FUN-DURANCE RACERS

After taking second place in the opening three rounds, GCI Racing’s Craig Butterworth and Ian Wood looked set for their maiden victory in round four at Brands Hatch, until they were punted off by Sam Smeeth exiting Clearways in the closing minutes.

They managed to recover, but Richard Webb’s Stobart Sport car had snatched the win, and Butterworth had to settle for second again. It wasn’t long though before they finally topped the podium at Snetterton.

After a few problems at Anglesey when they finished fourth and seventh, they were back on form for the penultimate round at Donington, where third place and their sixth podium of the season sealed the title with one round to go.

Team Viking struggled for pace in the early rounds, having finished sixth in the opening round at Silverstone. Then Mark Holme and Nick Nunn were looking set for third place at Oulton Park though, until Nunn had contact with Agua Caliente’s Paul Turner and his race was over.

Teddy Wilson subbed for Nunn at Croft, and despite still struggling for pace, they managed to come home third. Nunn was back at Brands Hatch and after a promising early third place, they finally came home eighth, before coming back strongly for round five at Snetterton, finishing third.

Two top six finishes at Anglesey preceded their seasons highlight. Wilson came back in for Nunn and they took their first win of the season, before fourth in the Oulton finale sealed second in the Championship, by just six points from UVio/ Hofmann’s Lotus.

Outgoing Champions Farquini Deott and Fabio Randaccio had the pace, but this year the luck went against them on more than one occasion.

They were victorious at Silverstone and had four more wins. After battling for a win at Oulton in round two, they lost time in the pits with low battery voltage and were classified 12th, but after victory at Croft they had problems again at Brands Hatch, after breaking a driveshaft when the wheel bearing went.

They led again at Snetterton until a wheel bearing disintegrated, but although their hopes of retaining the title were all but gone, they dominated the Anglesey weekend with two wins and were vying for a podium at Donington too, until a late collision with Olympian’s Scott Parkin put them both out.

Win number five came in the Oulton final though, but it was third place in the final standings, despite being constantly the quickest car on the grid.

It had been a successful year for the Stobart Sport team too and with Jonathan Hoad joining Colin Kingsnorth in the second round at Oulton, they were winners, before taking sixth at Croft.

Richard Webb had the pleasure of taking the team to their second win at Brands Hatch, after GCI had been spun out. It was Webb and Hoad sharing at Snetterton as they came home third, and they were in contention in the first Anglesey race too until they broke a driveshaft.

Second place in the Anglesey night race, before another podium in third at Oulton, not only sealed fourth in the Championship and the Masters title for Kingsnorth/Webb, but bid farewell to Webb’s racing too.

PLR’s Neil Plimmer/Ben Pitch had a fairly strong season overall too. They had five top six finishes, but saved their best result until the final round, when they were second.

After taking fourth at Silverstone’s opener, a late track limit penalty dropped them to sixth in round two. A crankshaft failure put them out of a top finish at Croft, but they were a strong third at Brands Hatch.

Sixth at Snetterton and the first Anglesey race, but a disappointing retirement at Donington preceded second in the Oulton final and fifth in Championship and Masters runners-up.