At the final round of the Uniroyal Fun Cup Racecar.com took the coveted number 1 plate for 2006 after winning this year's championship. Nick Pascoe and David Litchfield claimed 3rd place at Rockingham meaning Racecar.com have been on the podium at every UK race this year!
Nick has been a wonderful ambassador for Racecar.com this year and we'd like to thank him for dressing up in bunny suits, doing bad dancing at prize givings and a whole host of other things which have generally caused embarrassment. Actually he's driven quite well for an old git and certainly has shown some of the fatter members of the office at some recent kart events the way home. Nick's co-driver David Litchfield has also had a great season - and he's kindly provided a season review down below.
For those interested in trying out a Uniroyal Fun cup car - there is a test day at Donington on November 20. This is a track day when race licences are not required so a good opportunity if you want to try one of these cars. Paul Rose of JPR Motorsport is providing cars for test - cost for car rental is £120 for 20 minutes. Book your test with Paul Rose on 01625 511500 or email: paul@jprmotorsport.com - Mention Nick Pascoe referred you and he'll probably tell you there are no more test slots available...
Photo above features Nick keeping fit between races
SEASON REVIEW BELOW - kindly prepared by David Litchfield:
A season in the Uniroyal Fun Cup with number 92 racecar.com
Owned by Nick Pascoe and driven by him along with his co-driver David Litchfield.
Nick Pascoe is a 48 year old airline pilot with BA living in Peaslake, Surrey. An extensive history in racing includes karting and various formulae.
David Litchfield is a 56 year old company director resident in Battersea, London. He currently also campaigns a Caterham Superlight in the 750 Motor Club series.
Snetterton 5 hour race in early April.
The season opener after an extensive programme of winter refurbishment works for the car. Qualifying bodes well with David setting a qualifying time of just 0.058 secs behind the fastest car. However with grid position being drawn out of the hat we find ourselves 8th on the grid.David started the race and good early pace on the track and a slick first fuel stop and driver change left the team in 2nd position after the first hour, just 4 secs behind the leader.As the race developed racecar.com kept up the pace and although we fell as low as fourth place at one time we gradually pulled back to 2nd position, but 31 secs behind the leader, going into the last hour and the final fuel stop and driver change.The pressure is then on Nick not only to try and catch the leader but also to keep 2nd place ahead of the very quick SSJ car chasing hard in 3rd.Nick prevails and we finish 2nd just 18 sces behind the leader and 17 seconds ahead of 3rd place. The first three cars all covered 198 laps of this 1.95 mile circuit in Norfolk.
Donington 5 hour race in late April
This is a round that includes a number of European entrants. We qualify 4th overall and 3rd British car just 0.49 secs off pole. However the grid draw does us no favours this time and we find ourselves in 13th place for the start.
Once again David starts the race. Good early pace and some exciting overtaking of slower cars together with a good initial fuel stop and driver change sees us 3rd overall at the end of the first hour. However the leader has already managed to build up a one minute lead as they were drawn on the front row of the grid and didnt have to battle through the traffic.
Consistent pace from both drivers in the middle part of the race and a problem with the Team Ssanyong car sees racecar.com leading the race by 12 seconds at the end of 4 hours with one hour and one fuel stop and driver change still to go. The very fast second place Martindale car are the only other car on the same lap at this time.
So into the last fuel stop and driver change with 50 minutes to go and we have a 38 second lead. However a safety car incident with about 20 minutes of the race left reduces our lead to just 6 seconds. Martindale are just a fraction too fast for us and we finish in 2nd place by just 0.5 sec. First and second are the only two cars to complete 191 laps of this 1.96 mile circuit.
Oulton Park 4 hour race in June.
A new track for the series, the fabulous undulating fast long wooded circuit is a treat. We qualify 4th some 1.5 secs behind the extremely fast Chad Racing car. The grid draw is a little kinder to us on this occasion and we started 6th.David started the race and had a great first session and climbed up to 2nd place within the first half hour. The car was clearly on the pace and things were looking good.
However the great start was not to last and problems with a broken door lock on the car caused two unscheduled pit stops and we dropped as low at 10th during the middle part of the race. Once again though, consistent quick laps from both drivers saw a steady rise back through the field and with an hour to ge we had climbed back to 5th overall and were still on the same laps as the leaders.
Into the final fuel stop and driver change of the race with Nick taking the wheel. Early in this final session the leading car has problems and comes into the pits so we inherit 4th place which looks like the best we can achieve when on the very last lap the 2nd place car has a problem and drops back and croos the line and claim 3rd place and out third podium finish in tree races.
Croft 4 hour race in late August.
A new circuit for the Uniroyal Fun Cup and indeed for both drivers of racecar.comQualifying saw us set the 6th fastest lap, a slightly disappointing 1.34 secs off pole. The grid draw saw us start from 7th position on this occasion.
By the end of the first hour we had climbed into third place and another consistently fast performance from both drivers had us sharing the lead with the Team Ssanyong car going into the last hour.
The last fuel stop and driver change saw Team Ssanyong pull out a lead as they did not take on fuel on this occasion. Despite a fantastic drive by Nick Pascoe in the last session (which included our fastest lap only 0.3 sec off the fastest lap of the race) he was unable to get back th time saved on the pit stop and we finished in 2nd place just 16 secs behind the winner and 13 secs ahead of the third place car with 129 laps being completed by the top three cars.
Rockingham 5 hour race in October.
Final race of the UK series. A fantastic qualifying with 2nd fastest time by Nick Pascoe, just 0.6 sec off pole, is followed by drawing 7th place on the grid.
The first couple of hours really saw little change in our position but as time went by consistancy began to pay dividends again and we were 4th at the end of both the three hour and four hour marks.
However at the final fuel stop and driver change we were up to third place but with the Team Honeywell car pressing hard. David had a tremendous challenge on his hands to stay ahead of Team Honeywell by driving as fast as possible while at the same time knowing that the slightest error would cost us te final podium position. At the end of the race we finished in 3rd place some 7 secs ahead of Team Honeywell.
UK series overreview.
With 5 race starts and 5 podium finished racecar.com was the model of consistency on the race track. Reliability was fantastic throughout the season. Other cars were fatser on the day sometimes and other cars won more races but no other team was so fast so often or so reliable.
The net result was that using a normal points system racecar.com driven by Nick Pascoe and David Litchfield was the winner of the 2005 UK Uniroyal Fun Cup series and their car will carry the coveted number ‘ 1 ‘ for the 2006 season.
Recognition should also be given at this point to the great support given by Tracey (Nick’s partner) who did a sterling job as pit wall girl, fire extinguisher holder and refreshment supplier! Also to JPR Motorsport for their race day support services and in particular to Dom as the assigned pit crew for racecar.com number 92.
Spa Francochamps 25 hour race in July.
This spectacular occasion is the highlight of the European Uniroyal Fun Cup season. With 131 cars and teams starting the race with an average of 5 drivers per team you can begin to imagine the scale of the event at this historic world famous track that is 4 miles or so long.
For this event we had two other drivers joinging us. Adrain Watt, a haulage contractor from Peterborough and a season Fun Cup campaigned and endurance racer and Peter Duke of Duke Motorsport Video.
We went there full of anticipation of being able to do well and being one of the UK podium teams. We qualified the car in 28th place which was brilliant. Just where we wanted to be around the top 25% of the field.
So we start the race with David Litchfield at the wheel. Amazing traffic in the early laps as all 131 cars get away and racecar.com starts to make great progress through the filed. After the first 40 minutes or so of this 25 hour marathon we are all the way up to about 11th place overall. But then disaster strikes as David hits a slower car on the approach to the bus stop.
Hero to zero is the phrase that springs to mind as the car is recovered to the pits with broken front suspension, damaged radiator and and front bodywork. Not too much time is lost doing the repairs and there is still 22 hours or so to go........ but we are now down in abou 110th place and many laps down.
Several hours go by and we make steady progress but another accident, losing yet more time, puts us well out of contention for anything. We do cross the finish line at the end of 25 hours in 72nd place.
Go to http://www.racecar.com/beetle for more info about our car
