CATERHAM AND FUNCUP TO GO DOUBLE DUTCH IN ZANDVOORT

Every year, the BRSCC elects to take a trip across into mainland Europe and hold its special Eurofest Race Weekend to give a small selection a chance to experience a new race circuit outside of the UK. 2018 is no expection as this weekend it’s once again the turn of Circuit Park Zandvoort in the Netherlands to welcome a wonderful mix of sprint and endurance racing.

The endurance element comes from the magnificent Fun Cup Championship, who head here instead of their more traditional sojourn to Belgium as part of the category’s Spa 25 Hours race. Unlike most FunCup meetings where all competition takes place on one day, both of the three hour races taking place this weekend will be spread across both days of competition, with the first race taking place on Saturday afternoon and the second the following day. Apollo Motorsport tops the points standings ahead of CCS Media and Track Torque 2 Rent Dominos, while double reigning champions JPR Uvio are down in 8th with ground to make up. With the weather looking set to be clear on both days, we’ll wait and see who will take the advantage in the Dutch sand dunes this weekend.

Alongside FunCup are four of Caterham Motorsport’s roster of championship, all of which are sure to put on some spectacular racing.  The Draper Tools Caterham Roadsport Championship is so far seeing a great battle between current points leader James Murphy and last year’s Academy Green Group Daniel French. Between them, both drivers have taken all six race victories, with Murphy picking up four to French’s two, the pair taking one each last time out at Brands Hatch. Both will be out to break the deadlock with French even more determined to close the points gap, while Dan Halstead, Graham Macdonald, Oli Pratt and Matt Sheppard will all be looking for their first wins of the season.

In the ALACO Motorsport Logistics Caterham Seven 270R Championship, it’s all about the battle between three drivers: points leader Jamie Falvey, Jay McCormack and last year’s Roadsport champion Pete Walters. Falvey has driven superbly in his first season racing Caterhams, and the Team BRIT driver will be out for more in the Netherlands. McCormack has a race win to his name in the very first round at Snetterton after a photo finish, while Walters was on form at Knockhill and did the double. This emerging title battle shows no signs of slowing down whatsoever, and James Wingfield, Gary Smith, Paul Vernon and more will all be interested onlookers as their fight continues.

If you want an incredibly close championship battle, look no further than the ultra-competitive Santander Caterham Seven 310R Championship. The top 6 drivers in the standings are separated by a mere 8 points, with just a single point between the leading two. That points lead currently sits with Snetterton winner Christian Szaruta, while comeback kid Gordon Sawyer is tucked in right behind him with three wins to his name. Alan Cooper and Chris Rankin have also scored one each from their Brands Hatch visit, and Lee Bristow and Chris Hutchinson are also in the mix having graced the podium at least one so far this year. Also look out for the likes of Andrew Perry, Dan Gore, Nathan Bell, Russ Olivant, Rob Watts and James Beardwell in an entry where at least a dozen drivers have podium scoring ability.

For the fastest racing of the weekend, that will be provided by the Avon Tyres Caterham Seven 420R Championship, the top tier of Caterham Motorsport’s racing ladder. As it was last season, Danny Winstanley is the man to beat this season and holds a 25 point lead with four victories to his name and never finishing lower than 2nd so far. The early signs look as though a second consecutive title could potentially be on the cards, but he will always have stiff competition from the likes of William Smith, Sean and John Byrne (both with a win apiece), Henry Heaton, Elliot Norris and Jack Brown. This will be the fastest racing that will be on display all weekend and the 420Rs will love charging through the sweeping corners and elevation changes that Zandvoort provides.