Author: Nick Carter

NEWS RELEASE 10 JULY 2015

Michael Epps blitzed his Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup rivals at Spa-Francorchamps this morning to secure pole position for this afternoon’s ninth round of the championship. His Team HARD Golf GTI lapped the 4.3-mile Belgian Grand Prix circuit in 2m 44.090s – seven-tenths of a second ahead of the pack and a whopping 2.2 seconds inside last year’s qualifying best.

It was a remarkable session for Team HARD, with Epps’s team-mate Howard Fuller second quickest and Bobby Thompson a season-best fourth overall. There was a promising showing also for BTCC racer Andy Wilmot, seventh fastest in the new Team HARD Passat.

“It’s a bit fast here today,” said Spa first-timer Epps. “Spa is one of those tracks which suits me. Brands Hatch is similar and we were testing there last week and made a few changes to the car, a lot of cornering set-up adjustments, and we found some really good improvements. The car feels really good – all credit to Team HARD – and I got an absolutely magnificent tow from Bobby Thompson too, so it’s largely thanks to him.”

Championship leader David Sutton was third quickest despite his SlideSports Scirocco carrying an extra 100kg of ballast since its May Silverstone win. David was encouraged by his performance: “I am happy with that. We can race well from third on the grid.”

Lucas Orrock, who won at Spa last year for KPM Racing, qualified fifth and was pleased also: “I won here from third on the grid so I can at least hope for a podium finish. We’ve made a big step up since yesterday’s testing, and that is encouraging, but there is no way I could find another two seconds and challenge for pole…”

Wilmot, seventh fastest, said: “I like the Passat but there is a lot more work to do on development yet. It has to be set up like a touring car and at the moment it’s not, it needs a lot more rear stability, but overall I am happy because despite the development needed we are still in the top seven.”

Simon Andrews showed great pace to qualify 11th, just shy of his AWM/Safe & Sound team-mates Aaron Mason and Joe Fulbrook, with 16-year-old Damani Marcano setting 14th-best time in his Team HARD Golf. There was disappointment for Laura Tillett: engine-related problems prevented her from setting a time in her new SlideSports Golf.

The first of the weekend’s two Spa races follows at 2.35pm local time.

Provisional qualifying times Spa-Francorchamps 10 July 2015
1 Michael EPPS Team HARD Golf 2:44.090
2 Howard FULLER Team Hard Golf 2:44.706
3 David SUTTON SlideSports Scirocco 2:44.930
4 Bobby THOMPSON Team HARD Golf 2:45.232
5 Lucas ORROCK KPM Scirocco 2:46.147
6 Jack WALKER-TULLY Cooke & Mason Scirocco 2:47.002
7 Andy WILMOT Team HARD Passat 2:47.401
8 Simon RUDD Team HARD Golf 2:47.650
9 Aaron MASON AWM Golf 2:47.864
10 Joe FULBROOK Safe & Sound Golf 2:47.998 etc

Full times

NEWS RELEASE 5 JULY 2015

After a month’s break since they competed at Silverstone, the Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup contenders will be in action on another Grand Prix track this week (10/11 July) – the Belgian circuit of Spa-Francorchamps, a venue which can always be relied upon for unpredictable weather as well as for providing close and exciting racing.

With four wins under his belt already from the opening eight rounds, 25-year-old Rotherham racer David Sutton leads the pack to Spa with a 30-point championship advantage; whether he can maintain that lead in Belgium will depend on how well his SlideSports-prepared Scirocco can adapt to the extra weight imposed on it since its late-May Silverstone win. In addition to 60kg of regular success ballast, Sutton’s DSG semi-automatic gearbox equipped car will carry a further 40kg after a revision of the championship rules.

The drivers hoping that Sutton will be slowed sufficiently for them to be able to keep pace include those closest behind in the championship – 2013 champion Aaron Mason (AWM Scirocco) and reigning title-holder Joe Fulbrook (Safe & Sound Golf GTI). Adding spice to proceedings, neither Mason nor Fulbrook – the two men with the most VW Cup race wins – has ever tasted victory at Spa.

The only driver on this year’s grid to have won in Belgium is KPM Racing/Vindis Scirocco pilot Lucas Orrock. Spa was in 2014 the venue for Lucas’s maiden (and so far only) car-racing victory, and last season’s championship runner-up will be hoping for a repeat, and that an ankle injury sustained while on holiday last week will not hamper his progress.

Despite a technical exclusion from one of the Silverstone races, Team HARD’s Michael Epps has moved into the championship top 10 in his maiden season of saloon racing, and hopes for more success in Belgium: “It is a track which I feel should suit me, and I feel that the team has made some worthwhile improvements to the Golf. We are going there with strong hopes for some podium finishes.”

Epps returned to Silverstone last month to compete in the VAG Trophy; he topped qualifying and won both races. “There was a lot of flak after the Silverstone VW Cup weekend so it was good to go back there and to be able to prove a point. It was good to return with a proven completely legal car and to go just as quick as the VW Cup race winners. I think our technical problems are resolved. I have never raced at Spa – my only visit there was in 2004 as a kid to watch the F1. I’m really excited about it; it is one of the best tracks in the world in the mind of most drivers. It is also prone to rain there, so it should make for an interesting weekend.”

Prior to this season Epps’s track experience was in single-seaters, but he has quickly settled to front-wheel-drive tin-top racing: “We all go into a championship with hopes and dreams but the reality is that it’s a learning experience. I definitely feel really at home in the car now whereas earlier in the season it required more thought to drive it. Now it’s very comfortable…”

Joining Epps on the Team HARD squad in Belgium will be BTCC racer Andy Wilmot, as well as his regular Golf-driving team-mates Howard Fuller, Bobby Thompson, Simon Rudd and 16-year-old Damani Marcano.

Twenty-four-year-old Laura Tillett will be with a new team at Spa – the talented karter joins SlideSports alongside Sutton and Graham Ewing, and will campaign a Mk VI Golf GTI prepared by Mark Jenkins’ team. Disabled racer James Pile returns with SlideSports for a one-off outing in his Golf.

In addition to Orrock’s Scirocco, KPM will be fielding Golfs for Phil Morris and Matthew Wilson, while the AWM/Safe & Sound team will have championship returnee Tim Snaylam on the strength alongside regulars Simon Tomlinson and Simon Andrews. Jack Walker-Tully will be making his Spa debut in the Cooke and Mason Scirocco, while the JWB Motorsport team’s Sciroccos will be in the hands of Paul Dehadray and Pete Littler.

The Spa weekend gets underway in traditional style on Thursday evening with a parade from the circuit along public roads into Stavelot village square. Qualifying follows on Friday morning with the races – slightly longer than the UK norm at 25 minutes apiece – on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.

NEWS RELEASE 31 MAY 2015

Pictures for download

David Sutton further extended his Milltek Sports Volkswagen Racing Cup championship lead this afternoon with a lights-to-flag victory in the SlideSports Scirocco at Silverstone, his fourth of the eight-race season. But while Sutton delivered his flawless performance, all eyes watching trackside and on TV were focused on the monumental three-car fight for second place which raged for the duration.

Sutton took advantage of relatively slow getaways from front-row men Jack Walker-Tully and Aaron Mason to nip through for the lead at Copse corner, building his advantage to 0.4s by the end of the opening lap. None of his pursuers would come as close again…

Battle for second was joined between Mason, Walker-Tully and Phil House from the outset, 2013 champion Mason using every trick learned during his six previous seasons of success in the VW Cup to make his AWM Scirocco as wide as possible. Walker-Tully tried at virtually every corner for the first four laps to hustle his Cooke & Mason Scirocco past, losing third as a result for a brief spell to the PH Motorsport Scirocco of House before regaining the position.

On the fifth lap the Scirocco men ran three abreast down the Hangar Straight towards Stowe, with Walker-Tully finally able to nail second spot on the inside as they rounded Club. Jack managed to pull a slender gap on Aaron, who in turn was now under heavy attack from Phil. After two laps of having his attacks rebuffed, House managed to get a better exit out of Woodcote to draw alongside Mason down the National Pits Straight and into Copse, where he managed to make the move stick and secure second. It was a brilliant display of close-quarters racing from all three, and all achieved with a minimum of contact.

Sutton crossed the line 2.4s ahead of his squabbling rivals, with Walker-Tully building his advantage over House to 1.4s by the flag. A disappointed Mason was just 0.7s adrift of a podium finish…

Winner David Sutton: “I got a fantastic start and managed to get Aaron into the first corner, around the outside, and from there on I saw that the guys behind me were battling so I did one fast lap to pull away and then settled into a rhythm to bring home the car, which ran faultlessly. Unfortunately the budget is now spent and I need to find more if I am to defend my lead at Spa next month. If that was my last race, at least I have ended on a high.”

Jack Walker-Tully, second: “After the nightmare of qualifying, today has been a dream. I was happy with sixth in the wet but to be up there and to have the pace for second in that race was tremendous. It was a really good battle, one of the best races I’ve had, really close all the way.”

Sutton’s SlideSports team-mate Chris Panayiotou ran fifth throughout the race after getting a great start from ninth on the grid but just lacked the pace to get on terms with the battlers ahead of him. Chris equalled his best result of the season so far, and finished well ahead of sixth-placed Tom Witts (Maximum), who got the better of a three-way battle with Joe Fulbrook and Lucas Orrock. Orrock held sixth going into the penultimate lap but was tipped into a spin by Fulbrook as Joe attempted an optimistic down-the-inside manoeuvre. Race one victor Fulbrook lost out to Witts on the final lap and had to settle for seventh.

After the electrical dramas which cost Howard Fuller his first-race front-row start and which led on to his retirement, the Team HARD driver had a point to prove and made it in style, storming from the back to finish eighth, just ahead of Orrock. Michael Epps was on a mission also, following his team-mate Fuller’s example to scythe through from the rear-end of the grid to 10th at the line.

From 18th on the grid to 11th at the line was a good result for Cobra Engineering Scirocco driver Joe McMillan. Graham Ewing kept a determined Simon Rudd at bay on the final lap to secure 12th spot, with Lee Christopher making up for the disappointment of crashing out on his debut to take 14th. Matthew Wilson claimed his best result of the season with 15th in the Complete Racing/KPM Golf.

There were no Golf gremlins this race for Laura Tillett on her way to 16th, just ahead of Paul Dehadray, whose 17th earned the JWB Motorsport driver the Sportsman’s Trophy for the first time this season. Simon Tomlinson, Phil Morris and Mark Smith completed the top 20.

Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup
Provisional results Round 8 Silverstone GP 31/5/15
9 laps / 32.94 miles
1 David SUTTON / SlideSports Scirocco R 21m 51.287s / 90.44mph
2 Jack WALKER-TULLY / Cooke & Mason Scirocco R +2.387s
3 Phil HOUSE / PH Motorsport Scirocco R +3.824s
4 Aaron MASON / AWM Scirocco R +4.557s
5 Chris PANAYIOTOU / SlideSports Scirocco R +10.801s
6 Tom WITTS / Maximum Motorsport Scirocco R +15.902s
7 Joe FULBROOK / Safe & Sound Golf GTI +16.133s
8 Howard FULLER / Team HARD Golf GTI +22.293s
9 Lucas ORROCK / KPM Scirocco R +22.427s
10 Michael EPPS / Team HARD Golf GTI +27.978s etc
Fastest lap House 2m 24.689s / 91.07mph
Sportsman’s Trophy Paul DEHADRAY / JWB Motorsport Scirocco

Full results

Provisional championship standings
1 Sutton 328 points; 2 Mason 298; 3 Fulbrook 284; 4 Walker-Tully 282; 5 Orrock 272; 6 House 244; 7 Joe McMillan 236; 8 Fuller 206; 9 Bobby Thompson 154; 10 Epps 150 etc

NEWS RELEASE 31 MAY 2015

Pictures for download

Reigning champion Joe Fulbrook and his Safe and Sound-backed Golf GTI mastered the tricky wet conditions at Silverstone this morning to score their maiden win of the Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup season. It was Joe’s first wet-race victory since 2009 and the first of the year for a Golf after six successive Scirocco triumphs.

Fulbrook took command on the fourth of six laps around Silverstone’s 3.7-mile Grand Prix circuit, championship leader David Sutton having led initially before handing the baton to Lucas Orrock. KPM Scirocco driver Orrock held on for second place, his best finish of the year, ahead of Phil House, who made it to the podium for the first time in nearly two years.

Dry and sunny weather for Saturday’s qualifying session meant that all 29 starters were running ‘best-guess’ chassis set-ups for the vastly different conditions of the race, and Sutton, who led the length of the opening lap, thereafter found his SlideSports Scirocco a handful. Orrock, who made up two positions on the opening lap to slot in behind the leader, took advantage of Sutton’s discomfort at Village on lap two, with David pushed back to fourth by the end of the lap by Aaron Mason’s AWM Scirocco and by Fulbrook.

“I got a really good start initially – I think others around me got a little more wheelspin than me – but then I missed third gear and slipped back,” said Lucas. “Then everyone else seemed to brake really early for the first corner and I just went right around the outside and got past Aaron again and came out second. I could see straight away that I was quicker than Sutton, had a little look on the first lap but backed out of it because it wasn’t worth the risk. Then I got into the lead a couple of laps later.”

Fulbrook’s Golf was clearly handling better than all the Sciroccos around him, and Joe seized second place from Mason at Club on lap four and then drove around Orrock for the lead at Brooklands later the same lap. “Joe came up on me and there was no point in trying to resist him,” said Lucas.

Fulbrook opened a half-second lead over Orrock by the end of lap four and eased away to beat him to the chequered flag by 1s. Said Joe: “Not bad for an old boy… Up to now we have always struggled to find a good wet set-up but the boys have found a bit of a sweet spot, and I’m really pleased for them. It was proper greasy out there and the tyres were going off towards the end, so I am well chuffed with that. I haven’t won in the wet since 2009.”

Orrock’s grip on second was boosted by a lock-up from third-placed Mason at Brooklands on the penultimate lap. “I nipped it up,” said Aaron, “and slid wide, but I managed to get back on…” Confirmed Orrock: “Aaron’s mistake gave me the breather I needed.”

Mason’s error promoted House to third, his PH Motorsport Scirocco rejuvenated by a recent radiator and intercooler change which, he hopes, have banished the overheating problems which have blighted him. Double champion House harried Orrock all the way to the flag but was unable to find a way past. He was delighted nonetheless to step back on to the podium for the first time since his 2013 Snetterton victory. “It’s just nice to finish a race with the same pace as I started with,” said Phil, “and especially to finish well in such a competitive, cleanly fought race.”

Sutton was pleased to retain fourth at the line, and with it his championship lead: “We struggle a bit in the wet; the set-up isn’t quite right and we have some work to do. I had no grip until the final lap, but overall I’m pleased with that position.” Mason recovered from his off to take fifth.

Rockingham double winner Jack Walker-Tully endured a disastrous qualifying session with a too-heavy Scirocco and started from 12th. With ballast shed for the race he made up four places on the opening lap and was delighted to make it into the top six by the end to net himself pole position for the reverse-grid second race.

Tom Witts, the current Mk 2 Production Golf GTI Championship leader, enjoyed a strong VW Cup debut to finish seventh in the Maximum Motorsport Scirocco, with Robert Barrable close behind on what was his first outing of the season in the THM Racing Golf. “We tried something with the set-up which didn’t really work and went backwards after a strong start,” said Rob.

Chris Panayiotou (SlideSports Scirocco) followed Barrable home for ninth, with Darrelle Wilson 10th and the leading Team HARD finisher.

Graham Ewing took 11th place in his SlideSports Golf, claiming the Sportsman’s Trophy for the second race in succession, with Mark Smith scoring his best finish of the season so far, 12th in the InFront Motorsport Scirocco, ahead of Pete Littler (JWB Scirocco), Simon Deaton (Maximum Scirocco) and Paul Dehadray (JWB Scirocco).

The youngest driver in the race, 16-year-old Damani Marcano, was another to score a personal best: 19th, just ahead of his Team HARD comrade Laura Tillett, who had to start from pit lane after power delivery problems on the warming-up lap. HARD runners Simon Rudd, Howard Fuller and Bobby Thompson were also in the wars – Rudd was tagged, spun and lost time before restarting to finish 24th and last, while Fuller and Thompson were both sidelined with mechanical issues.

They were joined in retirement by Simon Andrews and Lee Christopher, who came together on the opening lap after Christopher locked up his SlideSports Scirocco at the treacherous Stowe corner.

 

Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup
Provisional results Round 7 Silverstone GP 31/5/15
6 laps / 21.96 miles
1 Joe FULBROOK / Safe & Sound Golf GTI 16m 18.361s / 80.81mph
2 Lucas ORROCK / KPM Scirocco R +1.002s
3 Phil HOUSE / PH Motorsport Scirocco R +1.200s
4 David SUTTON / SlideSports Scirocco R +1.236s
5 Aaron MASON / AWM Scirocco R +2.848s
6 Jack WALKER-TULLY / Cooke & Mason Scirocco R +8.495s
7 Tom WITTS / Maximum Motorsport Scirocco R +10.598s
8 Robert BARRABLE / THM Racing Golf GTI +11.652s
9 Chris PANAYIOTOU / SlideSports Scirocco R +12.030s
10 Darrelle WILSON / Team HARD Golf GTI +14.235s etc
Fastest lap Fulbrook 2m 41.368s / 81.66mph
Sportsman’s Trophy Graham EWING / SlideSports Golf

Full results

Provisional championship standings
1 Sutton 284 points; 2 Mason 262; 3 Fulbrook 252; 4 Orrock 244; 5 Walker-Tully 242; 6 Joe McMillan 212; 7 House 204; 8 Howard Fuller 176; 9 Bobby Thompson 154; 10 Michael Epps 124 etc

NEWS RELEASE 31 MAY 2015

Championship leader David Sutton will start the first race of the Silverstone weekend from pole position following technical checks on the cars which contested yesterday’s Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup qualifying session.

Two cars, including that of Team HARD driver Michael Epps, which had set the best time of the session, were excluded from the results of the session after power tests undertaken at the championship rolling road found them to be over permitted power levels. The other exclusion was for Joe McMillan’s Cobra Engineering Scirocco; both will start from the back of the grid with a 10-second penalty.

The revised grid will see Sutton’s SlideSports Scirocco go from the pole in round seven; it is Sutton’s fourth pole of the season. He will start ahead of the Team HARD Golf GTI of Howard Fuller and the PH Motorsport Scirocco of Phil House.

Round seven of the Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup is scheduled for an 0955 start with round eight following at 1725 – live on Motors TV.

Revised qualifying times Silverstone GP 30 May 2015
1 David SUTTON SlideSports Scirocco 2:23.730
2 Howard FULLER Team Hard Golf 2:24.458
3 Phil HOUSE PH Motorsport Scirocco 2:24.552
4 Lucas ORROCK KPM Scirocco 2:24.944
5 Joe FULBROOK Safe & Sound Golf 2:25.334
6 Aaron MASON AWM Golf 2:25.353
7 Tom WITTS Maximum Motorsport Scirocco 2:25.952
8 Robert BARRABLE THM Racing Golf 2:26.158
9 Darrelle WILSON Team HARD Golf 2:26.774
10 Simon RUDD Team HARD Golf 2:26.892 etc

Full times

NEWS RELEASE 26 MAY 2015

Production GTI Championship leader Tom Witts is to step up to the Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup for the first time this weekend (30/31 May). The Northamptonshire-based 23-year-old will be at the wheel of one of Maximum Motorsport’s Sciroccos for the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit races, and is looking forward to sampling the championship:

“It’s going to be a challenge – my first experience of the car will come the day before the event and I think we get only 55 minutes of testing,” said Tom, “but my aim for the weekend is to enjoy the experience and to take stock of the championship with a view to moving up as and when budgets permit. If you race a Volkswagen, it is definitely the championship to be in…”

Witts will take over the car raced to a podium finish at Rockingham by his Mk 2 Production GTI Championship rival Jason Tingle. Maximum Motorsport team boss and BTCC racer Stewart Lines says Tom will go well: “He has impressed me with his drives in the Golf series and Jason showed at Rockingham that the Maximum Scirocco is well on the pace, so hopefully Tom can get a good result.”

Witts leads Tingle in the Mk 2 standings by 18 points having scored three win and a second-place finish from the opening four rounds of the championship.

NEWS RELEASE 21 MAY 2015

Silverstone, home of British motorsport, plays host next weekend (30/31 May) to the Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup and, with the season set to reach its mid-point at the famous British Grand Prix circuit, the stakes are getting high for those hoping to set out their claim to the championship title. Just 44 points separates the top six in the standings, and the addition of a ‘wild card’ entry is set to make Silverstone even more exciting.

Thanks to a brace of race wins at Oulton Park last month and a further victory in early May at Rockingham, it is 25-year-old Rotherham racer David Sutton who maintains the championship lead, but the SlideSports Scirocco driver is only 18 points ahead of 2013 champion Aaron Mason. AWM Scirocco pilot Mason, 35 and from Doncaster, has won more VW Cup races (20) than any other driver, but despite being a frequent podium visitor has yet to add to his tally in 2015.

Both Sutton and Mason will have to keep an eye open at Silverstone for 27-year-old Irish rally star Robert Barrable, who is to return to the series after enjoying a winning debut at Donington at the end of last season. As at Donington he will drive THM Racing’s Golf GTI. “I’m all ready for action,” said Robert, “and looking forward to coming back at Silverstone. Obviously the hope is to pick up where we left off, and to enjoy myself and hopefully get a good couple of results. I haven’t had any testing – the last time I drove the Golf was at Donington and the next time I drive it will be the Silverstone test day before the race – but I’m hoping to enjoy it and it will be good to try the Grand Prix circuit.” Barrable’s previous Silverstone experience is of the National circuit, on which he raced to second place in the 2009 Formula Ford Walter Hayes Trophy.

Jack Walker-Tully (Cooke and Mason Scirocco) will be eyeing the top step of the podium at Silverstone after breaking his duck in style at Rockingham, where he scored runaway wins in both wet and dry conditions. Jack scored his first podium finish at Silverstone in 2014 (as did Lucas Orrock), with Mason and his Safe and Sound team-mate Joe Fulbrook taking the victories.

Reigning champion Fulbrook, Mason’s closest all-time-wins challenger with 16, is another yet to have tasted the victory champagne this season, although two seconds at Rockingham hint that it will not be long before the Golf GTI driver does. “We are still learning about the car,” said Joe, “and coping with problems. We switched to the TFSI engine this year and that has caused problems, but we are ironing them out now. We have suffered a bit from a lack of straight-line speed, and we need to look at getting the tyres to ‘switch on’ a bit sooner, but we won at Silverstone last year and had a good battle with Aaron, so I am hoping for a good race or two.

“I really enjoyed Rockingham, where I had Aaron behind me all the way and I had to drive accurately and couldn’t afford to make a mistake otherwise I’d have been swamped. Hopefully there will be more of that.”

A third and two fourths is not the score that KPM driver Lucas Orrock would have liked to have amassed by this stage in the season, and he will be hoping that Silverstone’s two races – as opposed to the triple-headers seen at Oulton and Rockingham – will be kinder on his Milltek Sport and Vindis-backed Scirocco’s tyres and help him back on to the podium.

Just behind Orrock in the standings is Joe McMillan, a winner at Oulton and a podium finisher at Rockingham. Joe’s Cobra Engineering Scirocco will be running free from success ballast in the first race at Silverstone while Walker-Tully’s and Mason’s will each have an additional 60kg on board, with Sutton on 40kg, Fulbrook on 32kg and Orrock with 24kg.

The Team HARD trio of Howard Fuller, Bobby Thompson and Michael Epps – respectively seventh, ninth and 10th in the championship – will by vying with Fulbrook and Barrable for the honour of scoring the first Golf GTI victory of the 2015 season.

A 27-car field is anticipated at Silverstone, where Sunday’s two races support the three-hour British GT Championship Silverstone 500. The event-closing VW Cup finale is scheduled to be screened live across Europe on Motors TV.

NEWS RELEASE 3 MAY 2015

Pictures for download

After vanquishing his rivals in the wet, the last thing Jack Walker-Tully was expecting was to repeat the feat in the dry, yet that’s exactly what the Nottinghamshire youngster achieved in front of an appreciative British GT Championship crowd trackside at Rockingham and with many more watching live Europe-wide on Motors TV.

Set-up changes following Saturday’s dry race, in which he finished a distant and disappointed eighth, worked wonders on the Cooke and Mason Scirocco and, after a rocketship start from P3 on the grid, Jack was able to make quick work of front-row men David Sutton and Joe Fulbrook, lining them up through the Deene hairpin on the opening lap before sweeping past and into the lead at the next turn, Yentwood.

The key to Walker-Tully’s success was that he had not abused his tyres in Saturday’s dry outing where others, notably winner Sutton, had precious little left in the way of grip. As Walker-Tully sailed into a 2-second lead, so Sutton found himself shuffled back to fourth through Deene by Fulbrook and Aaron Mason on lap three.

But both Fulbrook and Mason were struggling for grip too, and had little hope of catching the leader. Their one opportunity came on the sixth lap when the safety car was called into play for two laps while a stranded car was removed to safety, but Walker-Tully handled the caution period perfectly and made an impeccable restart, building his advantage to 1.9s by the chequered flag.

Jack believed that the safety car was a help rather than a hindrance to his race: “I wasn’t happy when I saw it come out but on reflection it allowed me a couple of laps to rest my tyres. The Scirocco was handling perfectly all race, which I really wasn’t expecting. In fact, I’m a bit lost for words. To win one race was fantastic but to take my second win on the same day is just amazing.”

Fulbrook and his mate Mason engaged in a close and thrilling battle throughout the race, with Mason close enough behind throughout to seize upon any mistakes. None came and Fulbrook was able to secure his second P2 finish of the Rockingham weekend: “I was holding him up a bit, I think,” said Joe, “but I knew that he wouldn’t try anything too daft to get past me.” Mason concurred: “We both just needed to look after our tyres and make sure we go on to the podium. It was a tactical game.”

After the safety car period Sutton slipped further backwards as his Hankooks cried enough. “I used them all up in the first race,” said David, “and there was nothing left by the end…” Lucas Orrock took a while to find a way past Sutton for fourth: “I passed him just as the safety car came out, so to be safe I gave the place back and had to repass a few laps later. By that time my chances of catching the top three had gone.”

Another strong drive from mid-grid, this time without netting any significant damage, earned Howard Fuller fifth place, with Darrelle Wilson’s diesel Scirocco an excellent sixth after he passed Sutton and Jason Tingle’s Maximum car on the final lap. Sutton limped in eighth, behind Tingle, with Joe McMillan and Michael Epps completing the top 10.

Phil House started well, up to fifth early on in the PH Motorsport Scirocco, but his pace fizzled as the race wore on and he slipped back to 11th, just ahead of Bobby Thompson and Sportsman’s Trophy winner Graham Ewing in the SlideSports Golf. Simon Rudd collected 14th place to make it four Team HARD runners in the top 15, ahead of Simon Deaton’s Maximum Motorsport Scirocco.

A penultimate-lap clash between Pete Littler (JWB Scirocco) and Matthew Wilson (Complete Racing Golf) sent both into the wall. Wilson retired to the pits with damage but Littler was able to limp home, 25th and last, but still on the same lap as the winner.

Provisional results Round 6 Rockingham 3/5/15
12 laps / 24.60 miles
1 Jack WALKER-TULLY / Cooke & Mason Scirocco R 21m 06.554s / 69.92mph
2 Joe FULBROOK / Safe & Sound Golf GTI +1.901s
3 Aaron MASON / AWM Scirocco R +2.767s
4 Lucas ORROCK / KPM Scirocco R +3.134s
5 Howard FULLER / Team HARD Golf GTI +4.306s
6 Darrelle WILSON / DW Racing Scirocco TDI +7.615s
7 Jason TINGLE / Maximum Motorsport Scirocco R +8.014s
8 David SUTTON / SlideSports Scirocco R +8.826s
9 Joe McMILLAN / Cobra Engineering Scirocco R +8.953s
10 Michael EPPS / Team HARD Golf GTI +9.360s etc
Fastest lap Walker-Tully 1m 37.247s / 75.88mph
Sportsman’s Trophy Graham EWING / SlideSports Golf GTI

Full results

Provisional championship standings
1 Sutton 246 points; 2 Mason 228; 3 Walker-Tully 210; 4 Fulbrook 206; 5 Orrock 204; 6 McMillan 202; 7 Fuller 176; 8 Philip House 166; 9 Bobby Thompson 154; 10 Epps 124 etc

NEWS RELEASE 3 MAY 2015

Pictures for download

There were a lot of factors working against Jack Walker-Tully this morning at Rockingham – not the least of them that he would start the fifth round of the Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup from eighth on the grid in a car he had barely driven, let alone raced, in wet conditions. Yet despite the handicaps the 22-year-old from Nottingham came through to score a notable victory, his first win in any form of motorsport, to add his name to the VW Cup record books alongside those of his cousin, James Walker, and uncle Richard Walker.

It was a masterly drive in treacherously wet conditions which caught out more than a few, not least championship leader David Sutton, and Jack’s victory margin – 6.3s – was the widest of the season so far.

Walker-Tully’s decisive opening lap laid the foundations for victory, Jack battling through to fourth after a demon start in the Cooke and Mason Scirocco. Next time around he despatched pole-starter Chris Panayiotou’s SlideSports Scirocco to move into third, on the tails of Sutton and former champion Aaron Mason. Mason, who started P3, had taken the lead on the opening lap into Deene but found his AWM Scirocco’s wet-weather set-up had no answer to the superior handling of Sutton’s SlideSports car when David attacked for the lead, again at Deene, on lap two.

Sutton was beginning to look set for a third straight race win until he locked up into Deene at the start of the fourth lap, handling top spot back to Mason: “I don’t know what happened,” said David. “I braked in exactly the same spot as the previous laps, the pedal went ‘long’ and I locked up and went straight on…”

Mason and Walker-Tully crossed the line side by side at the end of the fourth, with Jack hugging the inside line to give him the edge into the first chicane, where he made the move stick and started on the job of increasing his advantage lap by lap and securing the win.

“The car just felt amazing,” said Jack. “I got a good start and people kept falling off in front of me and then I managed to get Aaron down the straight. I couldn’t ask for anything more from my first race in the wet… I was hoping for rain because I thought we could go well. Three laps from the end I was just coaxing it to the end and praying it wouldn’t let me down.”

Mason was more than happy with his second P2 finish of this season: “We set the car up a bit too soft for the conditions so as soon as the track started drying Jack had the upper hand and it wasn’t worth pushing. It didn’t help that my windscreen wiper packed up half-way through. But second means good points, so I’m pleased.”

After a strong showing in his maiden VW Cup race yesterday, Jason Tingle recovered from a tricky opening lap, which saw him drop from second on the grid to fifth, to claim third at the flag for Maximum Motorsport. “I had a few moments, but then I’ve never raced this car before this weekend, let alone in the wet,” said Jason. “I came here hoping for a top 10 finish and never expected a podium, so I’m happy and so is the team.”

Sutton’s fourth-lap error cost him three places and David exercised caution with his braking for the rest of the race to bring the Scirocco home fourth ahead of the cars of Lucas Orrock and Joe McMillan, with Phil House making good progress from 11th on the grid to seventh by the end.

Michael Epps scored his best result of the season so far with eighth, just ahead of his Team HARD running mate Bobby Thompson. Reigning champion Joe Fulbrook had been on for eighth but spun away two places two laps from the end when he outbraked himself. “We didn’t have a wet race all last year,” said Joe, “and we had to guess at the settings. They weren’t perfect but we at least gathered some good data.”

After retiring yesterday Howard Fuller started from dead last on the 28-car grid and made it through to 12th by the third lap. He lost a place thereafter as the result of a misunderstanding with his HARD team-mate Bobby Thompson but brought his Golf home 11th, behind Fulbrook. Said Howard: “A suspension joint got knocked out, which meant the Golf handled like a shopping trolley, but I needed to stay out and score some points.”

From pole to 12th, Panayiotou’s drive was a disappointment, put down to having completely the wrong set-up for the conditions and brand new wet-weather Hankooks. Darrelle Wilson followed Panayiotou home for 13th, with Simons Rudd and Deaton completing the top 15.

Graham Ewing (SlideSports Golf) led the Sportsman’s Trophy runners early on before a spin dropped him down the order. Deaton went on to collect the cup, and said: “It’s a long time since I’ve driven Rockingham in the wet and I’d forgotten how slippery it was. So I just took my time and I didn’t even know I’d won the class until I’d finished.” Ewing finished close behind for 16th overall.

Paul Ivens (Maximum Scirocco) and Karolis Staniukynas (Team HARD Golf) fell by the wayside with mechanical problems; Phil Morris (KPM Golf) was the other non-finisher, ending his race in a tyre wall after a fourth-lap spin.

Provisional results Round 5 Rockingham 3/5/15
11 laps / 22.55 miles
1 Jack WALKER-TULLY / Cooke & Mason Scirocco R 20m 04.521s / 67.39mph
2 Aaron MASON / AWM Scirocco R +6.304s
3 Jason TINGLE / Maximum Motorsport Scirocco R +10.218s
4 David SUTTON / SlideSports Scirocco R +12.069s
5 Lucas ORROCK / KPM Scirocco R +12.370s
6 Joe McMILLAN / Cobra Engineering Scirocco R +12.916s
7 Phil HOUSE / PH Motorsport Scirocco R +13.886s
8 Michael EPPS / Team HARD Golf GTI +20.123s
9 Bobby THOMPSON / Team HARD Golf GTI +21.154s
10 Joe FULBROOK / Safe & Sound Golf GTI +24.835s etc
Fastest lap Walker-Tully 1m 47.805s / 68.45mph
Sportsman’s Trophy Simon DEATON / Maximum Motorsport Golf GTI

Full results

Provisional championship standings
1 Sutton 216 points; 2 Mason 190; 3 McMillan 174 4 Orrock 168; 5 Fulbrook 166; 6 Walker-Tully 164 etc

NEWS RELEASE 2 MAY 2015

Pictures for download

David Sutton continued his impressive run of form in the Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup with another pole-to-chequered flag race victory at Rockingham this afternoon, his third such win for the SlideSports team from four races. Though he was pushed hard towards the end by reigning champion Joe Fulbrook, the Scirocco driver’s victory was never under great threat.

The driver who could probably have taken the fight to Sutton was Lucas Orrock, but the KPM Scirocco man’s race went badly wrong on the opening lap when he was punted into a spin and down to 14th place. Orrock’s battle back to seventh was a highlight of the race and hinted at what he could have achieved had things worked out differently.

What triggered Orrock’s problems was a relatively slow start from P2 on the grid which saw his Vindis/Milltek Sport Scirocco swallowed by the pack as the 29 starters approached the tight Deene hairpin; a knock from behind spun him around and out of contention.

There were no errors from Sutton, who made a textbook getaway from the pole in the Pall-Ex and ADD Express-backed Volkswagen. By the end of the opening lap David was 1.5s clear of Fulbrook’s Safe and Sound Golf and looking comfortable as Fulbrook concentrated his efforts on beating off the attentions of Joe McMillan’s Cobra Engineering Scirocco.

McMillan tried his hardest to find a chink in Fulbrook’s armour for several laps, eventually edging ahead of the champion through Chapman Curve on the sixth lap. Fulbrook bided his time before replying, but had the perfect response four laps later when he drew alongside McMillan around the outside of the Tarzan hairpin to seize the inside for Brook, where he made the pass stick.

Fulbrook, his Golf transformed since Oulton Park by attention to the gearbox, whittled away at Sutton’s lead to bring it down from 1.5s to 0.23s at the flag, but felt that he had little realistic hope of passing: “I don’t think I could have caught him; I think he was just messing around with me, as I would if I were that quick. That’s our next problem – we have to try to get on his pace. But I’m pleased to get on the podium for the first time this year; my 11-year-old daughter Abbi hasn’t been well this week and I told her I’d try to bring her home a trophy.”

Sutton, who turned 25 this week, was pleased with his birthday present: “I got a good start and a good first lap, and after that I was able to manage the gap. I knew on the last lap that he wasn’t going to overtake me so I just backed right off and brought it home. Good points for the championship, so I’m pleased.”

“I had a good battle with Joe,” said McMillan, “and I’m pleased with how it went, despite my tyres going off towards the end.”

Aaron Mason made up for a disappointing qualifying with an assertive opening stint to displace the Sciroccos of Jack Walker-Tully and Chris Panayiotou to move up to fourth. On-form championship newcomer Jason Tingle (Maximum Motorsport Scirocco) took fourth away from him for three laps before running wide at Gracelands on the final lap: “I was just able to nip up the inside of him and retake the place,” said Mason.

Tingle took fifth – and a new lap record – ahead of Panayiotou and Orrock, whose recovery drive was impressive. Said Lucas: “I don’t really know what happened on lap one. I got a bump from somewhere and it sent me round, nearly into the wall, and it flat-spotted all four tyres. I got going again and was hoping to get somewhere near the top 10 but actually we had respectable pace and I did better than that. It’s a shame because I think I could have been fighting for at least second place.”

Walker-Tully, suffering from braking issues and deranged tracking after a first-lap brush with another car, was a disappointed eighth, ahead of Team HARD Golf chargers Bobby Thompson, who has yet to finish outside the top 10 this year, and Michael Epps. Phil House was 11th in the PH Motorsport Scirocco.

Philip Morris impressed with his pace on a circuit he finds challenging to claim 12th and the Sportsman’s Trophy – his second class victory of the season – in the KPM Golf, with John Stevens (Team HARD Golf) an excellent 13th on his racing debut. Graham Ewing (SlideSports Golf) and Pete Littler (JWB Scirocco) completed the top 15.

There were 25 finishers, with Darrelle Wilson bringing up the rear after a pit stop for a puncture on his self-built TDI Scirocco. Team HARD men Howard Fuller, Simon Rudd and Damani Marcano were early retirees, Fuller stopping after collecting damage, and they were joined on the sidelines by Mark Clynes (JWB Scirocco) on the penultimate lap.

Provisional results Round 4 Rockingham 2/5/15
13 laps / 26.65 miles
1 David SUTTON / SlideSports Scirocco R 21m 16.415s / 75.16mph
2 Joe FULBROOK / Safe & Sound Golf GTI +0.230s
3 Joe McMILLAN / Cobra Engineering Scirocco R +2.504s
4 Aaron MASON / AWM Scirocco R +8.577s
5 Jason TINGLE / Maximum Motorsport Scirocco R +9.000s
6 Chris PANAYIOTOU / SlideSports Scirocco R +9.440s
7 Lucas ORROCK / KPM Scirocco R +16.563s
8 Jack WALKER-TULLY / Cooke & Mason Scirocco R +18.600s
9 Bobby THOMPSON / Team HARD Golf GTI +19.061s
10 Michael EPPS / Team HARD Golf GTI +19.099s etc
Fastest lap Tingle 1m 36.045s / 76.83mph Record
Sportsman’s Trophy Phil MORRIS / KPM Golf GTI

Full results

Provisional championship standings
1 Sutton 178 points; 2 Mason 150; 3= McMillan & Fulbrook 140; 5 Orrock 132; 6= Howard Fuller (Team HARD Golf) & Walker-Tully 118 etc