ScuderiaTT is dipping its toe (hoof?) into the endurance racing arena, by fielding a car in the 2010 Fun Cup Endurance Series.

Launched in 2002, the Fun Cup is a single make endurance championship with all competitors driving either a petrol or diesel Audi engined single-seat space frame chassis, clad in a winged classic VW Beetle silhouette body.  Other than general appearance, the car has nothing in common with the classic VeeDub though. Races are typically between 3 to 7 hours in duration, with the showcase event being the celebrated Spa 25hr race in Belgium - deliberately 1 hour longer than Le Mans and officially the longest endurance race in the world.  The Fun Cup receives widespread promotion across a whole range of prime media from national press, general interest magazines and extensive, dedicated TV coverage on the Sky Sports network.

Racing in a petrol engined Audi powered VW Beetle under the Scuderia XCat banner, the team consists of three experienced racers who have raced in the highly competitive Caterham race series for several years.  After an extensive pre-season test program, Scuderia XCat is confident that is has both the competitive ability and technical resource to mount a spirited challenge in 2010.

Following the initial shakedown at Snetterton, where the car impressed with its speed out of the box in making short work of a £200,000 Ferrari F430 Scuderia, veteran STT racer Martin Harris said, “It feels great and very well planted on the track, but the short wheelbase means you need big muscles to wrestle it round - so I’ll have to renew my subscription at the gym…”

The Scuderia XCat campaign starts at Snetterton on 24 April with a 4 hour race - a sprint race for the Fun Cup Endurance Series.

ScuderiaTT is pleased to announce that it will be running 5 cars in the 2009 Caterham RSA championship - and welcomes two new drivers to its lineup.

Veteran Caterham racer and barrister Rob Thomas, driving Car 31, has raced Caterhams for several years and brings with him a wealth of experience about competing at this level of motorsport.

Kibworth based Simon Bonham has raced Caterhams for the previous two seasons.  He missed several rounds of the RSB championship last year after sustaining a back injury in a nasty crash during qualifying at Cadwell Park, but is now back to full fitness and raring to go in the 2009 RSA season.  He will be driving Car 44 this year.

Both are welcome additions to the ScuderiaTT lineup and the team looks forward to working with both of them over the season.

ScuderiaTT Drivers - 2009 Season:

Paul Lund - Car 3

Rob Thomas - Car 31

Simon Bonham - Car 44

Phil Haworth - Car 54

Martin Harris - Car 99

Car 54 took to the circuit for a final test session at Cadwell Park on 4 April. The plan was to use the open pitlane day to run a fairly comprehensive mechanical, set up and race fitness programme. This was scheduled to be the last run out before the first race weekend at Silverstone over Easter. Typically for Cadwell the day started off fairly wet but dried steadily throughout the day until the sun and wind had evaporated all the moisture and the lap times started to tumble.

Having completed two sessions of race distance, all appeared to be going well. That was until the session after lunch when, turning into the blind crest of The Mountain, Car 54 came over the brow airborne and ploughed straight into the back of a stationary Lotus Elise sitting in the middle of track…

The shock of any 50mph impact is bad enough, but I now know it is a lot worse when you never even saw it coming. The marshalls did not even have time to deploy cautionary yellow flags, but notwithstanding this, quite what the driver of the Elise thought he was doing stopping in such a dangerously stupid place is beyond me. Even at half the speed I was doing, I would have stood no chance. The impact caused by his thoughtless driving (or should that be parking?) totally destroyed the front of the car. Car 54 returned to the pits on the back of a flatbed lorry; its front wheels pointing in opposite directions and radiator coolant leaving a greasy puddle across the track…

The telemetry indicated that I had decelerated from 50 to 0mph in a fraction of a second and endured a long-g reading off the chart. Despite this, my HANS protection system prevented any serious neck injury to me thankfully and it was pure luck that I didn’t break any wrists or thumbs. My only injury was some stiffness for a few days afterwards and this is surely testament to the strength of the crash box at the front of the car.

The damage to the chassis is still being assessed by Arch Engineering, but it will require, in all likelihood, a long front, new cooling system, nose, wishbones and possibly steering rack. Having had a car so beautifully prepared and set up by Broadsport Racing, this was a massive blow.

As a result of this, frankly incredible, crash, Car 54 failed to take the grid over Easter weekend at Silverstone; costing me valuable championship points. The first two races at a desperately damp Silverstone were both won by Mike Steadman. The weekend saw the largest Caterham race grid ever assembled at over 40 cars and ScuderiaTT’s Martin Harris, the only STT driver in action over Easter, finishing a commendable P36 and P32. His first time out in a car in A-spec, Martin improved continuously over the course of the weekend in treacherous conditions and was rightly pleased with his performance. “I suppose I looked at the weekend as a bit of a testing session - new car, new engine, so in a way I feel like it’s “Stage 1″ accomplished.”

Hopefully, the chassis will be fixed in time for the next round at Oulton Park when my championship challenge can begin in earnest, if a little belatedly…