Autosport – 22 August 2019

Decision to change tyres

during a safety car period

aided JPR Uvio’s success

Smith staked his claim for a late

Fiesta title bid after taking all

three victories at Anglesey

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CLUB AUTOSPORT NATIONAL REPORTS

78 AUTOSPORT.COM 22 AUGUST 2019

the latter suffered from a broken driveshaft

mid-way into the fifth hour. With that

car stopping on the exit of the pitlane, a

safety car period was immediately initiated,

slashing Uvio’s significant lead. This meant

that, on the restart, second-placed GT

Radial would be right behind, but little

did Radial know what Uvio was planning.

Driver Fitzgerald displayed the team’s

depth of Fun Cup rule knowledge, opting

to pit for a tyre change despite not being

within a pit window – a move the rules

allow. While track position was sacrificed,

being on fresh rubber for the remaining

three hours put any tyre worries to bed.

Uvio soon regained and extended the

lead and, though two more safety cars late

into the second half of the race neutralised

the progress, Uvio’s double fuelling and

cheeky tyre change tactics worked wonders,

particularly in the final stages. For the last

stops, GT Radial refuelled and changed rear

tyres whereas Uvio simply had to swap

drivers. The time saving was monstrous,

and, by the fall of the flag, Uvio’s Randaccio

was back to a minute ahead of Hadley in

the Radial car. Apollo’s Guy Wenham

rounded out the top three a lap behind.

“It’s been a great drive, knackering for

the two of us, but brilliant,” said Fitzgerald.

“It was a great call by the team and

strategists to pit [for tyres behind the

safety car] and it really paid off.”

Three frantic BMW Compact Cup races

of over 30 cars resulted in three different

winners, with a close battle for the crown.

The in-form Ian Jones made it three in a

row, with a race one victory from pole, but

ANGLESEY

BRSCC

17-18 AUGUST

With the eight-hour ‘into the night’ Fun

Cup race breaking time, lap and distance

records, it was perhaps fitting that the

win went to one of the most experienced

and tactically astute teams on the

endurance grid.

In taking victory, the JPR Uvio squad with

drivers Scott Fitzgerald and Fabio Randaccio

not only became the first multiple winners

of the season, but also took a step closer

to securing the 2019 crown.

Despite being drawn on the penultimate

row of the grid, after two hours of

consistent lap times and fantastic strategy,

the Uvio car was seven seconds clear of

its nearest rival 2Rent Dominos (Henry

Dawes/Chris Hart). Double fuelling at

the start meant the Brands Hatch winners

could save time in the initial pitstops

by simply changing drivers, while teams

behind were forced to also refuel.

It was a tactic Uvio used throughout the

eight-hour marathon and, when twinned

with mechanical misfortunate for 2Rent

Dominos – Hart stating “the clutch

exploded” – the lead was well over a

minute, with two cars scrapping for second.

That battle was between JPR GT Radial

(Ellis Hadley/Jonathan Benson/Martin

Gibson) and JPR Axiametrics (Kristian

Rose/Chris Weatherill/Chris Dove) until

Strategy key

to JPR Uvio’s

Fun Cup win