Ben if we can carry on getting results like that!"

Car 23, Atkins Motorsport, arrived at Brands Hatch hoping to go one better than their debut podium at the previous round at Snetterton. Drawing a grid slot of 14th was not quite in the plan, but with Lee Atkins lapping with consistent times around 58.55 in his short qualifying run, they were at least on the pace of the majority of the diesel cars. His partner Ian Moore dipped well into the 59 s and consistently lapped competitively.

Atkins took the start and impressively moved up to 6th within one lap, which soon became 3rd overall and 1st in the petrol class. At the first pit stop, it was decided that the nature of the Brands Hatch Indy circuit was not conducive to double stinting and Ian took over car 23. Dropping a couple of places to 3rd in class, while the pit stops panned out, the Atkins Motorsport car soon returned to the class lead and it built up to two laps over the 2nd placed petrol car during the afternoon.

“Then calamity! In Lee s final stint when lapping a back marker, there was contact and the near side rear tyre was popped off the wheel rim. Lee was frank enough to admit that perhaps the pass was somewhat ambitious and should probably have been left until later in the lap. A very frantic and confused pit stop ensued, with the front of the car being jacked up erroneously, and after what seemed like an age, Lee was on his way in 2nd place some forty odd seconds behind the new class leaders, car 110 JPR Motorsport/Duggan Plumbing.” Keith Atkins.

Just ten minutes later, the final pit window opened, with Ian Moore having the monumental task of eroding a deficit of thirty seconds to catch and pass car 110. There was to be no repeat of Snetterton, where the JPR Motorsport/Duggan Plumbing car lost a wheel, allowing Atkins Motorsport into 3rd place. But to his credit, Ian never gave up, lapping consistently quicker than the car in front, he reduced the gap to just over ten seconds at the flag.

Once team manger Keith Atkins had finished berating his son over his indiscretion, he did admit that had anyone suggested such a result on Friday, he would have been more than pleased to accept yet another podium.

Meanwhile in the 220 Nightingale racing car, having the former BBC Sports Personality of the Year on hand seemed to have brought good fortune to the team.

In only its third event, Nightingale Racing climbed onto the podium for a well deserved third place finish in the petrol class.

Nightingale driver Michael Lockyer, a supporter of Kelly’s charity, the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust (DKH Legacy Trust) said: “It was a real thrill to have Kelly join Nightingale Racing for this showcase event. Some of her magic must have rubbed off on all the drivers, because to achieve a podium finish was a superb team effort.”

Acting as draw master, Dame Kelly Holmes drew the grid positions on behalf of all teams in the race and promptly drew Nightingale Racing in last position out of the 26 car entry. Michael commented, “If ever there was a day to hope luck would be on our side with the draw, it was today. Starting at the rear of the field on a small and tight circuit like Brands Hatch can be a real disadvantage.” Lockyer was joined by co-drivers Peter Flynn and Stuart Ramsay. It was Flynn who started the race and drove a superb first stint to ensure the team moved from last place on the grid to third in class and 13th overall, by the time the car was handed over to Lockyer. A solid second stint to consolidate the position followed.

Lockyer, still in only his third ever race, goes on “I felt some pressure in trying to keep the car in such a good position, but concentrated on getting the basics right. The other two guys are very experienced and I’m pleased to say I did not let them down”.

The remaining rounds of driver changes and refuelling stops followed without major incident and apart from a slightly damaged front body section, which was replaced at the last pit stop. Ramsay took over for the last stint and held the teams’ podium position to the end of the race.

Lockyer summed up “To be on the podium at the end was a fantastic reward for a hard race. To have our guest Dame Kelly Holmes presenting the trophies and sharing our success made the whole day complete.”

The trophy for the “Highest Placed JPR Rental Team” in the diesel class was car 101 JPR Motorsport/Team Norsound, driven by Steve Johansen, Mark Hope and Dan Jones,

They had another fantastic weekends’ racing, starting 10th on the grid, which was converted to 2nd place by the first pit stop with Johansen at the wheel. Jones and Hope then kept the car running in the top positions for Johansen to take over for the final stint.

The team were thrilled with their 6th place finish overall and to receive their trophies on the podium from Dame Kelly Holmes.

The “Highest Placed JPR Rental Team” in the petrol class was car 111, driven by Fun Cup new comers, Mike Humphreys, Andrew Beverley, Ben Gill, Mark Jaffray and Simon Isbister. Congratulations to the team who finished 15th overall and will next be racing at the Spa 25 hours in the same car.

The remaining rounds of driver changes and refuelling stops followed without major incident and apart from a slightly damaged front body section, which was replaced at the last pit stop. Ramsay took over for the last stint and held the teams’ podium position to the end of the race.

Lockyer summed up “To be on the podium at the end was a fantastic reward for a hard race. To have our guest Dame Kelly Holmes presenting the trophies and sharing our success made the whole day complete.”

The trophy for the “Highest Placed JPR Rental Team” in the diesel class was car 101 JPR Motorsport/Team Norsound, driven by Steve Johansen, Mark Hope and Dan Jones,

They had another fantastic weekends’ racing, starting 10th on the grid, which was converted to 2nd place by the first pit stop with Johansen at the wheel. Jones and Hope then kept the car running in the top positions for Johansen to take over for the final stint.

The team were thrilled with their 6th place finish overall and to receive their trophies on the podium from Dame Kelly Holmes.

The “Highest Placed JPR Rental Team” in the petrol class was car 111, driven by Fun Cup new comers, Mike Humphreys, Andrew Beverley, Ben Gill, Mark Jaffray and Simon Isbister. Congratulations to the team who finished 15th overall and will next be racing at the Spa 25 hours in the same car.

10 June 2009 - Brands Hatch 13th June - Preview

To see a preview for our next race at Brands Hatch on Saturday 13th June, please click on the following link http://www.motorsportvision.co.uk/brands-hatch/index.asp

10 June 2009 - Dame Kelly Holmes To Attend Fun Cup Race At Brands Hatch This Saturday.

Fun Cup are delighted to reveal that Double Olympic Gold Medallist, Dame Kelly Holmes, will be attending the Fun Cup race at Brands Hatch this Saturday 13th June. She will be supporting car 220, Nightingale Racing and will also take part in a Fun Cup grid walk and carry out the grid draw.

For further information, please visit, https://tickets.motorsportvision.co.uk/calendar/race-event-details.asp?

08 June 2009 - Snetterton 2nd May - Sky Sports TV Coverage - NEW

Please note that the TV coverage from Snetterton has now changed. The new times and dates are listed below:

Thurs 25th June: 5.30pm (Sky Sports 3), 10pm (Sky Sports Xtra)

Fri 26th June: 2am (Sky Sports Xtra), 6.30am (Sky Sports 3), 1pm (Sky Sports 3)

Sat 27th June: 7am (Sky Sports 2)

Sun 28th June: 11am (Sky Sports 3)

22 May 2009 - Brands Hatch 13th June - Provisional Timetable

Saturday 13th June

Sign On: 07.30

Scrutineering: 07.30 - 08.00

Qualifying: 09.00 - 10.00

Race: 12.15 - 16.15

18 May 2009 - Snetterton 2nd May, Race Report, Round 2

TDI Classification

The 1st and 2nd May saw the Fun Cup move to Snetterton for a five hour race in the glorious sunshine last weekend, with a massive twenty seven car grid.

Having overcome the disappointment of a vibration damaged oil cooler at Rockingham, Team Honeywell arrived at Snetterton, hoping for a stronger finish.

They were delighted with the car s performance in Friday s testing and placed a pole position time in qualifying, which was converted into a 6th place grid draw for the five hour race.

Neil started the race and was up to 2nd at Sear, with Cuisine de France/SPAR leading. Positions alternated within the first hour and car 211 Track Torque Racing also joined the leading pack.

Geoff’s quick and clean first stint, followed by a super fast second pit stop, placed the Honeywell car in a nine second lead. Neil said: "Everything came together – the car, the tyres and the track."

At the three hour mark, the team was a lap clear. They worked hard to consolidate and increase the lead, despite a broken splitter and disc vibration. However, a late safety car reduced the gap and placed the lapped group of chasing cars directly behind Geoff, who managed to hold the lead until the chequered flag was waved.

"It was an outstanding team win and the car, prepared by Big Rick at JPR Motorsport, was faultless." Team Honeywell.

Dan Jones, Mark Hope and Steve Johansen, had a fantastic weekend’s racing in the JPR Motorsport/Team Norsound, car 101.

The random grid draw placed the team 19th. Steve took the first stint and set a blistering pace, charging into 12th by the end of the first lap. He brought the car in at the first pit stop in 3rd place, handing over to Mark and Dan, who then covered the next four driver slots, each fifty minutes. Both drivers had titanic battles with the other top running teams of car 147 Team Honeywell, car 131 JPR, car 207 Team Synetrix and car 251 Cuisine de France/SPAR. Mark and Dan’s excellent driving maintained their position in the top four.

A combination of their almost faultless driving and fast pit stops, meant that Steve was sent back out for the final stint in 4th place, just a couple of seconds behind Cuisine de France/SPAR in 3rd place and car 131 JPR, who were lying 2nd, but with their final pit stop still to be completed.

"The resulting fight for 2nd place provided some of the most exciting racing we have seen. The whole team were screaming on the pit wall." Team Norsound.

Steve first managed charge past Cuisine de France/SPAR, to take 2nd place, only then to lose the position a couple of laps later to car 131 JPR, who were on a charge after being shuffled back to 4th following their last pit stop.

Finally, after a couple of attempts and with just three laps to go, Steve had a run on car 131, JPR, whose driver, Steve Harris, had slid wide into Riches. He held Steve off to cross the line an incredible one second ahead and grasp 2nd place. It was a phenomenally close result, after five hours of racing.

Team Norsound were 2nd in class, 2nd overall and the winners of the "Highest Placed JPR Rental Team" award, in the TDI class.

Petrol Classification

After winning the first race of the 2009 season at Rockingham last month in the petrol class, car number 103, the Credit Crunch team of Dominic Jackson and Nigel Griffiths were joined at Snetterton by the third member of their regular driver line-up, Tim Wheeldon.

Tim started the race and was keen to make the most of their 7th place grid draw. Within a few laps he was up to 4th overall and 2nd place in the petrol class, enjoying a close battle with another JPR rental team, car number 110. Unfortunately, Tim suffered a puncture about halfway through his first stint and had to limp back to the pits for a wheel change and so, by the time Dominic took over after around fifty minutes, the Credit Crunch team had dropped back to 8th in the petrol class and 16th overall.

Undeterred, the team set about clawing their way back into contention by driving a series of quick, consistent stints. The trio were logging laps that were regularly in the top three petrol class timings. This began to pay dividends, as after each round of pit stops they saw themselves rising up the leader board, but were still nearly eighty seconds behind the race leaders in the 110 car, Eddy Cole and Kevin Williams and Kevin had enjoyed an incident free race until the penultimate session when the same misfortune that befell the Credit Crunch team took its toll, as they suffered a puncture as well.

This untimely event saw Dominic take over the lead of the petrol class and he handed over to Nigel for the final stint with a thirty second lead, which he was determined not to relinquish, taking the chequered flag at the end of the five hours. As well as 1st place in the petrol class, they also received the “Highest Placed JPR Rental Team” award, for the petrol cars.

Commenting on the race, Dominic said: “Once again, myself, Nigel and Tim had some fantastic support from the JPR Motorsport mechanics, especially Henry who has helped us to achieve two victories now. Thankyou, also, to our friends and family, who helped ensure, quick, smooth pit stops and worked on the pit wall.”

Car 248, Team CCS Media, enjoyed an unexpected bonus from the grid draw and found themselves sitting on pole for the first time. Unfortunately, further luck evaded them in the early stages when Alan Honarmand, in his first outing of the year, spun on lap three and had to then endure the frustration of watching every car pass before being able to rejoin the track. The disappointment of finding himself last stirred him into pushing hard to regain lost places and when Ciro Carannante took over, car 248 was back up to 15th overall.

A very determined and enthusiastic drive from Ciro saw more places regained. However, a brief flight into a field, with all four wheels off the ground, eliminated the likelihood of the car being handed over in one piece. The absence of splitters for the third stint hampered Bob Tomlinson’s attempts to improve position, with severe understeer preventing competitive lap times.

Bob said: “A nose change at the following pit stop transformed the handling and allowed the team to consolidate our position, through a combination of consistent lap times and largely incident free stints. The result was an overall 11th and 2nd in the petrol class, providing the team with our first podium finish.”

He added: “Team CCS Media would like to thank Steve, Pete and all at Solutions Racing for their continued support and unsurpassed standards of car preparation. A special thanks also to our teammates Cuisine de France/SPAR for their endless supply of Mr.Kipling’s finest and congratulations to Ian Connell on his retirement.”

Atkins Motorsport enjoyed a competitive display on their debut in Fun Cup, despite lead driver Lee Atkins drawing 18th as the team s grid slot!

Electing to start, Lee quickly moved up the order to bring the car in after the first hour in 6th overall and leading the petrol class, setting fastest lap in class as a bonus. It was then, the team discovered that endurance racing is not quite as easy as it appears, as the hand-over to Ian Moore and the re-fuelling took a great deal longer than the other teams! It was a combination of a lack of experience with driver changes and a faulty coupling on the fuel tank, which restricted their progress for the rest of the afternoon.

However, with third driver, Bob George aboard, the team climbed back up the order, settling into 5th place, which became 4th at the end of Ian s second stint. Handing over to Lee for the final fifty minutes, the team were happy to stay in 4th, as this was far more than expected before the weekend.

Lee, however, had other ideas and set about catching the 3rd place JPR car 110, but even with a further safety car period this looked unlikely, until a rear suspension breakage on the car in front promoted the 23 car to a lucky podium position!

Team Owner, Keith Atkins, likened their first foray into Fun Cup to the 24 hour races held at the circuit in the 80 s, in which he competed. He said: “Absolutely brilliant and I can t wait to get my licence back and have a bash later in the season!”

The fastest diesel lap was a 1.25.082 by Track Torque Racing, car 211. In the petrol class, it was a 1.25.842, by car 23, Atkins Motorsport.

13 May 2009 - Snetterton 2nd May - Sky Sports TV Coverage

Please find below the TV dates and times for the Snetterton coverage, on Sky Sport s "Raceworld" programme:

Thu 11th June: 6pm (Sky Sports 3) & Midnight (Sky Sports Xtra)

Fri 12th June: 5am (Sky Sports 1) & 3pm (Sky Sports 3)

Sat 13th June: 4am (Sky Sports Xtra) & 6am (Sky Sports Xtra)

Sun 14th June 5am (Sky Sports Xtra)

22 April 2009 - Rockingham 4th April - Sky Sports TV Coverage

The 10pm viewing of Fun Cup at Rockingham, which was scheduled for 23rd April on Sky Sports Xtra, has now been moved to midnight (on the same channel).

21 April 2009 - Snetterton 1st and 2nd May 2009 - Provisional Timetable

Friday 1st May

Exclusive Testing: 13.10 – 15.10

There is also general testing available. Private teams must book this direct with the circuit. If you are a JPR rental driver and you wish to book general testing, please email Roxie at roxie@funcup.co.uk, or call her on 01538 306921.

Saturday 2nd May

Sign on: 07.30

Scrutineering: 07.35 – 08.15

Qualifying: 09.00 – 10.00

Race: 11.45 – 16.45

21 April 2009 - ARDS Days - 29th April and 15th May

We are holding an ARDS day on the 29th April and the 15th May at Oulton Park. If you, or anyone you know, wishes to obtain a national B race licence, this is the perfect opportunity.

For further information, please email roxie@funcup.co.uk asap, or call her on 01538 306921.

07 April 2009 - Rockingham 4th April - Sky Sports TV Coverage

Rockingham will be shown on Raceworld on the following dates:

Thurs 23rd April:

7pm (Sky Sports Xtra), 10pm (Sky Sports Xtra)

Fri 24th April:

3am (Sky Sports 3), 9.30am (Sky Sports 2), 12.30pm (Sky Sports Xtra), 4pm (Sky Sports 3)

Sat 25th April:

2.30am (Sky Sports Xtra), 12.00pm (Sky Sports Xtra)

Motors TV dates will follow in due course.

07 April 2009 - Rockingham 4th April, Race Report, Round 1

TDI Classification

It was a thrilling start to the season, with the successful introduction of the TDI engines into the UK. A substantial thirteen cars had converted to TDI from the huge twenty six car grid and it was an unexpected victory from the greatly experienced Cuisine de France/Spar team in the TDI 251 car, at the Rockingham six hour race on Saturday 4th April.

The random grid ballot placed brothers Richard and Marc, plus dad Ian Connell on the second to last row of the grid and for the first two hours of the race, they blitzed their way through the field.

Meanwhile, Austin Reynolds and ex Radical champion Richard Ince along with team mate Mark Owen in the Team Ram TDI, car 245, were commencing battle with another TDI car, JPR Motorsport, car 131. The JPR car was driven by ex Radical champion and V de V racer, Ally McKever, along with Steve Harris and another ex Radical champion, Paul Rose. The two teams, who were more fortunate with the grid draw, having both been drawn on the front row, dominated the first two hours of the race. They scrabbled for the lead, whilst behind them Marc Connell had been pushing hard to get within striking distance for the Cuisine de France/Spar team and settled comfortably into third position.

Richard Ince was glued to the front of the field throughout the first hour, whilst Austin and Mark consolidated his work during their stints.

During the third hour, Steve Harris, in the JPR Motorsport car, lost three laps in the pits to replace his rear suspension after an ontrack collision, which paved the way for a new scrap between Cuisine de France/Spar and Team Ram. Richard Connell managed to force his way to the front and some clever pit stop strategies, combined with a “car that felt so smooth to drive” according to Ian Connell, saw them cross the line a lap ahead of the second placed Team Ram, when the chequered flag was waved. JPR Motorsport managed to take a comfortable third place.

Ian Connell said, “We were delighted with the victory, this was our first win since Croft in 2007. Once we reached the front, it was a case of keeping up a quick but steady pace, to stay ahead of Team Ram!”

He added, “Thanks to Pete, Steve and all of the Solutions Team who did a fantastic job running and preparing the car. Well done guys! Thanks also to Marvin, Mike and Nick from Connell racing for their help on the pit wall and refueling.”

Petrol Classification

With Tim Wheeldon away on holiday, it was left to Dominic Jackson and Nigel Griffiths to contest the first race of the 2009 season for Credit Crunch Racing, in their petrol powered car.

Dominic started the race with a grid draw of twenty second place and battled his way up to eleventh overall and fourth placed petrol car, before a safety car halted his progress. Once the safety car had pulled back into the pits, he was tagged by another car which resulted in a damaged front splitter and after handing over to Nigel and replacing the splitter during the pit stop, the team had dropped down to fifteenth overall and fifth placed petrol car.

Nigel then set about gaining back the lost positions and re-engaged a battle with car 88, the petrol car driven by Arran and Kristian Rose, who were driving in only their third and second Fun Cup race respectively. Arran and Kristian had made their way up to an impressive fifth place overall and second placed petrol team by the end of the third hour of racing.

“Plenty of close nose to tail and wheel to wheel action took place between us and other cars throughout the next few hours, with both of us maintaining a quick consistent pace on track and smooth pit stops, with great assistance from our friends and the JPR Motorsport mechanics, in particular a special thanks must go to Henry for his efforts.” Dominic Jackson.

After car 41, Prestige Motorsport had to stop for some running repairs, the distinctive black and yellow 103 car of Credit Crunch Racing charged into fourth place overall and first placed petrol car at the end of the fourth hour of racing. They maintained these positions until Nigel took the chequered flag at the end of the challenging race, signifying Credit Crunch Racing’s and car 103’s first ever Fun Cup race win in the petrol class, beating many other more powerful TDI cars.

“Although Tim wasn’t there to share in the glory of the first team win, he is an integral part of the team and in the lead up to the Rockingham race he worked with myself and Nigel to help set-up the car and familiarise us with the track by utilizing his twin seater Fun Cup car. Tim will be part of the driver line-up at future races, where the team can hopefully replicate their first win.” Dominic Jackson.

Dan Jones, Mark Hope and Steve Johansen, had an eventful weekend in the JPR Motorsport/Team Norsound car 101. After an injector problem in their TDI car, they had no choice but to change cars and race the spare 345 car, which is a twin - seater.

Their grid draw put them half way down the pack in eleventh place and they were on a mission from the start. The trio, who were racing together for the first time, worked well as a team and a combination of consistent lap times, combined with quick pit stops, meant that their final position was fifth overall and second in the petrol class.

In the Track Torque car 104, the first race at Rockingham was going to be a baptism of fire for the new team, which consisted of Alex Ashby, Barry Linley, and Jerry Hampshire.

Alex, a finalist in the Fun Cup scholarship in 2007 raced cars for the first time with Team Norsound in 2008 and helped them to win the trophy for the overall “Highest Placed JPR Rental Team” that year. Barry has raced in Formula Ford for the last four years and Jerry has a wealth of experience racing Porches, Golf GTs, single seaters and Britcar.

They drew eighth place on the grid and Jerry took the first stint. He had a difficult start and was pushed perilously close to the concrete wall of the oval as the cars sped to the first hairpin. He had to drive defensively to avoid contact and slipped to nineteenth place at the end of the first lap. Jerry proceeded to place some consistent lap times, but had slipped a couple more places by the first driver change. A gearbox problem was emerging and the change had become somewhat stiff and slow.

They had a slick driver change, which pushed them back up the grid, but the gearbox problems persisted and they were still in twenty third at the second driver change.

Gearbox problems continued, but while still nursing the car Jerry brought them back to twelfth, during his second stint. Barry built on his progress and they were ninth overall and sixth in the petrol class as Alex took over the last stint . With fifteen minutes to go, they were the third petrol car and held on to the podium position at the end of the race. The gearbox had survived and the team was delighted with the result.

Congratulations to Arran and Kristian Rose who took the trophy for the “Highest Placed JPR Rental Team” in the petrol class, fishing 11th overall.

Mike McCollum and Brian Casey finished 15th overall and were awarded the “Highest Placed JPR Rental Team” trophy in the TDI class.

The fastest lap was placed by Phil Martindale on lap thirteen, with a time of 1:38.133.

01 April 2009 - Rockingham 4th April 2009 - Drivers Briefing

There will be a briefing for ALL drivers at 08.15 on Saturday morning in pit garages 35 and 36. It is compulsory for ALL drivers to attend.

27 March 2009 - Rockingham - Circuit Entry

Teams will now be able to enter the circuit after 6pm, on Thursday 2nd April, 2009

24 March 2009 - Rockingham 3rd and 4th April 2009 - Provisional Timetable, Extra Exclusive Testing

There will be extra exclusive testing available at Rockingham, on Friday 3rd April, in the morning. This will take place from 10.30 - 12.30. If you would like to book you car(s) in for this testing, please call Roxie on 01538 306921, or email roxie@funcup.co.uk.

24 March 2009 - Rockingham - April 3rd and 4th 2009 - Closed Event

Rockingham will be a closed event. Therefore, tickets are ONLY available from the Fun Cup office.

20 March 2009 - Brand New Fun Cup Clothing

We have brand new high quality Fun Cup woolly hats, body warmers and sweatshirts for sale. They are all black with the Fun Cup logo stitched on them. In addition, the sweatshirts and body warmers also feature the website www.funcup.co.uk. If you would like to purchase any body warmers, or sweatshirts, there is the option to add your own website instead, plus a name.

Prices are as follows:

Woolly hats: £6

Body warmers: £30

Sweatshirts: £20

All prices are plus VAT and carriage.

For further information, please telephone me on 01538 306921.

20 March 2009 - Rockingham 3rd and 4th April 2009 - Provisional Timetable

Friday 3rd April

13.30 – 17.30: Exclusive Fun Cup Testing.

12.00 onwards: Sign on and scrutineering. Sign on will take place in garages 35 and 36, scrutineering will take place in your pit garage.

19.00 onwards: Hot Pot Supper! (In Fun Cup awning).

We are currently trying to negotiate some extra testing on Friday morning. However, this will not be confirmed until nearer the event.

Saturday 4th April

08.00 – 09.00: Sign on and scrutineering for those who miss it on Friday. Sign on will be in Race Admin and scrutineering will take place in your pit garage.

09.00 – 10.00: Exclusive Fun Cup Testing.

10.00 – 11.00: Qualifying

11.55 – 17.55: Race

Please also be aware that you will not be able to enter the circuit until Friday morning.

20 March 2009 - Brand New Fun Cup Calendars Now in Stock

To create your own unique Fun Cup calendar, please click on the following link http://www.siteprint.co.uk/client/fun.aspx. The beauty of these Fun Cup calendars, is that they can start from any month you wish. For example, you can create one to start from April 2009 to finish in March 2010. You can also personalise them with specific dates and choose your own pictures from a range of on-track action, presentations, team shots and Fun Cup girls. If you would like any specific pictures added to the site, so that you can use them in a calendar, please email them to me at roxie@funcup.co.uk. The price for a calendar is only £9.99

20 March 2009 - 2007/2008 Fun Cup Season Review Now in Stock!

The 2007/2008 Fun Cup season review is in stock! It details the Fun Cup, its phenomenal success across Europe and its unique concept in motor racing. Each 2007 and 2008 team is featured, with pictures of their car and drivers. There is also an in depth review into each race from 2007 and 2008, with many great pictures and some particularly revealing team stories along the way. There are also many fun pictures and stories, which capture the essence of Europe’s leading endurance race series.

The price is £32 plus postage and packaging and truly worth every penny if you have been involved in the Fun Cup in the last two years. This is a limited edition, packed with over one hundred pages, making it great value for money and something to treasure in years to come. To order a copy, please telephone Roxie on 01538 306921, or email me at roxie@funcup.co.uk.

10 March 2009 - Brand New Fun Cup Site on Youtube

Please visit http://www.youtube.com/thefuncup, to see our fantastic new Fun Cup site on youtube. Throughout 2009, there will be clips of all the Sky Sports TV coverage uploaded after each round, plus insightful driver profiles, amongst other Fun Cup footage. It is fantastic for anyone who may miss any of the footage on Sky and also, great to show sponsors, friends and family.

12 February 2009 - Fun Cup To Auction Drive At Anglesey

Fun Cup are offering an amazing auction item for the BRSCC North Western Dinner on Saturday 21st February - the opportunity to bid for a drive in a JPR Motorsport rental car, at Anglesey, on 29th August 2009. The winner will be sharing the drive with two other people. The prize will be bid on during the blind auction, to help raise £4,000 to purchase a new Defibrillator, for their North Western Rescue Unit.

The lucky winner and his/her team-mates will share a six hour race, with one hour of qualifying and two hours exclusive testing the day before the race.

To find out more about this fantastic prize, please visit:

http://www.brsccnw.com/preseason%20news%202009.htm

04 February 2009 - Rockingham - April 4th 2009

The circuit that we will be using at Rockingham will be the International Super Sports car circuit. If you would like a map of the circuit, please call Roxie on 01538 306921, or email her at roxie@funcup.co.uk.

01 February 2009 - On Way Radio Systems

Fun Cup is proud to announce the introduction of a low cost, one way radio communication system, designed to improve safety on track. The system will allow Race Officials to line the cars up on the grid more efficiently. It will also be used to warn all drivers of safety car interventions and hazards on the track, thus reducing the risk of accidents.

28 January 2009 - Volunteers In Motorsport

Volunteers in Motorsport is a government backed initiative to encourage more people to become involved with the sport.

Volunteers in Motorsport can help you get involved as a marshal, timekeeper, technical official, or in many other roles. It is the perfect way to get close and really enjoy the sport and a disability doesn t necessarily stop you being involved.

They are here to get you on track for ACTION, EXCITEMENT, INVOLVEMENT and making new friends.

Whatever your chosen area is within Motorsport, Volunteers in Motorsport can help you get involved. Please visit http://www.volunteersinmotorsport.co.uk/, for further information.

28 January 2009 - February 27th 2009 - Track Day

Fun Cup will be attending a track day at Oulton Park, on Friday 27th February, 2009. If you wish to rent a car, or require further information, please email roxie@funcup.co.uk, or call her on 01538 306921. We will also be using our Fun Cup twin-seater car and can take passengers round the circuit to offer expert tips and advice. This track day will be open pit lane.

27 January 2009 - Autosport International Show 2009 - Fun Cup Girls

Please click on the following link to see the Fun Cup girls at the Autosport International Show 2009: http://www.itv-f1.com/pitbabes.aspx?Image=6

13 January 2009 - Further Amendments To Provisional Race Dates For 2009 Season

Please find below the latest 2009 Fun Cup calendar. Please note that this calendar is still PROVISIONAL, but hopefully there will be no further changes. Please be aware that the Anglesey date has changed.

4th April 2009 - Rockingham - 6 Hours

2nd May 2009 - Snetterton - 5 Hours

13th June 2009 - Brands Hatch - 4 Hours

11th/12th July 2009 - Spa 25 Hour - 25 Hours

29th August 2009 - Anglesey - 6 Hours

12th September 2009 - Donington Park - 7 Hours

17th October 2009 - Oulton Park - 4 Hours

23 December 2008 - Further Amendments To Provisional Race Dates For 2009 Season

Please find below the latest PROVISIONAL calendar for Fun Cup UK, which now includes all race durations. Please be aware that this calendar is still provisional, with the Rockingham and Oulton Park dates in particular being likely to change.

Round 1 - 4th April - Rockingham - 6 hours

Round 2 - 3rd May - Snetterton - 5 hours

Round 3 - 13th June - Brands Hatch (Indy circuit) - 4 hours

Round 4 - 11/12th July - Spa 25 hours - 25 hours

Round 5 - 22nd August - Anglesey - 6 hours

Round 6 - 12th September - Donington Park - 7 hours

Round 7 - 17th October (possibly changing to the 3rd October) - Oulton Park International - 4 hours

23 December 2008 - January and February 2009 - Track Days

Fun Cup will be attending track days at Oulton Park, on Saturday 17th January and Friday 27th February, 2009. If you wish to rent a car, or require further information, please email roxie@funcup.co.uk, or call her on 01538 306921. We will also be using our Fun Cup twin-seater car and can take passengers round the circuit to offer expert tips and advice. Both track days will be open pit lane.

17 December 2008 - Amendment To Provisional Race Dates For 2009 Season

Please be aware that the Oulton Park International race has now changed to Saturday 17th October, 2009.

All of the dates are still provisional and the latest calendar is below:

Round 1 - 4th April - Rockingham

Round 2 - 3rd May - Snetterton

Round 3 - 14th June - Brands Hatch (Indy circuit)

Round 4 - 11/12th July - Spa 25 hour

Round 5 - 22nd August - Anglesey

Round 6 - 12th September - Donington Park

Round 7 - 17th October - Oulton Park International

12 December 2008 - 2008 Fun Cup Season Review DVD

We now have the 2008 Fun Cup Season Review DVDs in stock. The price is £12 inc.vat, plus p & p. If you would like to place an order, please email your DVD postal address and number of copies required to roxie@funcup.co.uk, or phone Roxie on 01538 306921. Once Roxie has received your order, the DVD will be dispatched.

The review consists of two disks. Disk one features all of the UK rounds and disk 2 consists of the awesome Spa 25 hour race.

10 December 2008 - Provisional Race Dates For 2009 Season

Round 1 - 4th April - Rockingham

Round 2 - 3rd May - Snetterton

Round 3 - 14th June - Brands Hatch (Indy circuit)

Round 4 - 11/12th July - Spa 25 hour

Round 5 - 22nd August - Anglesey

Round 6 - 12th September - Donington Park

Round 7 - 10th October - Oulton Park International

27 November 2008 - Fun Cup to Attend Autosport International Show in Januray 2009

Once again, Fun Cup will have a stand at the Autosport International Show in 2009, at the NEC in Birmingham. Please visit us in hall 7, on stand number 7434, from the 8th Januaray to the 11th.

06 November 2008 - Ex Touring Car Racers, Tim Sugden and Kelvin Burt, Compete in the Fun Cup World Cup Round

Ex touring car drivers Kelvin Burt and Tim Sugden took part in the World Cup round at the Nurburgring circuit on Saturday 1st November. They teamed up with Phil Nuttall and Les Charneca in the 211 Track Torque car. Unfortunately, their race was hampered by a first corner crash combined with gearbox troubles, before the lunch break.

06 November 2008 - World Cup, Nurburgring and Nordschleife 1st and 2nd November - Trucks 2 Go Are Crowned 2008 World Cup Champions

Nurburgring 1st November

On Saturday 1st November, thirteen Fun Cup cars from the UK competed in a six hour and ten minute race around the world famous Nurburgring circuit in Germany, for the 2008 World Cup round.

Eighty nine Fun Cup cars from all over Europe were competing for glory, but it was the British duet of Chris Hart and Phil Martindale, car 210 Trucks 2 Go, who took a fantastic overall victory to take the honour of being World Champions.

It was Chris Hart who started the race in the wet weather conditions and the random grid ballot proved to be a lucky one for the pair, who were drawn fourth on the grid. Chris had an average first stint and battled through the changing weather conditions to hand over to Phil in seventh place, after the first hour. With a car that was set up for the dry, Phil managed to push the car into third place during the next hour and handed over to Chris, who held position for his second stint.

The race, however, was a little different from usual, as it was stopped after the first three hours for a two hour lunch break. After this time, the race was resumed with the cars in the same order that they finished, after the first three hours.

Phil took the start after the lunch break and stormed into second place for a trouble free session. With only two hours remaining, Chris took over and temporarily fell to third place, but then had a superb drive, gaining thirty seconds on the leader and moving back into second place.

And so, the team’s hopes for an overall victory were in Phil’s hands, but he had it all do in his final stint. However, it became apparent that it was not going to be an easy run, as disaster struck and the throttle cable stuck open, forcing him through a gravel trap. Fortunately, the excursion miraculously fixed the problem and Phil then charged past the first and second place French and Belgian teams and even managed to pull away.

During the last five laps car 351, T.D.I. Blue Motion 1, which was several laps down, passed Phil and splattered his windscreen in mud; with no water in the wipers, he had to peer under the right wiper blade to see the track. Adding to this, he went to switch the lights from main beam to dip for the Dunlop Kehre hairpin and hit the kill switch instead.

“The engine went off and I thought I had run out of fuel. The car stopped, so I turned everything off but thankfully I managed to restart the engine”, recalled Phil.

Luckily, he managed to hold his first place and it was there he stayed until the chequered flag was waved.

“It’s a fantastic result for us, we are delighted with our victory. The event presented us with every variable weather condition possible and the race was extremely chaotic, but we are thrilled to be World Champions”, said Phil.

Trucks 2 Go have won a free T.D.I. conversion for winning the race.

In second place overall was the Belgian team S.M.R., car 215 and third was the French team SPI, car 911.

Second for the UK and eleventh overall was car 1, Team Honeywell. Regular team mates Neil Plimmer and Geoff Fawcett were joined by the Belgian Fun Cup racer, Gilles Debrus.

It was car 212 Startracing.co.uk, driven by Andrew and George Martindale, who took the third place step on the UK podium, finishing in sixteenth overall.

A special mention goes to George Martindale, who displayed phenomenal potential to reach the UK podium with Andrew, as he turned sixteen a mere three weeks ago and was competing in what was only his second ever motor race.

Nordschleife 2nd November

The legendary 15.86 mile Nordschleife circuit played host to a twelve lap sprint race on Sunday 2nd November, with over a hundred cars taking part, which were a variety of makes and models.

It was Team Honeywell’s Neil Plimmer and Geoff Fawcett who won the overall Fun Cup class, adding to the list of overall UK victories for the Fun Cup series. Congratulations to the pair for their achievement.

04 November 2008 - Nurburgring 1st November, Trucks 2 Go Take Overall Victory for the UK

Congratulations to Phil Martindale and Chris Hart, car 210 Trucks 2 Go, who won the six hour and ten minute World Cup Round at the Nurburgring, Germany, on Saturday.

Final Results

1.Hart-Martindale (GB – Trucks 2 go)

2.Van Impe-Leenders (Bel – SMR)

3.Ferté-Illiano (Fra – 911 SPI)

4.Jacob-Ianneta (Fra – FEK Zolplan)

5.Cochet-Robin-Defournoux (Fra – Defournoux/Groupe Dirob)

6.Menard-Basso-Susanna (Fra – Evorace Compétition)

7.Mondron-Van Dalen (Bel – Kronos Racing)

8.Perdieus-Perdieus (Bel – Perdieus Motorsport)

9.Capocci-Simul-Systermans (Bel – Colson Racing)

10.Van Oost-Houben (Bel – Dupon-Van Oost)

11.Plimmer-Fawcett-Debrus (GB – Team Honeywell)

12.Wust-Baudart-Seerden-De Sutter (Bel – MTE Pharma Tech)

13.Memmola-Merlo-Palopoli (Ita – Fun G-Force)

14.Decultot-Bonnel-Mathon (Fra – MV Racing)

15.De Groof-Greensall (Bel – MTE-D&D Financials)

16.Martindale-Martindale (GB – Startracing.co.UK – Martindale)

17.Schoofs-Janssens-De Keijser (Bel – MTE Orelius)

18.Soyez-Corthals-De Meuter (Bel – BlueMotion 1)

19.De Groot-De Groot-King (Bel – Scarab Racing)

20.Nava-Gressens-Colman (Bel – Cornélis Racing Quick)

21.Rose-Harris-Pelle (GB – JPR Motorsport)

22.Bergamaschi-Iorio (Ita – Fun BD Racing)

23.Albanese-Trevisiol (Ita – Fun Girasole 1)

24.Serexhe-Matoul-Léonard (Bel – Citybank Grivegnée)

25.Pasquillo-Colombo (Ita – Fun No Brake)

Full race report and complete results to follow.

27 October 2008 - Snetterton, Pembrey, Oulton Park - Sky Sports and Motors TV Coverage

Apologies on behalf of the Sky Sports and Motors TV crew who recently issued us with the incorrect broadcast dates and times for the Oulton Park TV coverage. The correct dates and times are as follows:

13th Nov - 5pm (SSX), Half past midnight (SSX)

14th Nov - Midday (SS3)

15th Nov - 6am (SSX)

16th Nov - 5am (SSX)

Motors TV schedule (featuring Snetterton, Pembrey and Oulton Park):

1st November - 5pm

2nd November - 3am

3rd November - 2am

4th November - 3am, 7.30pm

5th November - 5am, 2pm

7th November - 11pm

18 October 2008 - Oulton Park 11th October, Race Report, Round 7

The final round of the 2008 Fun Cup season, ended with a bang last Saturday and the series provided a fantastic closing round. A massive thirty-four Fun Cup cars battled at Oulton Park, in Cheshire, for the final four hour race of the year and those with high expectations were far from disappointed.

It was "the finest victory in our seven years of racing in Fun Cup" said Team Honeywell s Neil Plimmer, who took a sensational victory ahead of Team O BR/Perrys. Neil, who started the race, along with partner Geoff Fawcett, was drawn a measly twenty fifth on the grid. His tactics were to "stay out of trouble and keep it clean, whilst everyone settled down" he revealed. After the first pit-stop, he handed over to Geoff, by which time car 1, Team Honeywell, had flown through the pack and into third place. A massive battle for that prestigious number one spot soon emerged between teams Honeywell, O BR/Perry s and JPR-Frenchstone.

The penultimate stint of the race became a great battle between Neil and Paul Rose in the JPR Frenchstone, car 131. Neil recalls, "we were side by side in the treacherous conditions at least three or four times a lap and never ever touched each other. We were both sliding in and out of the corners and we were so close that you couldn’t have put a piece of paper between our wheel arches. It was the best, most enjoyable forty minutes of motorsport that I have ever had my twenty one year racing career.”

Neil eventually pitted two laps before Paul and so, the final forty minute session was fought like a twelve lap sprint race, with Team Honeywell, JPR Frenchstone and Team O BR/Perrys all fighting for the top podium step. Geoff took over from Neil for the final stint and battled tremendously with Steve Harris in the JPR Frenchstone car 131, until Steve smashed into the tyre wall at Shell corner and walked round the car to check the damage, before limping home in third place!

The Team O BR/Perrys 221 car drew a poor grid position, being pulled from the random ballot in twenty-third place. Eugene started the race and as usual, soon reached the front of the charging pack. Team mate Neil Walker then double stinted and continued in the same manner, which his team say is a "testament to the great driver he is". Eugene then completed the last stint and having made up nearly twenty seconds was involved in a collision with James Sumsion in car 110, Twang.net, which shattered any hope of victory for the duo. And so, it was a "great second place result", revealed the team and Eugene set a new lap record with a storming 2:03.646.

Congratulations to Gilles Debrus and Bernard Apperce, car number 4, Joyce84 – Cote Passions, who travelled from Belgium to compete in the four hour race. The duo soon came to grips with the unfamiliar circuit and finished in a strong seventh place, winning the “Team of the Day” Trophy.

Car 110, Twang.net finished in fifth place and won the “Highest Placed JPR Rental Team” trophy. Scholarship winner, Karl Chard, along with team-mates James Sumsion and Ben Lack have been a strong team to contend with all year.

Commiserations to Old Skool Racing, whose car 89 caught fire during the testing on Friday. The team showed great spirit by entering the race the next day in a JPR Rental car.

17 October 2008 - Fun Cup Raise a Staggering £14,921.28 for Charity at Oulton Park

We were truly overwhelmed with the turn out at the fundraising hog roast on Friday 10th October.

As many of you are aware, we linked up with The British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research UK at this race and auctioned prizes to raise money for the two charities on the Friday evening.

Firstly we would like to thank the following people for the fantastic prizes that they donated to the auction: Ian Stalker; Dan Jones; Nigel Griffiths; Ian and Vicki Bankhurst; Mark Burton; Clive Reay-Young; Austin Reynolds; Malc Fitzgerld; Diana Illingworth; Xavier Footwear; David Goose; Travis; Andrei Bgatov; Graham Pattle; Geoff Fawcett; Lance Robson; Phil Martindale; Alistair Stenhouse and Ian Connell.

Secondly, we would like to thank everyone that bid on the prizes and in particular those with the winning bids who helped raise such a phenomenal amount of money: Lance Robson; Austin Reynolds; Chris Hart; Phil Martindale: Dominic Jackson; Sam (Track Torque); Steve Harris; Nigel Griffiths; Rob Jarman; Paul Rose; James Sumsion; Jonny George; Franck Pelle; Tim Warburton; Clive Reay Young; Barry Thompson; Vicki Bankhurst; Neil Walker; Frank Johns and Steve and Hayley Johansen.

I can confirm that the amount raised was £14,921.28 This is a phenomenal amount of money and far beyond any expectations that we had for the night. We cannot possibly express how thankful we are in this newsletter, but to see the awning so full and the fantastic atmosphere on Friday night, combined with the astounding amount of money raised, really made all the organisation worthwhile. It was far beyond our expectations and thank you again for your support.

17 October 2008 - Oulton Park Fundraising - Massive Success

A massive thank you to everyone who donated prizes to the charity auction on Friday 10th October and to all of the prize winners, who placed such generous bids. The total raised for the British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research UK is yet to be confirmed. However, it is expected to be around £14,000, which is truly phenomenal. Thank you to everyone who supported us and our fundraising events at Oulton Park last weekend.

06 October 2008 - Oulton Park 10th and 11th October 2008 - Amended Timetable

Friday 10th October

Fun Cup exclusive testing, session 1: 11.30 - 12.30

Fun Cup exclusive testing, session 2: 13.30 - 14.30

There is general testing available, to book, please visit www.motorsportvision.co.uk

Paul will be providing a complementary hog roast and drinks for every Fun Cup team on Friday evening, as a contribution to the fund raising events that will be taking place that night. After the hog roast, we will be holding an auction and raffle to raise money for Cancer Research UK and as a mark of respect to the memory of David Byers, the British Heart Foundation. The finer details of the night’s fund raising will be confirmed nearer the event. Please encourage all team members to join in the fun and help our fund raising for such worthy causes.

Saturday 11th October

Sign On: 08.30

Scrutineering: 08.30 – 09.00

Qualifying: 10.05 – 11.05

Lunch break: 13.25 - 14.10

At approximately 13.25 all cars must lineup on the grid for a grid walk, interviews and photographs. At this time, we will also hold a one minute silence in memory of David Byers.

Race: 14.10 – 18.10

26 September 2008 - Snetterton 24th August, Pembrey 6th September, Oulton Park International 11th October - Sky Sports TV Coverage

EPISODE 40 - SNETTERTON/PEMBREY COMBINED

Thursday 2nd Oct - 7pm (SSX), Midnight (SSX)

Friday 3rd Oct - 4am (SS1), 8am (SS3), Midday (SS3)

Saturday 4th Oct - 6am (SSX)

EPISODE 43 - OULTON PARK

Thursday 23rd Oct - 7pm (SS3), 10pm (SSX)

Friday 24th Oct - 1am (SS1), 4.20am (SS1)Midday (SS3) 4pm (SS3)

Saturday 25th Oct - 6am (SSX)

17 September 2008 - Pembrey 6th September, Race Report, Round 6

After the tragic and untimely death of one of our fellow competitors and friends, David Byers, I am sure that you will all agree that it would be inappropriate for me to elaborate on the race action on Saturday 6th September.

Suffice it to say that after approximately two hours and fifty minutes of racing, the results have been classified and are published on the race results section off www.funcup.co.uk.

Final results are confirmed as:

1st – 210, Trucks 2 Go – Phil Martindale and Chris Hart

2nd – 14, Matrix - Ian Bankhurst and Nick Padmore

3rd – 212, Startracing.com – Phil Martindale and Andrew Martindale

9th - Highest Placed JPR Rental Team – Credit Crunch Racing - Tim Wheeldon and Nigel Griffiths

10th - Team of the Day - JPR Motorsport - Karl Chard, Ben Lack and Mark Hope

17 September 2008 - Oulton Park 10th and 11th October 2008 - Provisional Timetable

Friday 10th October

Testing timetable to be confirmed.

Paul will be providing a complementary hog roast and drinks for every Fun Cup team on Friday evening, as a contribution to the fund raising events that will be taking place that night. After the hog roast, we will be holding an auction and raffle to raise money for Cancer Research UK and as a mark of respect to the memory of David Byers, the British Heart Foundation. The finer details of the night’s fund raising will be confirmed nearer the event. Please encourage all team members to join in the fun and help our fund raising for such worthy causes.

Saturday 11th October

Sign On: 08.15

Scrutineering: 08.30 – 09.00

Qualifying: 09.50 – 10-50

Lunch break: 13.10 - 14.10

At approximately 13.10 all cars must lineup on the grid for a grid walk, interviews and photographs. At this time, we will also hold a one minute silence in memory of David Byers.

Race: 14.10 – 18.10

08 September 2008 - Fun Cup - David Byers

It is with the utmost regret that we must confirm the sudden and tragic death of our fellow Fun Cup competitor and friend, David Byers.

David, who lived in Co Dublin, Ireland, suffered a massive heart attack on Saturday, 6th September, at Pembrey Race Circuit. He was 55.

David had been an assistant principal architect in the Office of Public Works (OPW) in Ireland, prior to being appointed as one of its three commissioners in 2001. He was responsible for managing the state s portfolio of over 4,000 properties.

He worked on many major public projects, such as the installation of a conference centre in Dublin Castle and the renovation of Government Buildings in Merrion Street.

In his private life, he was an avid motor racing enthusiast and served as a director of Mondello Park in Co Kildare. He was also involved in organising motor racing in Phoenix Park.

David was a familiar and regular face at Fun Cup meetings in 2005, 2006 and 2008 and will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

Our deepest and most sincere condolences go to his wife, Ann and to his family.

28 August 2008 - Snetterton 24th August, Race Report, Round 5, 4 Hours

Snetterton played host to round five of the Fun Cup last weekend, with a thirty one car grid and a four hour race.

Team O BR/Perrys were drawn fourth on the grid, after the random ballot and had charged into the lead by the end of lap one. It was Eugene O Brien and Neil Walker who paired up in the 221 car for this race and they dominated from the start. Having set the fastest time in qualifying, with a 1.36.143, it was clear that they were going to be a serious contender for the race win and indeed first place was where the pair finished, a whole lap ahead of the second place Team Ram.

They also set the fastest lap of the race, with a staggering 1.25.286.

Meanwhile, in car 245 Team Ram, Austin Kinsella, who interrupted a holiday in Denmark for the race and flew to Snetterton in time for qualifying, partnered Richard Ince, as the team were minus regulars Mark Owen and Austin Reynolds.

After recording tenth fastest time in qualifying, with a 1.38.791, Team Ram were drawn twenty ninth on the grid, with Austin taking the first stint. He took advantage of the wet weather conditions and quickly moved through the field to hand over to Richard in sixth place, during the first pit stop. As other front runners struggled with the changeable conditions and encountered troubles of their own, a combination of consistent lap times and quick pit stops, found the team in third place at the halfway point.

They then pushed their way into second place after three hours and Richard completed the final stint in that position, a lap clear of the third placed Trucks 2 Go car, to register the team’s best result of the season so far.

From sixth on the grid, Alistair Stenhouse in the Prestige Motorsport car 41, managed to stay in the top six on the extremely wet track, during the first stint.

Their first pit stop was quick and Steven Darbey took over to force the car into second place, where the pair stayed for the next few hours and even increased the gap to over a minute from the third place team.

After a few tussles with some cars further down the field, disaster struck fifty minutes from the end, when a collision with car 152 West Norfolk Racing, resulted in car 41 spearing off at Corum and collecting a puncture on the way.

After hobbling into the pits, an awesomely fast tyre change saw them back out behind the safety car and in fourth position. They were now behind Phil Martindale in car 210 of Trucks 2 Go, with fourteen minutes remaining and a nine second gap.

"It looked as though we were destined to finish in fourth place, until Phil Martindale was given a stop and go penalty for an earlier incident under the safety car and so we managed to salvage our third spot in what was an amazingly fast and furious race," said Alistair.

In car 101, Team Norsound s Dan Jones and Alex Ashby were joined by Nick Pascoe, who replaced regular Lance Robson.

As race day provided heavy rain and a slippery track, Alex was putting in the best times thanks to his karting experience, so the team decided it was time for him to take his first ever start in the Fun Cup.

They drew eighteenth on the grid and by the end of the first stint, Alex had climbed into ninth place. When Dan took over for the second stint, the rain had stopped and the lap times were coming down. When Nick took over for the third stint, the track had dried and the team were storming through the field.

Dan had a fantastic battle with Tim Wheeldon in the Credit Crunch car number 103, during his fourth stint and they swapped places several times.

However, after this, they messed up a driver change and although they were still in tenth place, they were a lap behind the leaders in the fifth stint. Luckily for the team, a safety car was deployed and a great drive from Nick meant that they unlapped themselves and were now back in contention.

Alex took the last stint, as Team Norsound realised that they only had to pass Maverick Motorsport, car 146, to win the Highest Placed JPR Rental Team trophy. But, Maverick Motorsport were twenty five seconds ahead with at least ten cars in between. Alex picked off the slower cars one by one and about thirty minutes into the stint he had charged past the 146 car of Maverick Motorsport, to finish in seventh place and take home the trophy for Highest Placed JPR Rental Team for the third time this season.

Nathan Luckey, David Harrison and Mark Gillam, in car 99, Team Tasman, achieved their best ever result with a fifth place. However, the team would not have even made it to the start line, were it not for the superb efforts of the team to repair the rear chassis and suspension mount that came adrift during qualifying, in the two hours before the start of the race.

Mark Gillam, who filled in for regular Peter Burridge, had a great opening stint, moving through the field from twenty seventh up to ninth. The team emerged in third, after a great pit stop where Mark practically dived out of the car, and David Harrison, following strict instructions not to ruin Mark s efforts, continued with a few places lost, but the team stayed in the top ten.

For the majority of the remaining time, Team Tasman, had a trouble free race, reaching fifth place with one hour to go. However, fear gripped the team when Nathan Luckey was issued a stop and go penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Fortunately the team were sufficiently ahead of the following cars to keep the place and win the trophy for Team of the Day .

27 August 2008 - Pembrey 5th and 6th September 2008 - Provisional Timetable

Friday 5th September

Sign on: From 08.00 onwards (teams can sign on all day)

Fun Cup testing available from 09.00 to 17.00. Open and closed wheel sessions every twenty minutes.

Lunch 12.30 - 13.30

All private teams must book their car(s) in with Roxie, by Monday 1st September.

Saturday 6th September

Sign on: 07.35

Scrutineering: 07.40 - 08.10

Qualifying: 09.00 - 10.00

Race: 11.50 – 17.50

20 August 2008 - Accommodation for the Pembrey Race

For information about accommodation for the Pembrey race, please call Roxie on 01538 306921.

11 August 2008 - Snetterton 23rd and 24th August 2008 - Provisional Timetable

Saturday 23rd August

Sign on: From 8am (in the venue area)

Noise testing: From 8am over the back of the fuel pump area

Exclusive Fun Cup testing: 14.30 - 16.30

Sunday 24th August

Sign on: 07.30

Scrutineering: 07.35 - 08.15

Qualifying: 09.00 - 10.00

Race: 12.05 - 16.05

07 August 2008 - Spa 25 Hours 12th and 13th July - Motors TV Coverage

Please find below the Motors TV schedule, for the 1 hour Fun Cup special, which covers Spa 25 hours:

Sat August 16th: 4pm

Sun August 17th: 10pm

Tuesday August 19th: 4pm

Wednesday August 20th: 2am

Friday 22nd August: 3pm

28 July 2008 - Spa 25 Hours 12th and 13th July - Sky Sports TV Coverage on Raceworld

PART ONE - RACEWORLD EPISODE 33

14th August: 7pm Sky Sports Xtra and 10pm

Sky Sports Xtra

15th August: 5am (Sky Sports 1)

PART TWO - RACEWORLD EPISODE 34

21st August: 7pm Sky Sports Xtra and 10pm

Sky Sports Xtra

22nd August: 3am Sky Sports 1, 10am Sky Sports 2, Midday Sky Sports 3, 3.30pm Sky Sports 3

23rd August: 6am Sky Sports Xtra

22 July 2008 - Track Day at Oulton Park - 30th July 2008.

We have a Fun Cup car available for hire for half a day at a cost of £500 plus vat. This time will be split with another driver throughout the day. If you are interested, please contact Roxie on 01538 306921. You will need an ordinary driving licence maximum. No race licence is required.

22 July 2008 - World Cup Round and 14 Lap Sprint - 31st October to 2nd November

This year s Fun Cup World final will take place from October 31st to November 1st at the famous German Grand Prix circuit - the Nurburgring. In addition, this meeting will count as the final event for the Belgian, Italian and German Fun Cup championship.

On Sunday 2nd November, for the first time in Fun Cup history, there will be a 14 lap sprint around the Nordschleife circuit.

The World Cup Final - Saturday 1st November

This is a 6 hour race, split into two halves. Drivers will compete in the first half of the race for 3 hours and then stop for a 2 hour lunch break. After this time, they will line-up on the grid in the order that they finished before the lunch break and then continue with the final 3 hours of the race.

Provisional Timetable

Friday 31st October

Qualifying: 17.00 - 18.50 (110 min)

Saturday 1st November

Fun Cup World Final Part 1: 09.00 - 12.00 (180 min)

Fun Cup World Final Part 2: 15.00 - 18.00 (180 min)

Licence Grade

Please note, you can take part in this race with a national B race licence, but there may be a fee to pay on the day.

14 Lap Sprint Race - Sunday 2nd November

Provisional Timetable

Provisional timetable is yet to be confirmed.

Licence Grade

There can only be a maximum of two drivers for this event. It is possible to take part with just one driver. For this event, the driver(s) must have a minimum of a national A race licence. The drivers for each race can be different.

Nordschleife Training

There will be a special training course offered before the event, where experienced instructors will teach drivers how to handle the difficulties of the "Green Hell". More information will follow regarding this.

The Race

There will be no qualifying for this race. Fun Cup cars will be competing against other series of cars. Further details to follow, as and when we receive them.

Refuelling For Both Events

This will be done with a dump can outside your pit garage, as it is in a normal UK race.

Catering

Three tickets per team for the Saturday night Paddock Party and prize giving ceremony, will be included in the entry fee and distributed during sign on.

A catering service will also be offered from Friday to Sunday as follows:

Friday: Lunch

Dinner (Paddock Party)

Saturday: Breakfast

Lunch

Afternoon Tea

Dinner

Sunday: Breakfast

Lunch

Please email roxie@funcup.co.uk for more information.

Race Options

Private teams can take part in both races, just the World Cup round, or the just the 14 lap sprint race.

Entry Into Both Races

Places are limited for both events.For informaion on entry please contact roxie@funcup.co.uk, or call 01538 306921.

19 July 2008 - Spa 2008 Pictures

Pictures from Spa 2008 can be viewed on the picture galleries section of www.funcup.co.uk. Thank you to Pete Sharpe, Max Freeman and Mark Jones for supplying many of the pictures.

19 July 2008 - British History Made at Spa 25 Hours

A fleet of twenty-one British cars crossed the channel to Belgium last weekend, to take on a total of one hundred and thirty three Fun Cup teams from Belgium, France, Italy, Spain and Germany. However, it was car 131 with drivers Steve Harris, Paul Rose, Franck Pelle and Gilles Debrus, of JPR Frenchstone, who stole the show, with a phenomenal overall victory, to finally shatter the Belgians run of invincibility and take the honour for Britain.

On 12th and 13th July, the phenomenon of the 25 hour race began, around what is arguably one of the world s most famous circuits. Set in the beautiful Ardennes forest in Belgium, it is considered one of the most challenging race tracks in the world and is famous for it s unpredictable weather, which surprisingly produced no rain for the race.

Many believe that the circuit demonstrates the importance of driver skill, more than any other in the world. Fun Cup teams from across Europe flock to the event to battle for their country s honour. With twists and turns such as the famous Eau Rouge, which launches drivers steeply uphill, combined with the high speed left hand turn of Blanchimont and not forgetting the epic Raidillon, Les Combes, Stavelot and La Source, it is no surprise that there is always a staggering amount of Fun Cup teams competing.

The pace of the UK teams was confirmed from the start, when Chris Hart in car 210 of Trucks 2 Go, set a 3.08.196, which was enough to seal a front row grid start, in 2nd place. Cuisine de France/SPAR was close behind with a 13th place for the UK, followed by Team RAM in 23rd place.

JPR Frenchstone dominated from the start, with Franck Pelle taking the first stint. After starting 25th on the grid, he was in the lead after a mere thirty-four minutes of racing, in front of a massive 35,000 spectators. In fact, the early pace of the front runners gave no indication of a 25 hour race, but more that of a ten lap sprint. In fact, this was the case from the green light to the chequered flag.

First place was where the team stayed, until the following morning, when Steve Harris, who was three laps ahead by this time, was forced off the circuit by two fellow competitors. He smacked into the barrier at Blanchimont and was forced to pit, losing a massive six minutes, while the mechanics worked frantically to replace the rear wheel and repair the rear suspension.

Franck Pelle took over and rejoined the track a sickening four seconds behind the Belgian 129 Astur car, driven by Pierre Piron, Alain Delrez, Jean-Francois Olivier and Vincent Vosse, who are highly regarded as Belgium s dream team . In fact, Vosse had planned to leave the circuit on Saturday for his annual holiday, but had to postpone it when the team came under threat from JPR Frenchstone in the first hour of the race.

After losing 3rd place overall last year, on the last lap, the JPR Frenchstone team were on a mission and it was not long before Pelle had stormed into the lead again.

Last year we lead for around twelve hours, but it was cruelly snatched away from us due to gearbox trouble. Vincent Vosse in the 129 car is a professional driver and has raced Le Mans and FIA GT amongst other high profile series, he is regarded as one of the best in Belgium - they were all extremely serious about winning, but we wanted it badly , informed Franck Pelle.

After more than twenty three hours of racing, the Belgian guest driver for JPR Frenchstone, 24 year old Gilles Debrus, handed over to Paul Rose with a one lap lead over the Astur car, for the final stint of the 25 hour race.

Victory seemed inevitable and there was a sense of British pride floating around the JPR Frenchstone pit garage, until disaster stuck and Rose had to pit with only three laps to go. Having lost a rear wheel stud earlier in the race, a second wheel stud had broken off, but at this late stage, there was nothing that the mechanics could do, so Rose left the pits with only two wheel studs holding the wheel to the car.

It was a tense time for the JPR Frenchstone team, but Rose managed to cross the line still a lap ahead of the 2nd placed Astur car, despite the wheel trouble. In 3rd place it was team VW total, with the Belgian s Bertrand Baguette, Ruben Maes, Gregory Servais and Benoit Galand behind the wheel.

British pride took over the podium as God Save the Queen boomed over the tannoy and Steve Harris, Paul Rose, Franck Pelle and Gilles Debrus made history, with the first ever win at Spa 25 hours for a British car. Since the famous race began in 1999, never has any team other than the Belgian s taken victory. Finally, Belgian supremacy is no longer.

We are so happy to have made history here this weekend. We have been trying to win this race since the event started in 2002. Last year we were devastated to have been so close yet so far, but this year it was our time! This was the big one for us and as a team we were so passionate about winning it! Thank you to Big Rick, Arran and the rest of the pit crew. Finally, we did it! revealed Steve Harris.

Franck Pelle also set the fastest lap of the race with a staggering 3:06.359 on lap six.

In 2nd place for the UK was JPR Motorsport car 102, who finished in an extraordinary 12th place, in their first ever Spa race. The team consisted of Fun Cup regulars Mark Burton and Graham Pattle, along with James Sumsion and Ben Lack, who are competing in their first Fun Cup season this year in a JPR Motorsport rental car.

Having qualified 54th, James Sumsion braved the start of the race and pushed his team into 46th place. However, they were struck with two punctures, which forced them back to 122nd, after only an hour and a half of racing. After rejoining the circuit, with a new wheel, the strategy was to stay out of trouble and so, they slowly crept back up the field with consistent, steady laps.

Luckily, their progress was not halted too much when Sumsion was handed a stop and go penalty for driving through the red light in the pit lane and they managed to hold onto their strong finish on the podium.

In 3rd UK position, finishing 27th overall, it was Mark Owen, Austin Reynolds and Richard Ince for Team Ram, car 245. The team have been strong contenders in the UK races this year and proved that they are on form for 2008, taking the final UK podium spot.

Final Results (top 15 overall)

1. Rose-Harris-Pelle-Debrus (JPR Motorsport) 411 laps

2. Piron-Delrez-Olivier-Vosse (Astur Car) minus 1 lap

3. Baguette-Maes-Servais-Galand (Team VW Total) minus 3 laps

4. Marie-Aparici-Lombard-De Murard-Lemonnier (Orhes Marie Racing) minus 4 laps

5. Pulinx-Soulet-Verbist-Dumarey-Fumal (MPM) minus 6 laps

6. Nava-Gressens-Vanhakendover-Colman (Cornelis Racing Quick) minus 7 laps

7. Bentchikou-Roosens-Van Impe-Estievenart-Leenders (Arabian Sun Horses) minus 8 laps

8. Detre-Henrotte-Vroman-Mathieu (Contact)

9. Heider-Scheiff-Gazon-Haugg-Toussaint (Black Panther)

10. Eburderie-Guyard-Pascal-Martin (Tetris) minus 10 laps

11. Poussel-Dufour-Goudchaux (Over Drive / JEF Competition)

12. Lack-Palle-Burton-Sumsion (JPR Motorsport) minus 10 laps

13. Cabirou-Tranier-Tranier-Faure-Guillaume (Defournoux/Optic 2000)

14. Albanese-Pellegrinelli-Galdini-Cefis (Fun Girasole 3)

15. Robin-Robin-Bonnet-Faurie (Defournoux-Groupe Dirob) minus 11 laps

19 July 2008 - World Cup Round, Nurburgring, 1st and 2nd November, 2008

This year the world cup round will take place at the Nurburgring. On Saturday 1st November there will be a 6 hour race, which will be split into two sections. Teams will begin by racing for 3 hours and then stopping to take a 2 hour lunch break, followed by the final 3 hours of the race. On Sunday 2nd November, for the first time in Fun Cup history, there will be a 14 lap sprint race!

If you wish to enter this race, please do so ASAP to avoid any disappointment, as there are only eight places left.

If you require any further information, please call Roxie on 01538 306921.

07 July 2008 - Fun Cup Office Closed

The Fun Cup office will be closed until 16th July due to our 25 hour race at Spa.

20 June 2008 - Anglesey International 14th June 2008 - Sky Sports TV Coverage on Raceworld

Race World - episode 29 17/07/08 - 19:00 - Sky Sports Xtra

17/07/08 - 22:00 - Sky Sports Xtra

18/07/08 - 01:00 - Sky Sports 2 Digital

18/07/08 - 03:00 - Sky Sports 1 Digital

18/07/08 - 07:00 - Sky Sports 3 Digital

18/07/08 - 12:00 - Sky Sports 3 Digital

18/07/08 - 16:00 - Sky Sports 3 Digital

19/07/08 - 02:30 - Sky Sports 3 Digital

19/07/08 - 06:00 - Sky Sports 2 Digital

20 June 2008 - Anglesey International 14th June, Race Report, Round 4, 5 Hours

It was Anglesey International circuit that played host to the Fun Cup for round four of the series last weekend. Fun Cup UK took a fleet of twenty eight cars to compete at one of the UK s most picturesque circuits, in glorious sunshine.

After spending the whole of Friday s testing working on the horrendous understeer on car 131, it was JPR Frenchstone who eventually snatched victory.

The trio of Steve Harris, Franck Pelle and Paul Rose were drawn 8th on the grid from the random ballot. Franck Pelle took the start and forced his way into the lead by the end of lap two. Although the car s handling was far from ideal, it seemed to be better than most, working great in fast corners, but suffering massive understeer in many of the slow ones.

The race was fairly trouble free for the trio, who maintained a place at the front for the majority of the five hour race, although several safety cars removed their comfortable lead on more than one occasion. Their first place did come under threat momentarily during the final two laps, when Steve Harris was forced to deal with a throttle sticking wide open. However, he managed to reach the chequered flag in one piece to take the victory.

The number 1 car of Neil Plimmer and Geoff Fawcett were back on form for Team Honeywell in Saturday s race. The duo ran at the front for the first two hours, trading places with JPR Frenchstone, until a rogue misfire throughout the third stint pushed them back. Neil Plimmer maintained 2nd position on track and handed over to Geoff for the final hour, with a twenty-five second deficit.

As the misfire problem had cured itself, Geoff drove a storming final stint to slash JPR Frenchstone s advantage to six tenths of a second at the flag. A fantastic team effort saw Honeywell back on a regular podium position after their disasters at Croft three weeks previously.

Andrew Martindale replaced brother Phil in Trucks 2 Go, car 210, to pair up with Chris Hart for the race. Phil, who was nursing a broken shoulder, had to endure the race as a spectator. The pair ran a fairly trouble free race and mixed with the front runners for the duration. A bad placing behind the safety car lost them some valuable time, but it didn t deter them and after double stinting for the two final sessions, Chris Hart brought the car home in 3rd place.

Car 103, Credit Crunch Racing, finished 9th in what was only their fourth Fun Cup race. Tim Wheeldon and Nigel Griffiths were delighted with their result, considering their lack of experience and were awarded the Team of the Day Trophy.

Tim took the first stint, having being drawn 5th on the grid and settled into the race with a respectable middle placing. Nigel s first time out saw him having a great battle with car 221, Team O BR/Perrys and car 14, Matrix.

During their third and fourth stints some great pit stops helped them to move towards the top ten and when Nigel took over for the final fifty minute stint, the team had battled their way to seventh place and eventually crossed the line in 9th.

Dan Jones, Alex Ashby and Lance Robson finished in 5th place and took home the Highest Placed JPR Rental Team trophy, once again, for Team Wintun. The trio is proving to be extremely consistent for 2008, in what is their first year as team mates.

The fastest lap was set by Team RAM in car 245, with an impressive 1:46.805.

16 June 2008 - Anglesey International - 14th June 2008 - Race Results

Congratulations to the winners Steve Harris, Paul Rose and Franck Pelle in the 131 JPR Frenchstone car. In 2nd place it was Neil Plimmer and Geoff Fawcett, racing for Team Honeywell in car 1. Chris Hart and Andrew Martindale finished 3rd in car 210 for team Trucks 2 Go.

The highest placed JPR Rental drivers were Team Wintun driven by Alex Ashby, Dan Jones and Lance Robson. The trio finished 5th in car 101.

Credit Crunch racing in car 103 won the Team of the Day trophy. Drivers Tim Wheeldon and Nigel Griffiths took home their first ever Fun Cup trophy and were delighted to finish in 9th place.

Race report and pictures to follow.

16 June 2008 - Motors TV Schedule - First One Hour Fun Cup Special

Please find below the Motors TV UK schedule for our first 1-hour special of the year. This will feature coverage from Mondello, Croft and Anglesey:

Saturday 5th July: 1pm

Sunday 6th July: 2am

Monday 7th July: 3am

Tuesday 8th July: 1pm & 7pm

Wednesday 9th July: 11pm

In addition to being broadcast to 6.6 million households in the UK, the programme will also be given coverage on the Motors TV European network, available to a further 22 million households, across 40 countries.

06 June 2008 - Anglesey International - Drivers Brieifng

There will be two briefings at Anglesey International on Saturday 14th June. The first will be for all new drivers at 9 am and the main briefing will be held at 11.30 am. All drivers MUST attend the main brieifng.

Room is to be advised.

03 June 2008 - Spa 25 hour Race, July 10th - 13th 2008 - Timetable

Thursday 10.07

Setting up in the paddock from 08.00

Sign on in the F1 building from 09.00 to 20.00

Testing

13.15 - 16.15: Fun Cup (435,60 euros including vat).

(All JPR Motorsport rental drivers MUST book their car in with Roxie if they wish to take part in this testing. The deadline for this is Monday 7th July. Please email roxie@funcup.co.uk for a booking form).

Scrutineering

09.00 - 13.00: Fun Cup scrutineering in pit garages

16.15 - 20.00: Fun Cup scrutineering in pit garages

Friday 11.07

07.00 - 09.40: Sign On in the F1 building

08.00 - 11.30: Fun Cup scrutineering (F1 pitlane)

Drivers briefing in the F1 building

09.50: British Fun Cup drivers

11.40 - 13.20: Fun Cup qualifying 1

16.45 - 18.00: Fun Cup qualifying 2

Saturday 12.07

15.40 - 16.30: Grid set-up for Fun Cup

16.30 - 16.50: Fun Cup parade

17.00: Fun Cup race starts

Sunday 13.07

18.00 Fun Cup race finishes

28 May 2008 - Spa 25 hours, July 12th and 13th 2008, Hire Seats Available

We have hire seats available for Spa 25 hours on 12th and 13th July 2008. If you are interested, or know of anyone who would like further information, please call Paul on 01538 306921 ASAP.

28 May 2008 - Fun Cup UK Photographs 2008

Digital files of photographs from each round of the Fun Cup UK season (excluding Mondello Park) are available by email, or post and CD for the following rates:

Each £20.00

3 Files and above £10.00 each

10 Files and above £5.00 each

CD and postage £3.00

Email free. Please email Jeremy Adams at mail@jemadams.com

23 May 2008 - Anglesey International 13th and 14th June - Timetable

Friday 13th June

Fun Cup UK has exclusive hire of the circuit from 10.00 - 17.00.

Lunch is 13.00 - 14.00.

To book testing please email roxie@funcup.co.uk. All testing must be booked through Roxie and not the circuit.

Saturday 14th June

08.45 - 09.30 Sign on

08.50 - 09.30 Scrutiny

10.00 - 11.00 Qualifying

11.35 - 12.15 Lunch

12.30 - 17.30 Race

21 May 2008 - Croft 17th and 18th May, Race Reports, Rounds 2 and 3, 2 x 3 Hours.

Race One

It was Eugene O Brien and Neil Walker, who took the victory for Team O BR/Perrys, car 221, in the first three hour race. Having being drawn 14th out of twenty-nine starters, Eugene made a flying start and was soon in the lead. However, the team was given a five second stop-go penalty for a few on track incidents, which was taken during Neil s stint. But, this did not deter him and he too had a superb session. As the race continued, Neil particularly, gained more confidence, which culminated in the team taking their first win of the season. They also set the fastest lap of the race, which was a 1:41.148.

Car 131, JPR-Frenchstone, took the 2nd spot on the podium, having being drawn from the random grid ballot on the last row. Steve Harris, Franck Pelle and Paul Rose drove consistently and stayed out of trouble to ensure their podium finish.

Race one, saw the 210 car of Trucks 2 Go drawn out of the random grid ballot towards the back of the pack. They managed to avoid the carnage of the incident at the start of the race, which consumed at least five cars, before turn one at Clervaux. This meant that Chris Hart, who drove for the first stint, managed to gain a staggering sixteen places before the end of the first lap. When the first mandatory pit stop window arrived, he handed over to team mate Phil Martindale in 4th place. The remainder of the race saw the duo stay out of trouble and although they were lacking in power out of the corners, they eventually finished on the final step of the podium in 3rd place.

It was Mark Owen and Richard Ince who were awarded the Team of the Day trophy. They were drawn 23rd on the grid, but managed to push hard throughout the race and finished in a strong 5th place. They also set the third fastest lap of the race with a 1:41.878, which was the icing on the cake for Team RAM, who had an excellent days racing.

Team Wintun s Dan Jones, Alex Ashby and Lance Robson won the Highest Placed JPR Rental Team trophies and just missed out on a podium finish, with a 4th place, in car 101. Fun Cup regular Dan, teamed up with Fun Cup scholarship finalist Alex for the second time this season, whilst Lance was new to the team, having competed in the Fun Cup between 2002 to 2004.

Race Two

With the grid reversed, based on race one s results, car 221, Team O BR/Perry s found themselves near the back of the pack. However, Eugene soon stormed towards the front and when Neil took over, he followed suit, setting regular lap times in the 1:41 bracket.

The end of the race was a tense period for the Team O BR/Perry s pit crew, as they watched Eugene battle for the lead, with Paul Rose in the JPR-Frenchstone car 131. The pair fought nose to tail when Paul lost out to Eugene, as they entered the chicane side by side, with neither driver giving way, resulting in contact and Paul hitting the tyres, whilst Eugene had to run onto the grass. This effectively ended JPR-Frenchstone s race as they had to pit due to steering damage, whilst Eugene managed to maintain his position.

Neil took over for the last stint from Eugene and held onto the team s thirty second lead, crossing the finish line in first place. Overall, the two wins made Neil s comeback after a twelve month break, more than memorable. The team also set the fastest lap once again, with a phenomenal 1.40.939.

In car 210, Trucks 2 Go, Phil Martindale and Chris Hart were on the pace in the morning warm up, after adjusting the car s jetting. With the grid reversed, they started near the back again, but quickly charged through the pack into 6th place, eventually reaching the leaders, where they had a great battle with JPR-Frenchstone for over an hour.

The collision between Team O BR/Perrys and JRR-Frenchstone meant that Trucks 2 Go were handed 2nd place and it was here they stayed until the chequered flag was waved.

Car 214, Team Tiger s Ben Beighton and Chloe Noyce, finished in 3rd place, which was their first ever podium position. This was a fantastic result for the pair who have teamed up for the 2008 season, having raced in separate teams last year.

Car 101, Team Wintun, received their second trophy of the weekend. Dan Jones, Alex Ashby and Lance Robson were awarded Team of the Day , having finished in 7th place.

JPR Motorsport car 111, won Highest Placed JPR Rental Team. Father and son Bruno and Gilles Debrus travelled from Belgium to compete at Croft and had a brilliant race to finish in 4th.

21 May 2008 - Mondello Park 26th April - Photographs

Photographs from Mondello Park can be seen on www.thphoto.net

20 May 2008 - Croft 17th and 18th May - Photographs

Please visit www.jemadams.com to view pictures from Croft. To buy pictures from these rounds, please visit www.photoboxgallery.com/jemadams. Alternatively, if you wish to purchase files of pictures from Croft, please email Jeremy Adams at ja@230v.co.uk.

20 May 2008 - Croft 17th and 18th May - Sky Sports TV Coverage on Raceworld

Thurs 5th June - 6.30pm (Sky Sports 2), 10pm (Sky Sports Xtra)

Friday 6th June - 2am (Sky Sports 1), Midday (Sky Sports 3), 4pm (Sky Sports 3)

20 May 2008 - TOMA Fund - Croft 18th May

Thank you to everyone who donated to the TOMA Fund on Sunday and to all those who helped make it such a special day in Jordan Thompson s memory and for his friends and family.

The total amount raised has not yet been finalised, but as soon as we are informed, we will post it on the latest news.

ITV North East local news were also at Croft on Sunday to film the fund raising for the TOMA fund during our grid walk. This was featured on the 6pm news yesterday (19th May). To see the feature please visit http://www.itvlocal.com/tynetees, click on local news, then latest news bulletin and select the North. After this, click on the bulletin dated Monday 19/05/08 and skip forward to around 16 minutes and 40 seconds.

14 May 2008 - Croft - Saturday 17th May - Drivers Briefing

There will be a briefing for all Fun Cup racers new to the 2008 season on Saturday 17th May. This will take place in the Media Centre. The main briefing, which ALL drivers MUST attend, will take place at 11.30 am on Saturday 17th May, in the Media Centre again.

13 May 2008 - Croft Entry Packs

When you arrive at Croft circuit, please collect your entry packs containing your circuit entry tickets, car park passes and hospitality wristbands (if ordered) from Roxie.

13 May 2008 - Croft Timetable - 17th and 18th May, 2008

Friday 16th May

Exclusive testing: 13.00 - 15.00 (to be booked with Fun Cup UK)

Extra testing can be booked with the circuit on the day. This will take place after the exclusive testing. Please note that that the circuit will be closed on Friday morning.

Saturday 17th May

Sign on: 08.10 - 09.10

Scrutineering: 08.15 - 09.15

Qualifying: 09.50 - 10.50

Race one: 15.00 - 18.00

Sunday 18th May:

All cars on the grid at 11.00

Warm up: 12.00 - 12.20

Race two: 14.00 - 17.00

02 May 2008 - Mondello Park 26th April, Race Report, Round 1, 6 Hours.

Team Honeywell, who were 2nd fastest in qualifying, were drawn 23rd on the grid. It was Neil Plimmer who started and made solid progress throughout the first hour and at the close of the first pit-stop window the team were in 2nd position. They exchanged the race lead with car 131, JPR-Frenchstone, during the next 4 hours and pitted simultaneously at the last pit-stop window. When trying to leave the pits, Honeywell s Geoff Fawcett was frustratingly unable to find any gears! He eventually found just 4th and limped away. Unable to challenge for the potential win, he drove an outstanding final stint and maintained 2nd position to the chequered flag, with just one gear, behind car 131, JPR-Frenchstone, who took the win.

Car 104, Track Torque Racing, started on the last row of the grid alongside the other Track Torque Racing car 106! Adrian Wood, drove the first stint and managed to push from 30th to 7th and although the car sustained substantial front bodywork damage, the mechanicals were unaffected. Sean Lockyear took over for the 2nd hour in 9th place due to the extra time taken during the pit stop to replace the bonnet, but soon moved to 5th. It was Tim Hartland who drove the 3rd hour and maintained the strong position. Safety car usage compromised the next two stints, though Track Torque s strategic decisions on refuelling made the best of the situation. The rotation of the 3 drivers continued with Tim Hartland driving the last hour stint. The team had pushed hard to work their way into 3rd place by this point. Tim chased down the Honeywell car, which was known to be suffering gearbox problems, but was unable to close the gap before the chequered flag and so, it was a well deserved 3rd place for Track Torque Racing.

Car 110, JPR Motorsport, were awarded the highest placed JPR Rental team trophy. The team consisted of Ben Lack, James Sumsion and Natalie Maillet, who were racing together as a team for the first time in the Fun Cup. Natalie is an extremely experienced Fun Cup racer from Belgium, whilst Ben and James had never raced together, or even in the Fun Cup before. Congratulations to the trio who finished an impressive 5th overall.

Maverick Motorsport, car 146, took a strong finish after the 6 hours, with drivers Dominic Jackson, Simon Acton and Chris Weatherill storming into 6th place by the chequered flag. They had only met as a team the day before the race! A brilliant result! Car 221, Team O BR/Perrys placed the fastest lap of the race with a 2.02.067. It was Eugene O Brien who set a phenomenal race pace with this lap record.

30 April 2008 - Mondello Park Pictures

If any teams have any pictures that they would like adding to the picture gallery section of the website, please email them to roxie@funcup.co.uk.

30 April 2008 - Race Licence Signatures

If any drivers need their licence upgrade card signing after any of the Fun Cup races, please hand them to Roxie and she will return them to you at the end of each race.

30 April 2008 - Mondello Park Race Report - Round 1, 6 hours.

Congratulations to the top three teams. In first place it was car 131 JPR-Frenchstone, driven by Steve Harris, Franck Pelle and Paul Rose. Neil Plimmer and Geoff Fawcett finished in second place for Team Honeywell in car number 1. Car 104, Track Torque Racing, finished in third, driven by Adrian Wood, Tim Hartland and Sean Lockyear.

Team of the day was awarded to car 146, JPR Motorsport, driven by Simon Acton, Dominic Jackson and Chris Weatherill.

The highest placed JPR Motorsport Rental Team was won by Ben Lack, Natalie Malliet and James Sumsion.

Race reports to follow.

29 April 2008 - TV Coverage Information

Sky Sports have managed to negotiate some additional coverage for this year s Fun Cup on Motors TV. This will be on top of the Sky Sports programmes that we already have.

Motors TV will show 3 x 1 hour bespoke Fun Cup programmes:

Prog 1: Mondello, Croft & Anglesey - airs from Saturday July 5th.

Prog 2: Spa 25 Hours - airs from Saturday August 16th.

Prog 3: Snetterton, Pembrey & Oulton - airs from Saturday November 1st.

We ll update you with all the transmission times when they re available later in the year.

28 April 2008 - Mondello Park, 2008 - TV Covergae

Highlights from the Mondello Park round of the Fun Cup will appear in the Raceworld programme on Sky Sports Television. The provisional schedule is as follows:-

Thursday 22nd May

6.00pm - Sky Sports 3

10.00pm - Sky Sports Xtra

Friday 23rd May

1.00am - Sky Sports 2

5.00am - Sky Sports 1

9.30am - Sky Sports 3

Midday - Sky Sports 3

Saturday 24th May

6.00am - Sky Sports Xtra

10.00am - Sky Sports Xtra

Sunday 25th May

4.00am - Sky Sports Xtra

22 April 2008 - Mondello Park

All drivers MUST attend a drivers briefing on Saturday 26th April at 8.30 am. Any people who will be passengers in a twin-seater Fun Cup car MUST also attend this briefing. The venue for the briefing will be posted on the board outside the Fun Cup awning.

After the exclusive testing finishes on Friday 25th, could all cars please be positioned in front of the pit garages with all drivers next to the cars in race overalls. At this point, the sky crew will do a pit lane walk and film each team next to the car. This process should only take around 20 minutes, so I will be grateful if all Team Managers can arrange their cars and teams immediately after the exclusive testing finishes.

31 March 2008 - Donington Park Track Day - 14th April, 2008

We will be holding a track day at Donington Park on 14th April, 2008, for anyone who wishes to test a Fun Cup car. No race licence is required at this track day. All you will need to take part is a normal driving licence and a crash helmet (we can provide this if necessary). If you would like to take part, please call Roxie/Paul ASAP, so that we can reserve your space.

22 February 2008 - On-Board Camera Kits

Fun Cup UK is now an official distributor of Goldstar on-board cameras. This means that we can offer on-board camera kits, which are designed for Fun Cup cars, with all of the necessary memory to record for 8 hours. The quality is to an extremely high standard and suitable for TV (broadcast quality). This is a fantastic opportunity to impress your sponsors and it is also very simple to download the footage. If you download the footage after each race, or when you return home and hand it to/post it to the TV crew, they will use all good footage on the Fun Cup programmes featured on Sky Sports and Motor s TV.

The camera kits are available to hire for £140 per race/venue. This rate will be discounted for all JPR rental teams/drivers, please contact the office to discuss.

Alternatively, you could purchase a complete kit including a card reader for £850.

If you would like a brochure please email your address to roxie@funcup.co.uk.

14 February 2008 - Accommodation for the Anglesey International Race

Accommodation can be found 5 - 20 minutes away, for the race at Anglesey International. Details can be found below:

Bull Hotel: 01248 722119

Holland Arms Hotel: 01248 421651

Victoria Hotel: 01248 712309

25 January 2008 - Mondello Park - Fun Cup Car Transport Available

If any teams require transport to Mondello Park for their Fun Cup car, Martindale Motorsport have 3 spaces available on their transporter. Please contact Phil Martindale on 07973823798, for further information.

25 January 2008 - Oulton Park Int. - Track Day - 29th Feb, 2008

If you would like to test a Fun Cup car at Oulton Park International circuit on Friday 29th February, please ring Paul, or Roxie, on 01538 306921 asap to reserve your space. We can offer half hour sessions, full hour sessions, full morning/full afternoon sessions, or a whole day in the car. All you need is a driving licence!

08 January 2008 - Autosport Show

As usual, we will have a Fun Cup stand at the Autosport show (NEC) this year. The show opens this Thursday (Jan 10th) and finishes on Sunday. If you are attending the show, please do come and see us. We will be in hall 10, on stand number 10207.

03 January 2008 - 2008 Provisional Fun Cup UK Calendar

Check out the race calendar section of our website to view the provisional dates for 2008.

21 December 2007 - 2007 Fun Cup Season Review DVD

I am happy to inform you all that the 2007 Fun Cup season review DVD is now out. The DVD is £12 including VAT, which is chargeable to all teams and drivers (plus postage, if you would like it posting).

If you would like a DVD posting, please send an email with your address on to roxie@funcup.co.uk. Alternatively, you may purchase one from us at the Autosport show if you will be attending. We will be in hall 10, stand number 10207.

26 November 2007 - FUN CUP SCHOLARSHIP WINNER

Congratulations to Karl Chard on becoming the 2007 Fun Cup Scholarship winner! The 20 year old travelled from Bournemouth to the final of the scholarship, at Darlington s Croft circuit.

In order to win the prestigious prize, the 15 finalists had to take to the track in a Fun Cup competition car for an out-lap, a fast lap, a flying lap and an in-lap. The results were extremely close, but it was Karl Chard who produced the fastest flying lap to take the victory with a 1:47.42.

A special mention also goes to Simon Acton in 2nd place, Craig Brown in 3rd and Alex Ashby and Martin Denson who finished in joint 4th position.

19 November 2007 - 19 November 2007 - Motors TV - Season Review Coverage

There will be extra Fun Cup coverage on Motors TV, which will be a Fun Cup season review.

The dates are as follows:

7pm - 8pm Sun 18th Nov

3am - 4am Mon 19th Nov

2am - 3am Tue 20th Nov

1.30pm - 2.30pm Thr 22nd Nov

7.30pm - 8.30pm Thr 22nd Nov

22 October 2007 - TV Coverage - Snetterton, Brands Hatch and Oulton Park

Raceworld Episode 45, featuring UFC Snetterton:

8th Nov: 7.00am (Sky Sports Xtra), 6.30pm (Sky Sports Xtra)

9th Nov: 4.00am (Sky Sports 3), 10.00am (Sky Sports 2)

Raceworld Episode 46, featuring UFC Brands:

15th Nov: 10.00pm (Sky Sports 2)

16th Nov: 4.00am (Sky Sports 3), Midday (Sky Sports 3), 3.00pm (Sky Sports 3)

Raceworld Episode 49, featuring UFC Oulton Park:

6th Dec: 7.00pm (Sky Sports 3), Midnight (Sky Sports 3)

7th Dec: 8.00am (Sky Sports Xtra), 4.00pm (Sky Sports 3)

9th Dec: 3.00am (Sky Sports Xtra)

22 October 2007 - End of Season Party

A big thankyou to everyone who attended the end of season party on Saturday and helped make it such a fantastic night. It was a brilliant end to the 2007 season and we would like to thank those of you that have sent such lovely emails to tell us how much you enjoyed the night.

12 October 2007 - Oulton Park Race Report

A THRILLING END TO THE SEASON

The camaraderie, the atmosphere and not to mention the grid girls, made Oulton Park one of the most fantastic events of the 2007 Uniroyal Fun Cup season. The sun was shining, the girls were smiling, and the men most definitely had a spring in their step!

The Fun Cup was extremely proud to be raising money for Cancer Research UK at the event and is delighted to reveal that £660.50 was raised.

It was O Brien who started the race for car 221 and was drawn 2nd on the grid after the random ballot to decide grid positions. Immediately, he charged to the front and pulled out a 10 second lead, but this was soon ruined when a safety car was deployed onto the track and the front running cars all re-bunched.

However, once the safety car pulled back into the pits, O Brien quickly roared ahead with a 20 second lead, before handing over to Ritter after 40 minutes, when the 1st pit stop arrived. Ritter double stinted and flew even further into the lead, placing the 221 car into a sensational 35 second lead.

After a glorious 2 hours for Ritter, a safety car stint crushed his hard work and his lead was now a sickening 7 seconds. The 221 car of Team O BR/Perrys put pressure on themselves with a slow pit stop, when it was time for Ritter to swap seats with O Brien again. They loaded the car with fuel and had to jump start it.

1st place was up for grabs again and O Brien rejoined the track to battle it out with Paul Rose in the 131 JPR Motorsport Contitech car. The two cars were fractions of a second between each other and scrapped for the lead all round the circuit, but O Brien managed to eventually slip away and extend the gap to 9 seconds.

However, a spanner was thrown into the works when their 4th gear kept slipping into neutral at Old Hall and Cascade. When Ritter took over from O Brien for his final stint, he struggled to get to grips with this dilemma and found himself being rapidly hunted down by Rose in the 131 JPR Motorpsort Contitech car. With a mere 5 minutes left in the penultimate stint, Rose charged into the lead for the 131 car, before handing over to Harris for the final stint.

From here, there was a great battle for the victory, with O Brien now in the 221 car and running with a lighter fuel load and Harris a measly 1.5 seconds ahead after the pit stop.

O Brien was clearly on a mission and took advantage of his lighter fuel load by putting in some storming 2:04.06 laps.

In the meantime, car 195, Scarab Racing, driven by Bram de Groot and Phil de Groot King, were having a fantastic race having started 18th on the grid from row 9.

It was de Groot who started the race and brought the car back in 10th spot after the 1st 40 minute stint. De Groot King then continued the chase and made up a further 3 places for the Scarab Racing Team and handed back to de Groot, who held his position on the track for his 2nd stint. However, panic set in, as de Groot pitted for de Groot King to take over, when the door refused to shut, costing them valuable seconds and resulting in them losing 4 places in the pits.

From then on, the pair were storming round the track, each with something to prove and between them, reached 6th place, with a speedy pit stop helping them along the way.

But, there was a frantic, unscheduled stop for the pair, when de Groot was shown the black and orange flag, as his door was still refusing to shut properly. This only added fuel to his fire and he returned to the track after his stop-go penalty, where he ousted the 6th placed team and moved up to 5th.

De Groot King swiftly took over for the last 40 minute stint where he was able to surge past the JPR Motorsport 101 car and was then handed 3rd spot when the 190 car in front, lost out due to contact with Team Faxtastic.

So, it was car 221 Team O Brien/Perrys driven by Eugene O Brien and Joachim Ritter, who took the victory by 9 seconds. In 2nd place were Paul Rose, Steve Harris and Franck Pelle in the 131 JPR Motorsport Contitech car. Finishing in 3rd and taking their highest ever finish, were car 195 Scarab Racing, driven by Bram de Groot and Phil de Groot King.

In car 108, JPR Motorsport, the rental drivers Ian Dyke and Eddie Cole took full advantage of their pole position and drove an absolutely fantastic race, to finish in 5th. The dynamic duo were absolutely delighted with their result. It was their highest placed finish and they also won the trophy for the highest placed JPR Rental team.

Team Synetrix, car 207, were one position short of the podium in 4th place. Drivers Mark Burton, Grahame Pattle and Anthony Gribbin had a superb race and took home the Team of the Day trophy.

28 September 2007 - Changes to Driver Entries

Please note that if you have any driver changes, you must inform Roxie before the race. Otherwise, your driver entries will be incorrect with the circuit and it may result in the new driver being unable to race.

17 September 2007 - Motors TV - Extended Coverage Times

The Uniroyal Fun Cup will have extra TV coverage on Motors TV this year. The timetable is as follows:

Programme 1 - Croft and Mondello Park

Thursday 20th September: 15.00

Programme 2 - Spa 25 hours

Saturday 22nd September: 13.00 and 02.00

Monday 24th September: 20.00

Tuesday 25th September: 13.00

Thursday 27th September: 18.00 and 03.00

Saturday 29th September: 01.00

Sunday 30th September: 18.30

We have not yet had confirmation of the times for programme 3, which will cover Snetterton, Brands Hatch and Oulton Park.

12 September 2007 - Spa 25 2007 - Rescheduled TV Coverage for Spa Part 2

Tonight s 2nd part of the Spa 25 hour coverage, has been rescheduled by Sky TV, due to technical difficulties. The new viewing times are as follows:

20th September: 6pm (Sky Sports 2) 21st September: 1.30am (Sky Sports 2) and 8am (Sky Sports 2)

03 September 2007 - 2007, Brands Hatch Race Report, Round 6

Eugene O Brien and team mate for the race, Peter Seldon, took the victory in the Uniroyal Fun Cup race at Brands Hatch this weekend, in a 3 hour 10 minute race.

The massive 31 car line-up demonstrated the strength of the Fun Cup and the grid, drawn from a random ballot, saw car 221 of O Brien and Seldon placed 7th for Team O BR/Perrys. Immediately, they motored their way through the field to head the chasers and after 10 minutes of racing, they stormed into the lead.

30 minutes after the green lights, the 1st pit stop arrived and it was car 210, Trucks 2 Go, who emerged in 2nd spot. Having started 8th on the grid, Chris Hart had taken the start for the team and pushed his way through the chasing pack, to the front.

Meanwhile, having been drawn 17th on the grid, car 227, Team Faxtastic, driven by Adrian Mardlin and Rob Croyden, were charging through the field. It was Mardlin that drove the 1st half hour stint for the team and quickly hustled his way past the other cars, to reach 5th position.

Unfortunately, a stint following the safety car pushed the team back down to 10th. However, they made another charge and worked their way back up, where Mardlin seized his chance and took 1st spot.

In car 221, O Brien was in 2nd and putting immense pressure on Mardlin, with some extremely fast times - during the penultimate stint, he managed to overtake him and edged into the lead.

Car 221 retained their lead for the final 40 minute stint of the race and so, it was O Brien and Seldon that sealed the victory for Team O BR/Perrys. In 2nd place, it was Mardlin and Croyden in car 227, for Team Faxtastic. Car 210, Team Trucks 2 Go, took the final podium spot in 3rd, driven by Phil Martindale and Chris Hart.

In car 111, JPR Triple-Won, had the luxury of a pole position and used this to their advantage. The duo of Andrei Bgatov and Mike Whitaker left their mark, as they were the 1st ever team to be awarded with Team of the Day and highest placed JPR Rental team trophies - double joy for the pair, who finished 10th.

16 August 2007 - 2007 Spa - TV Coverage

Raceworld episode 36, featuring Spa part 1:

Thursday 6th September: 6.30pm (Sky Sports 3), 10 pm (Sky Sports 2).

Friday 7th September: 8am (Sky Sports 2), 2pm (Sky Sports 1).

Raceworld episode 37, featuring Spa part 2:

Wednesday 12th September: 6pm (Sky Sports Xtra), 10pm (Sky Sports 3).

Thursday 13th September: 2am (Sky Sports 2), 8am (Sky Sports 3).

Please note that, as usual, this will be split across two back-to-back shows (half an hour in each show).

Also, this year, all Fun Cup rounds will receive extra coverage on Motors TV, in three special one-hour programmes:

Prog 1 - Croft and Mondello Park.

Prog 2 - Spa 25 hours.

Prog 3 - Snetterton, Brands Hatch and Oulton park.

Once the air dates for these are available, they will be issued on the latest news section of our website.

13 August 2007 - Fun Cup Pictures

Photographs from the Fun Cup races can be viewed on the picture galleries link of our website. You can, also, purchase pictures, if you click on our photogallery link. Here, you will be able to buy pictures in various sizes and finishes on our photobox site - you can even buy a mug with a picture of your team/car on it!

If there are any pictures that are not on the photobox site, but are on our website and you would like them adding onto our photobox site, please ring Roxie on 01538 306921.

Also, we have hundreds of pictures from each round. So, if you would like any new pictures of your team/car adding to our photobox site, then please ring Roxie. If you choose to do this, we can send you various proofs to choose from and your favourites will then be added to our photobox site. However, we will have to delete the current pictures of your team/car when we place the new pictures on the photobox site, due to space restrictions.

Please note that we will not be able to add new pictures of cars that failed to display the mandatory stickers.

13 August 2007 - Fun Cup Scholarship

We are running our superb competition for the second year, called the Fun Cup Scholarship. The lucky winner will compete in the Fun Cup for the complete 2008 UK season for FREE! To find out more about it click on the link to the website www.funcup-scholarship.co.uk

08 August 2007 - 2007, Snetterton Race Report, Round 5

The Uniroyal Fun Cup moved to Snetterton this weekend for the 5th round of the series. It was a 4 hour race, which saw Eugene O Brien, storm to victory with new team mate for the race, Joachim Ritter. The win was even more impressive for the team, as it was Ritter s first ever race in any series.

The grid draw, taken from a random ballot, saw O Brien and Ritter s 221 car pulled out 2nd on the grid, with the other favourites to win all placed behind them. It was the massively experienced O Brien who took the start and immediately pulled away, whilst the competition of Abbey Motorsport, JPR Motorsport, Prestige Wheels, Trucks 2 Go and Random Racing all scrapped for 2nd place, swapping positions at literally every corner.

The 1st pit window arrived after 40 minutes and by this time, O Brien was a massive 40 seconds ahead of the 2nd placed Abbey Motorsport, who had managed to pull away from the chasing pack. O Brien carried out a quick pit stop and handed over to Ritter, who rejoined the pack, still with a big lead. Impressively, he did not falter under the pressure of his 1st ever race stint and continued the phenomenal race pace that O Brien had set earlier. Behind Ritter, the highly successful V de V racers, Adrian Mardlin and Rob Croyden were driving a superb race, having started from near the back of the grid, the pair had flown through the 26 car pack and were now in 2nd place, catching Ritter by 2 seconds per lap.

After the 2nd pit window, O Brien held the lead and was still being chased by the super quick 227 car of Mardlin and Croyden. However, a safety car was deployed, which heated up the race, as it closed the gap between the front-runners and by the end of the 3rd pit window, the gap had been reduced to an incredible 7 seconds between the top 4 teams, after 2 hours of racing.

However, there was a massive blow for O Brien, when he was given a stop and go penalty, which cut his lead from the new 2nd placed 210 car of Trucks 2 Go, as car 227 of Mardlin and Croyden had to make an unscheduled pit stop, which had cost them their 2nd place.

The 2nd to last pit stop arrived and O Brien pitted to hand over to Ritter, but it soon became apparent that a victory for the pair was not going to be as easy as it seemed, when the 3rd placed, car 131, JPR Motorsport Contitech, driven by Paul Rose and Steve Harris, pitted at the same time and carried out an extremely fast stop, to rejoin the track in the lead with Ritter in 2nd. It was Rose who took over from Harris and he was pulling away from Ritter at an average of 2 seconds per lap. Car 210, Trucks 2 Go, were also pushing hard in 3rd place and driver Chris Hart caught and overtook Ritter, pushing the 221 car into 3rd spot.

However, disaster struck for the JPR Motorsport Contitech car during the final pit window, when the team retired from the race with a loss of oil pressure. This meant that Phil Martindale took the lead for car 210, Trucks 2 Go. However, O Brien was in the 221 car for the final stint and was clearly on a mission, having led the race for so long, he was hungry for the win. He put in some storming laps and managed to catch and overtake Martindale to take the lead, as Martindale was suffering from a loss of engine power.

The chequered flag was waved 4 hours after the start and it was O Brien and Ritter that eventually took the win, after the highly eventful race. In 2nd place, it was Team Honeywell s Plimmer and Fawcett and in 3rd position, Martindale and Hart took the final podium spot for team Trucks 2 Go.

Congratulations to the highest placed JPR Rental team. Drivers Garry Wardle, Ian White and Dominic O Donnell finished 12th. Well done also to Pete Griffin, John Dormer and Michael Holloway, who took home the Team of the Day trophy, after a strong finish in 7th.

31 July 2007 - Spa Race Report

To read the race report from Spa 2007, please visit http://www.funcup.co.uk/spa2007.asp

18 June 2007 - 2007, Mondello Park Race Report, Rounds 1 and 2

Mondello Park was a brilliant weekend, which provided gorgeous sunshine for both races. Thankyou all for your emails and phone calls to tell us how much you enjoyed it.

Race 1

A massive congratulations to car 210, Trucks 2 Go, drivers Chris Hart and Phil Martindale drove consistently throughout the 3 hour race, to take a 3 second victory ahead car 92 - Abbey Motorsport. Team mates Mark Gillam and Mark Coleing, pushed hard throughout the race to finish 2nd.

A special mention goes to Circuitguides.com. Drivers Les Charneca and Chris Patmore brought the 211 car home in 3rd place. They were delighted with their result, as it was their first ever podium position! Well done!

The highest placed JPR Rental trophy was won by car 146, Ian White, Garry Wardle and Dominic O Donnell. It was Dominic s first ever race in the Fun Cup with his new team mates - a great result for the trio. Team of the Day was awarded to Team Synetrix. Congratulations to Mark Burton, Graham Pattle and Anthony Gribbin.

Race 2 It was the familiar faces in car 1, Team Honeywell, on the top step of the podium. Neil Plimmer and Geoff Fawcett were delighted with their victory after the 3 hour race and had plenty of support from their sponsors, who were at Mondello Park.

In 2nd place, a mere 0.5 seconds behind the winners, it was the father and son team of Ian and Mark Connell.

Another special mention goes to car 109, Team Whirleybird, who took 3rd place. This was a brilliant result for Paul Dobbing, Massimo Vignali and Tim Hartland, who were all delighted with their first ever podium position. Congratulations to Team Whirlybird.

The highest placed JPR Rental Team was car 88. The drivers consisted of an all Irish team of journalists and 2 of the 3 had never driven a Fun Cup car before the weekend. They were fast and furious throughout race 1 and drove fantastically in race 2 to finish 8th overall and win highest placed JPR Rental Team. Congratulations to drivers Leo Nulty, Jenny Ryan and Hugh Maguire.

Team of the Day was awarded to Landspeed Racing Tensaura. Well done to Ted Reddick and Bryn Griffiths, who finished in 7th.

25 May 2007 - 2007, Croft Race Report, Rounds 1 and 2

Race 1 provided excellent entertainment for all spectators: in fact, there were 12 different leaders at various stages during the race. However, it was 190, Cuisine de France SPAR, who prevailed as the winners after the 3-hour race. A massive congratulations to the team. It was a first ever win for the family driven car of Ian Connell, Marc Connell, Richard Connell and non-family team member, Peter Cate!

In 2nd place, a mere 1.5 seconds behind the winners, was car 221, Team O BR/Perrys, which was a great accomplishment for drivers Eugene O Brien and Neil Walker, as it was the first race in their new car.

In 3rd place, was the JPR Motorsport Contitech car.

A big well done to car 110, Team Scholarship. Scholarship winner Richard Poynton, top 10 finalist Carl Kropacz and Scholarship co-organiser Dan Jones, drove brilliantly in their 1st ever outing, to win the highest placed JPR Rental Team trophy.

Car 109 WASP finished in 8th place to win team of the day. Well done to Massimo Vignalli and Tim Hartland, who drove brilliantly, with support form Paul Dobbing and Pete Shaw.

Sunday was an extremely close race. It was a photo finish that saw 131, JPR Motorsport Contitech take the victory, a mere half-second ahead of car 92, Abbey Motorsport, driven by Mark Gillam and Nick Pascoe.

In 3rd place, it was another podium spot for Team O BR/Perrys - an excellent weekend for the team.

Congratulations to car 146, JPR Motorsport. Drivers Gary Wardle, Jason Wilkinson and Ian White, drove a strong race, to win Team of the Day.

The highest placed JPR Rental Team was won by Dan Jones, his 2nd trophy of the weekend and Paul Luti, who had won 2 races the previous day, in the Drayton Manor Metro Championship. Well done to the pair!

14 March 2007 - Have You Registered

The start of the 2007 season will soon be upon us, so for any teams who have not yet registered, it is now time to do so. Once you have registered we will be able to keep you updated with the latest news etc.

02 February 2007 - 2007 Race Dates

Rounds 1 & 2: Croft, 5th & 6th May.

Rounds 3 & 4: Mondello Park, 9th & 10th June.

Round 5: Spa 25 Hour, 7th, 8th & 9th July.

Round 6: Snetterton, 4th August.

Round 7: Brands Hatch, 1st September.

Round 8: Oulton Park Int, 6th October.

Round 9: Mugello, Italy,(World Cup) 24/25 November.

01 January 2007 - Fire Extinguishers

Plumbed in fire extinguishers must be fitted. If you require one please call Paul on 01538 306921. He has sorted a deal with a manufacturer for £79 plus VAT and postage.

07 October 2006 - Oulton Park Thriller

Cheshire provided a picturesque backdrop to the final round of this year s hugely successful Uniroyal Fun Cup. And while 2006 has seen some of the closest racing in the series five year history, this one will take some beating. Countless lead changes, dramatic retirements, safety cars and a thrilling five-car sprint for the flag during the closing laps: Oulton Park had it all.

RSR s Rob Croydon and Adrian Mardlin set the pace during qualifying, but this series is anything but predictable and the random grid draw saw them starting dead last on the grid. Meanwhile, the JPR2 rental car drew pole position, with Polyphonic Speed starting alongside. However, it was the JPR 1 machine of Steve Harris, Paul Rose and Brian Heerey, which stormed into an early lead from third on the grid.

And while four teams - Cuisine De France/Spar, JPR 2, Wings FST and Polyphonic Speed did their best to keep the leaders honest, there were some spectacular charges through the field as the likes of Abbey Motorsport and Random Racing made good early progress from lowly grid positions. There was also an explosive, but short-lived debut from GT driver, Ian Flux, who climbed from 18th to 9th in the opening laps, before his JPR4 rental car ground to an early retirement.

However, nobody was making better progress than JPR 3 (grid 19) - driven by the vastly experienced Eugene O Brien - and RSR (grid 24), who were up to 4th and 5th as early as lap seven. By the time the first round of mandatory pit-stops approached, JPR3 had climbed up to second place and with the safety car deployed as the ten-minute window opened, most of the field dived into the pitlane in a simultaneous frenzy of refuelling and driver changeovers.

That only served to mix the order up further, as RSR moved from 4th to 1st, Cuisine De France/Spar re-emerged in 2nd and the opportunistic Team Honeywell shot up from 10th to 3rd. Conversely, JPR1 and JPR3 dropped to 4th and 6th respectively, with Abbey Motorsport sandwiched firmly between them.

It didn t stay like that for long though, as the luckless Cuisine De France/Spar plummeted down the order after picking up a rear puncture. Then at mid-distance, a mistake from the race leaders sent them grass-tracking. That resulted in an unscheduled stop for RSR, who then hit further problems to drop out of contention.

Meanwhile, Honeywell and JPR1 ran nose-to-tail in a terrific dice for the lead. Having dropped behind JPR1 in the previous stint, Honeywell set about closing a ten-second lead before the two teams pitted together. Honeywell got the jump and led briefly, before JPR1 reclaimed the position a lap or so later.

Having already interjected more times in this race alone than it had all season, the safety car made one final appearance during the final stint, as the marshals recovered two spinners. That left us with a thrilling forty-minute dash for the flag, as the top five of JPR1, Honeywell, JPR3, Prestige Motorsport and Trucks 2 Go - ran absolutely together.

JPR3 s Neil Walker was piling the pressure onto race leader, Brian Heerey - in JPR1 - when the cars clipped each other and Walker ran off the road, dropping several places. That gave JPR1 some breathing space, but there was still an almighty battle for second as Prestige - driven by "Silver Fox", Alistair Stenhouse and birthday boy, Stephen Darby - had to bravely fend off Trucks 2 Go, Honeywell and JPR3.

Often running three-abreast into Druids, the quartet had the crowd on their feet for half and hour. And there was one more twist in the tail, as the Trucks 2 Go car cut out with just over a lap left to run. As JPR1 took their first UK victory of the year, it was Prestige that stormed to their first every podium, with the irrepressible Neil Plimmer and Geoff Fawcett finishing third and thus maintaining their excellent record of never having been off the podium in 2006. JPR3 took fourth, Trucks 2 Go recovered to fifth and Abbey Motorsport rounded out the top six.

So, after four hours of great racing; the top three had all crossed the line within three seconds of one another. A fitting climax to what s been the best season of competition so far.

26 September 2006 - Brands Hatch Race Report

HONEYWELL S HAT TRICK

Following the awesome challenge of the Spa 25 hour race, the Uniroyal Fun Cup returned to home shores for the sixth race of the season. And a bustling grid of 26 cars arrived at Brands Hatch for a three-hour race which proved to be as close and competitive as we ve come to expect from Europe s most popular endurance racing series.

The morning s one-hour qualifying session had been rain-affected and, with the promise of heavy showers during the afternoon, several teams had opted to run full wet tyres. However, the circuit had dried by the time the cars were being called onto the circuit, leaving others to opt for a dry set-up. It was a gamble that paid off, because thankfully, the rain held off until after the race had finished.

The random grid draw saw the JPR4 rental car of Lajos Varga and Richard Martin claiming pole position, alongside Phil Martindale and Mike Knowlson in Martindale Racing. However, it was the Chad 1 car of Rob Garofall and Simon Phillips which charged past both front-row starters to claim an early lead. Making their series debut, experienced saloon racers, Eugene O Brien and Neil Walker, ran fourth in JPR 2, while the Hyside Motorcycles car made another blistering start; charging from 16th to 5th, by the end of lap two.

With mandatory pit-stop windows every thirty minutes, frenetic driver-changes were a real feature of the race and the respective efforts of the RSR, JPR 1 and Team Honeywell crews, certainly helped to move their drivers up the order.

Indeed, by the one-hour mark, Neil Plimmer and Geoff Fawcett s Honeywell car had moved into the lead - just five seconds clear of Hyside. Further back, the JPR 1 machine of Paul Rose, Steve Harris and Brian Heerey led a tight four-way battle for third, with RSR, Cuisine De France/Spar and Martindale Racing in hot pursuit.

As the race wore on, it became apparent that the two leaders were in a class of their own and they remained evenly matched, with Hyside edging ahead at the two-hour mark, despite some handling issues which were the result of a first-lap knock. But, going into the closing stages, Fawcett pulled off a decisive overtaking move to put Honeywell back ahead.

Incredibly, after almost three hours of racing, only a couple of seconds split the two cars as the chequered flag drew near. But that changed in an instant, as JPR 1 and Hyside made contact at Druids with just a few laps remaining. The JPR 1 car - which had been running fourth and was trying to unlap itself - ended its race in the gravel. Hyside then received a Stop Go Penalty for overtaking under safety car conditions. It was good news for Rob Croydon and Adrian Mardlin, as RSR moved into second and claimed a long-overdue maiden podium.

But there was no stopping a jubilant team Honeywell, who drove a faultless race to claim their third victory of the season.

Meanwhile, Hyside recovered to finish third, ahead of the Random Racing car of Chloe Noyce, Adam Rodgers and David Grady - who continue to impress in their debut season. Nick Pascoe and David Litchfield finished fifth for Abbey Motorsport, ahead of team of the day, JPR 2 and best rental team; JPR 4.

The final event of the season - a four-hour race - will take place at Oulton Park on October 7th. A number of rental drives are still available - contact series director, Paul Rose, for further information.

For more information on the Uniroyal Fun Cup, visit www.funcup.co.uk or ring Paul Rose on 01538 306921.

BRANDS HATCH RESULTS

1 TEAM HONEYWELL

2 RSR

3 HYSIDE MOTORCYCLES

FASTEST LAP

58.669s JPR 2

05 August 2006 - Mechanics

We are always on the look-out for mechanics who are interested in motorsport. They need to be hard working, enthusiastic and able to work as part of a team. The work involves weekends away at various race circuits across the UK and Europe. If you are interested in getting involved contact Paul on 01538 306921.

18 July 2006 - Spa Results

Congratulations to JPR 1 for a UK win at the prestigious Spa 25 hour race. Having qualified 19th, the foursome of Frank Pelle, Peter Cook, Steve Harris and Paul Rose drove a fantastic race to finish 7th overall and 1st for the UK.

Having taken the lead in the first stint, an unfortunate pit stop left them 2 minutes behind and in 29th place. However, the team were extremely determined and worked hard to move their way back to the front of the field. Indeed, it was here they stayed. A fantastic achievement for the team.

In second place were Cuisine de France, who drove brilliantly for the 25hours and kept themselves at the front throughout. Congratulations to Peter Cate, Marc Connell and Ian Connell for a well deserved, hard earned 2nd place.

Well done to Team Hyside who finished the 25 hours in 3rd place. Drivers Martin Small, Mark Coleing, Nick Pascoe and David Litchfield stayed out of trouble to gain their 3rd position.

18 July 2006 - Spa Final Results

1. Dubois-Maillet-De Keijser-De Keijser-Dubois (Belgian -Ultra Team)

2. Dupon-Puype-Qvick (Belgian -Dupon Puype)

3. Barbary-Charlier-Jamar-Brugmans (Belgian -Autobinche)

4. Capocci-Gressens-Feltes-Linnertz (Belgian-Colson Racing)

5. Matoul-Serexhe-Moszkowicz-Geoffroy (Belgian -City FM)

6. Decultot-Bonnel-Mathon (French -MV Racing Castrol)

7. Rose-Harris-Cook-Pelle (British -JPR 1)

8. Heymann-Perdieus-Perdieus-Sluys (Belgian -Perdieus Motorsport)

9. Connell-Connell-Cate (British -Cuisine de France)

10. Knauff-Servais-Houbben-Duculot (Belgian -Ball Events)

11. Rivière-Patier-Rivière-Delarue (French -Team Direct)

12. De Keijser-Olivier-Colman-Dallemagne (Belgian -Pequignet Allure)

13. Jacob-Jacob-Lemma-Ianetta (French -FEK-Zolplan) à 7 tours

14. Grenier-Grenier-Rigaux-Mongenot (French -Evorace Compétition 3)

15. Nava-Paques-Systermans-Vanhakendover (Belgian -Cornelis Racing Quick)

16. Dohmann-Gebhardt-Scholzen-Godet (German/Belgian-Uniroyal Presse 1)

17. Courrier-Wittman-Hébert-Lanctuit (Belgian/French-LO Racing)

18. Stoll-Weibel-Rizzoli-Toussaint-Schief-Haugg (German/Belgian-Stoll Motorsport))

19. Delorme-Chioetto-Rebman-Hivert-Thirion (French -Delorme Automobiles)

20. Alloin-Alloin-Pechard-Gaunot (French -A3 Compétition 1)

29 June 2006 - Rockingham Race Report

Beaver Racing and Scarab Racing shared the front-row for the 4-hour race and there was action from the offset as the latter was involved in a dramatic first-corner misunderstanding with the unfortunate JPR 4 rental car.

That left the Uniroyal Tyres car to storm into an early lead from fourth on the grid, though it was quickly joined by JPR 2 and Random Racing - both having made excellent starts from row four. A terrific race ensued as the trio drafted past one another on countless occasions for a full thirty minutes.

Snetterton winners, Team Hyside, cruised up to the back of the top three as the first mandatory pit stop window loomed. There was also a terrific battle for fifth, involving JPR 1, Team Honeywell and Prestige Motorsport. Sadly, the latter fell out of contention when Alistair Stenhouse crashed at the chicane.

At the one-hour mark, Hyside were up to second - right behind JPR 2. With the Uniroyal Tyres car falling back, Adrian Mardlin and Rob Croydon moved into third for RSR, having climbed from the back of the grid. Random Racing slipped to fourth, ahead of double-race winners, Team Honeywell.

As the race progressed, Team Hyside were able to squeeze past JPR 2 and then gradually began stretching their lead - aided by the lack of safety car periods and some slick work in the pits.

For the second time this season, RSR retired from a podium position and there was also misfortune for JPR1, who dropped back with a throttle problem and the BASF Ultra Team, who had been on course for their first top 5 finish, until an electrical problem put them out.

As the top two edged clear, attention turned to an entertaining battle for the final place on the podium between Team Honeywell, Random Racing and JPR 1. Unfortunately, the latter lost several laps when the luckless Brian Heerey had to pit with throttle problems and, despite a late charge from Random, it was Neil Plimmer and Geoff Fawcett who took third - maintaining their record of having finished on the podium in every race this year.

26 June 2006 - Highest Placed JPR Rental Team - Rockingham

David Smith, Kim Adams and Danny Stephenson worked fantastically together, having never driven as a trio before, finishing in 6th place and winning the trophy for highest placed JPR Rental Team.

26 June 2006 - Team of the Day - Rockingham

Congratulations to Circuitguides.com who drove a brilliant race to finish in fifth place. Drivers Ted Reddick and Keith Wood drove consistently and kept themselves at the front of the field.

24 May 2006 - Highest Placed JPR Rental Teams - Croft

Saturday s highest placed JPR Rental Team was awarded to the BASF Ultra Team, driven by Ian White, David Byers and James Tipping. Congratulations to the trio who battled hard to take eighth place.

Sunday s race paved the way for a new highest placed JPR Rental Team. Having never met before the race weekend, Mike Knowlson, Steve Savage and Chris Milner made an excellent effort to finish in seventh place. Congratulations!

24 May 2006 - Croft Results

Congratulations to Team Honeywell on their double victory at Croft on the 20th/21st May. Unfazed by the rain, drivers Neil Plimmer and Geoff Fawcett drove brilliantly to win Saturdays three hour race by six seconds. The team were delighted, having finished on the podium numerous times, but never before taking a race win: The story of the weekend.

Commenting on the successful weekend, Team Honeywell s Neil Plimmer said: "Geoff s race pace this weekend was awesome. But, without a doubt, our victories are also down to our fantastic pit crew and strategies they ran this weekend".

In second place was the JPR 4 Rental car, driven by Ally McKever and the experienced Steve Harris. A special well done to Ally, who had never driven the car before the weekend and drove superbly to finish in second place.

JPR Motorsport 2 pushed hard and drove consistently to finish in third. Well done to drivers Nick Pascoe and David Litchfield.

Sundays race two saw the grid reversed, resulting in Team Honeywell starting from the back of the grid. Undeterred, they picked their way through the field to the front of the pack. With clever strategies from the team and awesome pitstops they went on to take their second victory, seven seconds ahead of the second placed team.

It was drivers Phil Martindale and Chris Hart who took a well earned second place, staying out of trouble and keeping on the pace in the pouring rain. Well done to the team.

Congratulations also to Chad Motorsport 2, who drove excellently all weekend and finished in third. Drivers Steven Kane and Ortho Barnes were leading the pack in both races for some time and were unlucky not to have a win.

24 May 2006 - Team of the Day - Croft

Saturday s race resulted in an impressive drive from Scarab racing. This year they are a new team and Croft was only their second race together. They came through the awful weather conditions to finishly safely in fourth place. An excellent drive from the team. Congratulations to drivers Bram DeGroot, Wes Evans and Phil DeGroot-King for winning Team of the Day.

Sunday s team of the day were experienced drivers Frank Pelle and Peter Cook. They finished fourth in the Uniroyal Tyres car, having only raced in the series once before, a few years ago. A superb drive from the pair, who were also in first place for several stints in the race.

12 April 2006 - Highest Placed JPR Rental Team - Snetterton

Congratulations to the JPR rental drivers in car 103. Neil Walker, Peter Griffin and John Dormer won the trophy for highest placed JPR rental drivers, finishing in an excellent 8th place.

10 April 2006 - Team of the Day - Snetterton

Congratulations to Random Racing, who finished an impressive 6th in their first ever race. Drivers Adam Rodgers, David Grady and Chloe Noyce have all come straight from karting to compete in the Fun Cup.

10 April 2006 - Snetterton Results

From fourth on the grid, it was RSR 1 who took full advantage of the dry conditions and dominated the start, gaining a 10 second lead over the second placed team of JPR 1.

However, a misjudged overtaking manoeuvre from RSR 1 ended their hopes of victory, when they hit another car, bringing their race to an abrupt end.

A few hours in and Team Hyside s Mark Coleing and Martin Small were emerging as the new leaders, having started 24th on the grid and reaching 6th place within a few laps, it was clear they were on a mission. But the JPR 1 car was still pushing hard in 2nd place.

More than four hours later came the final pit stop. With Hyside s Martin Small taking the wheel for the final stint, it was here that a great battle emerged between him and JPR 1 s Steve Harris.

Having chased the lead for the entire 5 hours, JPR 1 found themselves at the front, an amazing 0.1 seconds ahead of Team Hyside, when they passed the start finish straight on the last lap. Turn one and the lead changed again, when Hyside s Martin Small slipped through to take the lead at Riches. Harris only hope for JPR 1 was to get close enough at Sears to slipstream him down the Revitt straight. With the pressure on, Harris entered the corner with too much speed, leaving Small to escape.

The final gap was an incredible 1.8 seconds after five hours of racing. It couldn t have been closer. Congratulations to Mark Coleing and Martin Small, who took their first ever victory. JPR 1 took second place and Team Honeywell drove a consistent, trouble free race, to take third and set the fastest lap (1.25.4), which was almost a second faster than any other team. So, congratulations too, to Neil Plimmer and Geoff Fawcett.

02 March 2006 - Teams protected web page

There is now a secure page on the website for teams only, which you will be able to enter with a password. All registered teams will be sent a letter with details of this page and password.

17 February 2006 - 17 February 2006 - Re-fuelling and Fire-extinguishers

The person doing the refuelling and the person holding the fire extinguisher must wear an FIA spec fire resistant balaclava and gloves.

Copyright © 2005 - 2010 - JPR Motorsport Ltd - All Rights Reserved

JPR Motorsport Ltd, Blackwood Farm, Leek Old Road, Rudyard, Staffordshire, ST13 8PW

Telephone: 01538 306921 - info@jprmotorsport.com

Open Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm