Tucson, AZ, WPH Press, 5/22/19– Ireland’s Peter Funchion clinched the inaugural “R48 Next Gen Cup,” honoring the top 26-and-under rising star on the tour. Funchion started the 2018/19 R48 season on the short list of favorites to win the inaugural Next Gen Cup, having already notched victories against R48 Elite stars Emmett Peixoto, Marcos Chavez, and Daniel Cordova during the 2017/18 R48 7 season.
Funchion kicked off his 2018/19 R48 8 season with an 11th place finish in the 2018 R48 8 Atlanta in October, losing to Marcos Chavez in the round of 16 and dropping a close 9th place semifinal match to fellow Next Gen Star Max Langmack.
Funchion was unable to attend the next five R48 8 stops, returning to the tour in late March in San Francisco to battle R48 #1 Killian Carroll in a close opening round match before ultimately coming up short. Funchion put the first round loss behind him, dominating the 9th place playoffs to climb into the top three on the Next Gen Rankings.
Funchion nearly upset Daniel Cordova in the NYAC R48LTE two weeks after San Francisco, dropping a close tiebreaker. The seventh place finish at the NYAC tied Fuchion with Leo Canales, Jr. for the top stop on the Next Gen leaderboard.
Funchion would lose another close tiebreaker at the Player’s Championship five weeks later, coming up six points short against R48 #6 Vic Perez. Funchion added a 9th place playoff win against Next Gen star Sean Kerr in Salt Lake City before ending his season with a 9th place semifinal loss against Marcos Chavez. The 11th place finish in Salt Lake City catapulted Funchion to the top of the Next Gen Cup standings.
Funchion was honored after the R48 Men’s Pro Final in Salt Lake City. Surrounded by a more than a dozen R48, WR48, and SR48 stars, Funchion emphatically proclaimed, “I’ll be in the top 8 next season!”
Look for Funchion and his Next Gen peers to start climbing the R48 Power Rankings in the near future.
Next Gen Cup explained HERE
Next Gen Cup mid-season update HERE
Become a WPH Patreon HERE
Race 4 Eight History of Champions and Finalists HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer