SEASON REVIEW: FUN CUP


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The 147 car of Team Honeywell, driven by Neil Plimmer and Geoff Fawcett, stayed ahead of the Fun Cup pack to claim the inaugural championship title. Photo: Richard Sykes

The Fun Cup Championship flourished in 2011, with strong grids, fierce competition and over 300 drivers registered in the UK alone.

The 2011 season was its first year with championship status and every team certainly rose to the challenge. The season consisted of 6 UK rounds, with 8 races, plus the world famous Spa 25 hours.

The Fun Cup, which comprisesofa TDI and petrol class, had some clear championship contenders from the start. Racing in Fun Cup since its UK inception in 2002, the Honeywell boys were always going to be a threat, but JPR Racelogic and Track Torque Racing presented themselves as fierce competition. There was no way either would allow Honeywell to dominate.

Each race saw grids of around 30 cars and 80 drivers, with victory often only decided in the final stint, after 4 to 6 hours of racing. Incredibly, the leaders would often cross the line only a few seconds ahead of the 2nd place team and it was often Honeywell, JPR/Racelogic and Track Torque fighting to the death.

Eventually though, it was Neil Plimmer and Geoff Fawcett who took the Championship honours after the final round at Oulton Park. A season of consistent podium finishes, combined withblisteringly fast pit stops, sealed the top step of the podium for the pair.

Neil Plimmer said, “We were so happy that we managed to do enough to take the championship victory! To all our fellow competitors, who genuinely offered their congratulations afterwards, it has been a privilege and pleasure to race with you every month. It has been a fantastic season of racing”.

In the petrol class, it was the relatively inexperienced Jolly Roger Racing who took the title. The drivers, Mark Jaffray, Ben Gill, Mike Humphreys, Andrew Beverley and Simon Isbister shared the drives throughout the year and despite JPR/Ecurie Escargot, Porsche Byfleet, Purple Apple and other experienced teams’ best efforts, the consistent Jolly Roger crew could not be beaten in 2011.

The season, of course, cannot be summed up without the mention of the prestigious and incredible spectacle that is the 25 hours of Spa! Over 130 Fun Cup cars from across Europe competed this year. As usual, it was an incredible and fascinating race, with over 500 drivers fighting for their country’s honour.

Ex-Seat Cupra champion, James Pickford, stole the show for the Brits, setting an overall pole position time, which was half a second faster than P2, for his team Happy Racing. Indeed, it was Happy Racing, or 2008’s overall winners, JPR, who lead the way for the UK and when the chequered flag was waved over a day after the start, it was JPR who took 1st place for the UK, finishing 11th overall and a mere 1:45 minutes ahead of Happy Racing.

We are now looking forward to 2012, with the introduction of the popular Sadev sequential gearboxes for the petrol cars and many teams now favouring this option, it is shaping up to be an exciting year.

For more information about the Fun Cup Championship visit www.funcup.co.uk

Roxie Marandi


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