Window firm directors in racing action

Edited by the Buildingtalk editorial team Jun 18, 2007

Martindales race-drive pairing Phil Martindale and Chris Hart won an action packed first Irish round of the 2007 Uniroyal Fun Cup endurance racing series.

Martindales race-drive pairing Phil Martindale and Chris Hart won an action packed first Irish round of the 2007 Uniroyal Fun Cup endurance racing series on Saturday (June 9, 2007) - and were heading for a win in race two (June 10) when technical problems struck.

The series is the closest and most competitive championship in the UK and Ireland - and after three hours racing at Mondello Park, the Martindales and Trucks2go team crossed the line with just a ten-second advantage.

Championship contenders Phil Martindale, founder and Managing Director of Martindales, the UK's leading supplier of replacement doors and windows to the insurance industry, and Chris Hart, Managing Director of co-sponsor Trucks2Go in Blackrod, have teamed up for the season - and were obviously delighted after a crash on the last lap of the season opener in May robbed them of a podium position.

The Mondello round involved two three-hour endurance races.

"That was a very sweet win.

People may have seen how incident-packed the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix was on Sunday - but we actually had twice as many safety car periods on Saturday," said Phil Martindale.

"It was car carnage on Saturday - with a lot of incidents.

But we came through it and won, and won well.

"Sunday was bitter sweet: we were lying third when an electrical problem stopped the car, but our fuel strategy meant that we were almost certain to win." The cars are purpose-designed single-seaters with a strong tubular steel chassis, mildly modified super strong Audi/VW engines and gearboxes, race brakes and fully adjustable suspension wrapped in VW Beetle look-alike glass fibre body.

The races are all endurance, typically three or four hours in the UK, complete with pit stops and all the associated drama.

Teams vary from two to six drivers in the UK and, thanks to carefully designed rules, however many there are in a team the chance of success is exactly the same.