Shaun Balfe and son Tom make their racing debut in the Fun Cup Endurance event

Having set a target of a top 10 finish, the Balfe Motorsport duo of Shaun and Tom Balfe came away from Brands Hatch delighted to finish eighth on their Fun Cup Endurance debut.

Having starred in the British GT Championship over the last few years, it was a total change of scene for Shaun, as well as being joined by son Tom.

Friday's test session was the first time in their own car, having previously driven one day in a test car at Donington Park.

Shaun explained: "The car felt similar to the test car, but we had a few technical gremlins which hampered our performance test.

"We were unprepared for Saturday's qualifying, but had 40 minutes which we shared."

Unlike the GT’s, Fun Cup grids are drawn by lot and the Balfe duo drew 16th place with the decision being made to start Tom if the team was mid or lower placed.

Tom commented: "I was probably a little cautious on the start, but started to regain places during my stint.

"Slipstreaming was something I hadn't experienced before though and it was great learning."

"He did the right thing, dropped back and settled before handing over to me," Shaun added.

Having maintained his position early on, he held station after a safety car intervention too, making ground as the first pit stop window opened.

Pitting from just outside the top 10, Shaun took over to complete the first hour in 16th again.

Shaun said: "We kept plugging away getting the strategy right and the safety car periods. So it was a fair representation of the Fun Cup experience, with no respite."

Their 14th place at half distance became ninth as they started the final hour.

But, although Shaun had completed his second stint, Tom was in for the penultimate spell.

"We decided to give him the option to come in and hand over, or do a double stint to take it to the finish, which he took," said Shaun.

Consistency, reliability and an element of luck has always been a key factor in Fun Cup racing and, as attrition began to cost some of their rivals, they took the flag in eighth place, exceeding their own pre-race target.

"The endurance and strategy side was a great experience and I ticked off a double stint to the finish, as the old man was too lazy to do his third stint," Tom reckoned.

"We really enjoyed it and I think we were in the best of the rest group, so we need to improve for the next round but, to be honest, I will be disappointed now if we don't finish in the top 10," said Shaun.

It's only a few weeks until that next round when the Lincolnshire racers visit Oulton Park for another four hours of action on May 10.