Round 2 - Croft (4 hrs)

TDI Classification

Fun Cup’s most successful team, car 147 Team Honeywell, were back on form for race two, after a disappointing race one. Neil Plimmer, tells the story in his own words:

“Someone said, it comes in three’s, after Geoff hit the garage wall pulling in on Friday morning and I unceremoniously dumped it in the gravel on Friday afternoon!”

He continued: “We hoped the third was Geoff’s transport breaking down on Saturday morning. But no, of course it wasn’t. The gearbox blew moments before the 1st pit window in race one, having climbed from 21st to 4th, intent on taking the lead as the pit window closed. A quick gearbox change got us back out to finish with the consolation of fastest lap from that opening stint, complementing fastest time in qualifying. We were also gutted for ‘Happy Racing’. There are just no guarantees in a motor race, until the chequer falls.”

He added: “Sunday morning had the team feeling confident with the performance of the car from Saturday. A storming start and a climb from 14th up to 2nd gave the opportunity to snatch the lead from car 101 JPR/Racelogic, as the first window closed. The lead extended and decreased as the safety car made its frequent appearances. A series of brilliant stops and strategy by the Honeywell crew extended the lead into the final stint, with a new lap record on the penultimate lap of the race (1:40.048). The car got quicker and quicker! I give credit to the preparation and set up to ‘little Rick’ from JPR Motorsport”.

He summed up his weekend with a few thoughts: “Great result, great circuit, great sunshine, gracious competitors, genuine people, great friends and great fun .THIS IS FUNCUP. Great to be back!”

Petrol Classification

Team Tiger was lucky to be drawn on the front row and Ben Beighton started again. He managed to hold off fierce competition from the more powerful diesel class cars. They quickly established themselves as the lead petrol car and consolidated this position by consistent, competitive driving and great pit stop strategies. Noyce took over for the middle stints and held off a competitive car 246 for most of the stint. Chris Beighton brought the car home and once again, they finished the race 1st in class. The team felt that a double class win was well overdue, as they had been consistent front runners last season.

Meanwhile car 246, RW Racing, were drawn two from the back for the start, so they decided it would be good experience for one of the sons to start. Oliver Reuben won the toss and drove a quick and clean first session, reaching 4th in class. He handed over to Michael Whitaker, who moved to third in class about forty five seconds behind car 92, Purple Apple, who had been very polished (pardon the pun!) in the first two pit stops.

Mike Whitaker closed the gap to fifteen seconds and then had the mixed fortune of the safety car. It reduced the time to car 92 to just six seconds, but once again Team Tiger had the position of being the other side of the safety car, so Sunday, just like Saturday, became all about playing for 2nd. The pit stop was taken under the safety car and Nigel Reuben then used all his experience to put in some fast times and claw back the gap to Team Tiger.

Paul Calladine and Garry Wardle formed a new partnership for Croft in car 92, Purple Apple, both being experienced racers, but never having raced together before.

Paul Calladine started race two from 9th on the grid and managed to move up a couple of places in the first few corners to allow the team to settle down somewhere between 2nd and 4th in class, depending on pit stops. The team eventually finished 3rd in class after a strong race, keeping out of trouble and using their experience to their advantage.