RANDACCIO’S LATE BURST FOR A FUN CUP WIN

The UVio/Hofmann’s Lotus pairing of Farquini Deott and Fabio Randaccio managed to recover from being pushed into spin by Scott Jeffs at Shell to secure their fifth win of the season in a dramatic Fun Cup Endurance finale.

As often, it came down to a sprint to the finish after a final safety car intervention. Six cars were left to battle it out over a tough 13 minutes.

As the final green flag was waved, Greenheath’s Gary Bate had the lead from Stobart Sport’s Colin Kingsnorth, Team Viking’s Mark Holme, Randaccio, PLR’s Neil Plimmer and Team Olympian’s Scott Parkin.

Randaccio had managed to oust both Kingsnorth and Holme and successfully challenged Bate for the lead into Knickerbrook. Bate’s intention to tail the UVio car up Clay Hill was thwarted, however, when he was put on the grass by Jeffs, who was trying to unlap himself.

Randaccio soon consolidated his lead, with Plimmer taking Holme around the outside at Shell, before overtaking Kingsnorth on the last lap to secure second.

With the title already taken in the last round by GCI Racing, fourth place for Viking was enough to make them runners up in the standings as Olympian and Greenheath rounded off the top six.

Doug Crosbie made it a double win in the Northern and Super Classic Formula Ford ecounters. His Van Diemen RF89 had led the opener from lights out, just holding off John Murphy’s RF90.

But after an immediate three-lap safety car intervention, Murphy made his move, but his time at the head was shortlived.

Crosbie stormed back ahead passing the pits at half distance but, as he eased clear, Andrew Barnes’ Swift and Gareth Buckingham’s Van Diemen RF88 closed in.

Murphy just claimed second on as they held station to the flag, while the Reynards of Andrew Schofield and Richard Ketterman rounded off the top six after they had swapped positions with a lap to go.

The lead trio soon went clear in race two, but it was a lights-to-flag second win for Crosbie, as Murphy tried to keep Barnes at bay.

A brave move down the inside of Old Hall at two-thirds’ distance proved decisive for Barnes, leaving Murphy third, from Schofield, Richard Freye’s Reynard and Ben Tinkler’s Van Diemen.

Only 0.634s split Chris Jones, Michael Blackburn and Sam Beckett throughout the entire ST-XR Challenge first race. In race two, Jones vacated his lead as he headed into the Lodge tyre wall at half distance. Blackburn held on for the win, with Beckett inches behind, and Matthew Pimlott a solitary fourth.