Innovative racing outfit YourRacingCar.com (YRC) and their dedicated ‘fan-followers’ enjoyed and action packed Easter weekend at Thruxton in Hampshire for the opening rounds of the British Touring Car Championships in their Elf Renault Clio Cup racer.Monsoon conditions put paid to any serious testing opportunities on Friday and the back of the storm broke as the pit lane opened for qualifying on Saturday morning – just at the same point that the gearbox of the teams Renault Clio developed a serious fault.
An all-nighter followed fuelled by homemade Rocky Road treats delivered to the garage by one of the teams most dedicated fans, Dawn who’d rustled up the brownies to keep the mechanics going and get the fan funded race car back on track for Sunday’s action.
Financing the team is an ever growing group of racing enthusiasts inspired to join YRC by seeing a picture and a message of their choice on the car plus benefiting from a host of perks negotiated by the team for their benefit.
Speaking about the fan club, YRCer Jon from Essex said “it’s not just about having my mug-shot on the car, although it’s a cool touch by the team. It’s more about being involved with YRC – we get a real behind the scenes look at what goes on and it’s much more interesting to find out what actually happens, rather than the usual PR stuff you read from the other teams. Fulvio’s a brilliant driver to follow too because he always seems to put on a show out there on track!”
After the problems in qualifying and having made up six places in the first race of the weekend to finish a staggering fifth, Fulvio started race two with the same attitude – make the most out of it. Another five places gained in the first lap of the second race and the team were looking set for a serious challenge for the podium. However, it wasn’t meant to be and a slightly over-zealous attack on the fastest corner of the circuit sent Fulvio and the YRC Clio flying across the grass and through a three metre advertising board. An unscheduled pit stop followed to remove debris from the car which was causing the engine to overheat. “There was no chance I was parking up” said Fulvio “I’d seen some YRCers on the banks around the circuit and when you’ve got hundreds of sponsors to keep entertained, you don’t pack up and write it off as a bad day. You get back out there and give them something to cheer about”. The gutsy Colchester racer clawed back two places in the remaining laps showing considerable pace, faster than the front runners.
Summing up the weekend, the YRC team creator Hannah James said “What a weekend! If there’s one thing that we’ve proved it’s that we’re a persistent bunch. That or bonkers. Setting up our hospitality tent in a storm, qualifying with gremlins hiding in the gearbox, an all night engineering job from the team and finally Fulvio pulling off the performance of the weekend. I’m very proud of everyone. This is a real team and you can’t ask for more than that.”
For followers of racing, there’s no better way to find out what really goes on in a pit garage than by joining YourRacingCar.com. The £25 subscriptions gets you an entire season’s membership and with discounts from companies like gadget shop I Want One Of Those, a £25 voucher from BookaTrack, a free Adult pass to the Paradise Wildlife Park and much more, you’ll certainly get some value out of this investment.
