The RAW Motorsports cars of Alex Macleod/Paul Rivett and Paul Ellis-Smith/Paul Taylor/Jamie Price started side by side on the grid for the first Fun Cup race of the season, over 4 hours on Silverstone’s Grand Prix Circuit.
Former Renault Clio UK Cup Champion Rivett started the Tachosystems car before handing to Macleod and both were fairly happy after their qualifying session.
“It’s like a Clio in reverse, but I have my new suit on now, it fits me and I’m fine,” reckoned Rivett.
“Testing and qualifying went well and we bedded in brakes and tyres for the race. So I am double stinting too for the first time,” Macleod added.
For ex Enduro biker Ellis-Smith it had been an 11 year dream to race cars “and it ran like a dream,” he said. Fellow Enduro racer Price felt much more comfortable after his session, while for Taylor it was his first step into any form of competitive motorsport. From the start of the race Rivett was right in the thick of it, part of a six-car battle for sixth.
From 11th at the end of the second lap he was sixth as they exited the Vale only five laps later, but under tremendous pressure.
After a couple of challenges were repelled, Rivett managed to break the tow and escaped for a few laps, until the pursuing train caught him again.
It was three sometimes four abreast exiting Stowe Corner, but despite a few exchanges Rivett had the lions share of leading the group.
On lap 36 he pitted to hand to Macleod. “We had really good pace, but I wanted us to work together. But when I realised that wasn’t happening, I decided to have a scrap and gradually edged away from them,” Rivett explained.
Macleod ran just outside the top 10 on rejoining and completed the first hour in 12th place and a lap down on the leaders.
“I was an excellent double stint and I was flying. It felt good particularly in the second half of my stint, but I maybe overheated the tyres and started to get passed,” he added.
By half way they were running in 16th place, but started to make progress again, with Rivett back on board before handing to Macleod again.
After regaining 15th on the three hour mark, they finally took the flag 13th. “I was fairly happy with my times, they were consistent and closer to Paul’s time than I had ever been,” Macleod concluded.
For Ellis-Smith it was tough start to his car racing career, “it was awesome though and I loved every bit of it. When I was passed I could keep up for a little while and then just lost them again,” he admitted.
After Taylor and Price had expressed equal enjoyment from their debuts, they went from 19th in the first hour to finish the race 17th and are already looking forward to the next round at Oulton Park on April 9th.