Category: News items

NEWS RELEASE 19 AUGUST 2015

The Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup will welcome a newcomer to the grid at Snetterton this weekend in the form of experienced sports car racer Andrew Duncan. The Maidenhead-based driver will campaign a self-prepared Scirocco and says he hopes to gain knowledge of the car and make steady progress on his championship and Snetterton 300 race debut.

“I had hoped to be out earlier in the season but moving house and some other racing commitments got in the way,” said Andrew. “I was able to test at Snetterton about a month ago, which was my first time on the track, and it went well. The plan is, because I don’t really know the car yet, to stay out of trouble and to settle into it and make some progress.”

Duncan’s ex-George White Scirocco will run alongside the Safe and Sound team cars of Joe Fulbrook and Simon Andrews at Snetterton. Andrew started competing in the late 1990s in a Ferrari 348 and has raced Porsches at club level with success since 2005.

Meanwhile, Irish rally star Robert Barrable will switch teams for the Norfolk rounds, driving one of Team HARD’s Golf GTIs after parting company with THM Racing. “It was an amicable split,” said the Dubliner. “I am looking forward to racing with Team HARD although there will be a lot of things new for me – new team, new car, new track. Their Golf is left-hand-drive too, so that will be a factor, although I am used to competing in rallies in a left-hooker.

“I have tested with Team HARD and it went well, so I am hoping for a good result this weekend.” Barrable hopes also to compete with the team next month at Donington Park, the circuit at which he won last year with THM Racing.

NEWS RELEASE 13 AUGUST 2015

An endurance test lies ahead of the Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup competitors and their cars next weekend (22/23 August) at Snetterton, with two extended races to enliven the already heated action as the championship nears its conclusion.

Both Snetterton races will be of 30-minute duration, 50 per cent longer than the norm, which could prove crucial for drivers who are kinder to their tyres and those running less success ballast. Four drivers will go into qualifying and the first race carrying the maximum success ballast of 60kg following recent good results – Lucas Orrock, Michael Epps, Phil House and Aaron Mason.

House, a winner at Snetterton for PH Motorsport in 2013 and a podium finisher last time out, says careful preparation will be needed to make the permitted allocation of six new Hankook racing slicks lasts through qualifying and the longer races. “We are going to have to think carefully about how many laps to do in qualifying and how hard to go in the first few laps of the races to make sure not to cook the tyres too early,” says Phil. “It will also mean some set-up changes to make the tyres last a bit longer. It’s not going to be a case of backing off – you never really back off – but we will have to be a bit more calculating with our approach.”

The SlideSports Scirocco of championship leader David Sutton will be ballast-free going into the Snetterton meeting following a recent downtown in form. The Rotherham racer has led the championship all season, racking up four wins from the first eight races. His closest points rival, Doncaster driver Mason, regained his form last time out, at Brands Hatch, where he and his AWM Scirocco picked up their first win of 2015. Another gaining ground as the season approaches its climax is Cambridgeshire-based Orrock, whose Vindis-backed KPM Scirocco has finished on the podium at every meeting bar one this season.

Reigning champion Joe Fulbrook endured a Brands Hatch meeting to forget, suffering one of the biggest crashes of his 11-season VW Cup career. “It was a bit of a smash-up and it properly destroyed the car,” said Joe, whose Golf GTI left the track at Stirlings and rolled. “I was all right – it was only later that it started hurting a bit! It was a shame because we were going really well, and it wouldn’t have happened but for some incidents in the first race I got involved in, which put me ninth on the grid for race two and right in the thick of things. I’d been fast through that corner all weekend and it seems that I caught the car in front more quickly than I expected and I lifted off the throttle right at the moment I put a back wheel on the dirt. Within two-tenths of a second I was back fully on the throttle and heading straight for the barriers… It was the culmination of a catalogue of misfortunes and the punishment didn’t fit the crime.”

The Safe & Sound team technicians have been working overtime to ready Joe’s Golf GTI for a return at Snetterton, where he won in 2014. “The boys have been working monumentally hard on the car and it should be straight for Snetterton; hopefully we will be somewhere near the front. We had good pace at Brands and I want to get back out there because Snetterton has been a good circuit for me in the past.” Fulbrook does indeed have strong form at the Norfolk track, having won twice there in 2008, and twice since, including last year’s win.

The other race winners so far in 2015 are Team HARD’s Epps, who added the crash-shortened Brands Hatch finale to his tally earlier this month, Cooke and Mason Scirocco pilot Jack Walker-Tully and Wisbech-based Joe McMillan in the Cobra Engineering Scirocco.

There will be plenty of further contenders for victory on the grid in Norfolk, not least Team HARD’s podium finishers Howard Fuller and Bobby Thompson. It’s hoped that all the runners whose cars were damaged in the Round 12 startline shunt – including Laura Tillett (SlideSports), Damani Marcano (Team HARD) and Simon Tomlinson (AWM) will be back in action. In addition to rebuilding Fulbrook’s Golf, the Safe and Sound squad have been battling to restore Simon Andrews’ machine to full health after it was bashed at Brands.

Following the Snetterton double-header just two races remain on the calendar to decide the outcome of the Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup championship title, at Donington Park in mid-September.

Snetterton timetable
Saturday 22 August : 1710 qualifying
Sunday 23 August : 0950 Round 13, 1415 Round 14, live on Motors TV

NEWS RELEASE 2 AUGUST 2015

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A startline shunt and a race-halting accident which befell reigning champion Joe Fulbrook put a damper on the live-televised 12th round of the Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup at Brands Hatch this afternoon, with the results declared after just three racing laps and Team HARD driver Michael Epps credited with the win.

The first drama came moments after the start lights flashed, as four cars towards the rear of the grid tangled and made contact with each other and the trackside barriers. Nobody was hurt in the incident but the stricken SlideSports Golf of Laura Tillett came to a halt in the middle of the track and the race had to be stopped while it was recovered. Three others failed to make the restart with damage: the Golfs of Simon Tomlinson and Damani Marcano and Paul Dehadray’s Scirocco.

At the restart it was Howard Fuller at the sharp end of things after a great start from P2 to outgun pole-sitter Epps into Paddock Hill Bend, with Tom Onslow-Cole’s Milltek Sport Scirocco in third and close behind the Team HARD men, and Tom’s KPM team-mate Lucas Orrock next up.

Epps snatched the lead away from Fuller on the second lap with a brave move around the outside through Hawthorns. Onslow-Cole passed Fuller later that lap at Stirlings, the move resulting in a touch and a spin down the order for Howard. Onslow-Cole said: “He half defended, so he was kind of in the middle of the track, so I took the opportunity but he came in for the apex of the corner and we made very light contact. It was a shame but one of those things.”

Fuller’s view: “I was turning left for the corner and was put in the gravel. You can see the damage to my car – it’s on the rear bumper. If it was on the door I might have said it was a racing incident…”

The scene was set for a great duel to the finish between Epps, Onslow-Cole and Orrock but a nasty crash for Fulbrook brought out the red flags once again. Joe, running eighth in the Safe and Sound Golf, hooked a wheel on the grass through Stirlings, spun wildly across the track and collected the barriers with force, his car flipping over in the aftermath of the impact. He was shaken but unhurt in the incident.

The results were taken back a lap to the third, with Epps declared the winner from Onslow-Cole and Orrock. Said Michael: “It was a short race but full of incident and I really enjoyed it. It was just a shame we couldn’t have had more time on track.”

Orrock agreed: “There was a lot going on, the restarted race was going to be shorter and I think everyone was trying to get everything done in the first couple of laps. It was a case of trying to survive and get as good a result as I could.”

Phil House claimed fourth in his Scirocco ahead of Aaron Mason, who lost ground on the opening lap, and David Sutton, whose SlideSports Scirocco was stripped of some weight for the second race and was much more rapid. “We had an overheating problem though,” said the championship leader, “and the red flag worked in our favour because I was starting to go backwards.” The top 10 was completed by Joe McMillan, Bobby Thompson, Jack Walker-Tully and Simon Rudd.

Provisional results Round 12 Brands Hatch GP 2/8/15
3 laps / 7.30 miles
1 Michael EPPS / Team HARD Golf GTI 5m 11.549s / 84.35mph
2 Tom ONSLOW-COLE / Milltek-KPM Scirocco +0.576s
3 Lucas ORROCK / KPM Scirocco R +1.185s
4 Phil HOUSE / PH Motorsport Scirocco +2.274s
5 Aaron MASON / AWM Scirocco R +2.292s
6 David SUTTON / SlideSports Scirocco R +2.842s
7 Joe McMILLAN / Cobra Engineering Scirocco R +3.596s
8 Bobby THOMPSON / Team HARD Golf GTI +4.553s
9 Jack WALKER-TULLY / Cooke & Mason Scirocco R +5.884s
10 Simon RUDD / Team HARD Golf GTI +6.282s etc
Fastest lap Onslow-Cole 1m 39.684s / 87.87mph
Sportsman’s Trophy Mark CLYNES / JWB Motorsport Scirocco R

Full results

Provisional championship standings
1 Sutton 448 points; 2 Mason 434; 3 Orrock 416; 4 Walker-Tully 378; 5 Joe Fulbrook 370; 6 Howard Fuller 330; 7 House 320; 8 Epps 318; 9 McMillan 296; 10 Thompson 244 etc

NEWS RELEASE 2 AUGUST 2015

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The 2013 champion, Aaron Mason, ended his Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup victory drought in fine style at Brands Hatch this morning, seizing control of the championship’s 11th round on the opening lap and holding on to record a narrow victory over Phil House. It was Mason’s first win since Donington Park more than 10 months ago, and sees him narrow the points gap between himself and season-long championship leader David Sutton.

Sutton endured a miserable race, contact early on dropping him down the order and an eventual 13th place finish, his worst result of the year.

AWM Scirocco driver Mason’s win – the 21st of his VW Cup career – was the result of a useful technical improvement made pre-event, some excellent driving and a bit of bad luck for House, who made a storming start from second on the grid to overhaul wheelspinning pole man Tom Onslow-Cole and lead into Paddock Hill Bend. Mason took advantage of Onslow-Cole’s tardy getaway also to slot into second and then passed House for P1 up Hawthorn Hill as Phil struggled with his gearstick.

“I got an absolutely brilliant start,” said Phil, “but then the gearknob just came off in my hand on the run up to Hawthorn. I managed to get it back on but it just gave Aaron a run on me and that was that. So frustrating.” It was bitter blow for House, who only recently managed to overcome a troublesome overheating problem with his PH Motorsport Scirocco which has blighted his results for 18 months.

By the end of the opening lap Mason led House by nine-tenths of a second. Phil managed to narrow the gap to 0.2s by the end of the sixth, but his hopes of regaining the lead were then dashed by a lengthy safety car period. The race was restarted after 10 laps and with a lap to run, but a defensive drive from Mason ensured he stayed ahead by a 0.6s margin.

Mason explained that his win was down to some pre-race technical checking: “We went to the rolling road on the way down to Brands Hatch and found that we were 10 horsepower down. It was a simple problem that caused it, easily fixed and it’s made all the difference. I got a brilliant start and then I saw Phil had a problem, so I took advantage. He got it sorted before the end because he came on strong again. We needed that safety car because I’m not sure we’d have made it otherwise.”

Visiting touring car star Onslow-Cole dominated qualifying in the Milltek Sport KPM Racing Scirocco but was left to rue the poor start which left him unable to secure better than third: “When you put it on pole in qualifying by a healthy margin it’s always a shame to drop back from that, but a podium finish is always good. My race went down the pan as I sat there wheelspinning on the line; it was terrible, but that’s part of jumping in a car for the weekend – you don’t get the chance to get all these things right.”

The safety car period – caused by a clash between the Golfs of Graham Ewing and Simon Andrews at Surtees on the sixth lap, which left Andrews’ car needing recovery to safety – put paid to Lucas Orrock’s hopes of a podium finish. After losing a couple of places on the opening lap, his Vindis-backed KPM Scirocco gained positions quickly and he passed Howard Fuller’s Team HARD Golf for fourth on lap five. Said Lucas: “I held back in the opening corners in the expectation there would be an incident, but it was a poor call because nothing happened. After that I had good pace and made up some places, but the safety car spoiled things – everyone drove fully defensively on the final lap, as you’d expect, and there were no opportunities.”

Orrock took fourth at the line, a second ahead of Howard Fuller, with Spa double winner Michael Epps battling through from 11th on the grid, his lowly start slot the result of a steering failure on his Team HARD Golf, to claim sixth at the line, and with it pole position for the second Brands race.

Robert Barrable placed seventh in the THM Racing, the Irish rally driver surviving a fourth-lap clash with Sutton, which cost David eight places and which also delayed Joe Fulbrook. Joe McMillan’s Cobra Engineering Scirocco set fastest lap on its way to eighth, ahead of Fulbrook’s Golf, which was further in the wars at the final corner with a collision involving the Team HARD Golf of BTCC racer Aiden Moffat, whose race ended just short of the line. Sam Edwards completed the top 10, just ahead of his Team HARD running mate Bobby Thompson, who dropped almost to last on the opening lap after boiling his clutch on the grid.

Simon Rudd took a home-track 12th-place finish ahead of Sutton, Pete Littler’s JWB Scirocco and Tim Snaylam, whose 15th position earned him the Sportsman’s Trophy. “I had a excellent race,” said Tim, “but I’d like to finish a bit higher up; I can beat the gentlemen OK, it’s just the rest of them I struggle against.” The finishing order was completed by Matthew Wilson, Simon Tomlinson, Laura Tillett, Paul Dehadray, Mark Clynes and Damani Marcano.

Jack Walker-Tully was another to suffer damage, his Cooke and Mason Scirocco retiring after a lap following contact in the pack. Darelle Wilson suffered a misfire and championship newcomer Dan Clark a blown engine.

Provisional results Round 11 Brands Hatch GP 2/8/15
11 laps / 26.76 miles
1 Aaron MASON / AWM Scirocco R 21m 07.988s / 75.99mph
2 Phil HOUSE / PH Motorsport Scirocco +0.650s
3 Tom ONSLOW-COLE / Milltek-KPM Scirocco +0.979s
4 Lucas ORROCK / KPM Scirocco R +1.139s
5 Howard FULLER / Team HARD Golf GTI +2.240s
6 Michael EPPS / Team HARD Golf GTI +2.349s
7 Robert BARRABLE / THM Racing Golf GTI +2.739s
8 Joe McMILLAN / Cobra Engineering Scirocco R +2.798s
9 Joe FULBROOK / Safe & Sound Golf GTI +5.607s
10 Sam EDWARDS / Team HARD Golf GTI +5.913s etc
Fastest lap McMillan 1m 39.728s / 87.83mph
Sportsman’s Trophy Tim SNAYLAM / AWM Scirocco R

Full results

Provisional championship standings
1 David Sutton 416 points; 2 Mason 400; 3 Orrock 378; 4 Fulbrook 370; 5 Jack Walker-Tully 352; 6 Fuller 320; 7 House 284; 8 Epps 274; 9 McMillan 266; 10 Bobby Thompson 216 etc

NEWS RELEASE 1 AUGUST 2015

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Tom Onslow-Cole led the way at Brands Hatch this evening in official qualifying ahead of tomorrow’s rounds of the Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup. The touring car star’s Milltek Sport/KPM Scirocco lapped the Grand Prix circuit in a time of 1m 38.994s, beating his closest rival, Phil House, to the pole by a seven-tenths margin.

The 2013 champion, Aaron Mason will line up third on the grid for tomorrow’s Brands opener, with Bobby Thompson, Lucas Orrock and Howard Fuller completing the top six. Spa double winner Michael Epps was in the wars, suffering a steering failure and spinning his Team HARD Golf into the Graham Hill Bend gravel trap. Epps recorded 11th best time before his mishap, marginally quicker than his Team HARD running mate for the weekend, BTCC driver Aiden Moffat in 12th.

Less than a second covered the top five, with the top 15 runners (of 28) within two seconds of the pole time.

The first of tomorrow’s VW Cup races at Brands Hatch is scheduled for 1155 and the second – screened live on Motors TV – is due off at 1730.

Provisional qualifying times Brands Hatch GP 1 August 2015
1 Tom ONSLOW-COLE KPM Scirocco 1:38.994
2 Phil HOUSE PH Motorsport Scirocco 1:39.714
3 Aaron MASON AWM Golf 1:39.762
4 Bobby THOMPSON Team HARD Golf 1:39.877
5 Lucas ORROCK KPM Scirocco 1:39.917
6 Howard FULLER Team Hard Golf 1:40.050
7 Joe FULBROOK Safe & Sound Golf 1:40.094
8 David SUTTON SlideSports Scirocco 1:40.109
9 Robert BARRABLE THM Racing Golf 1:40.118
10 Joe McMILLAN Cobra Engineering Scirocco 1:40.292 etc

Full times

NEWS RELEASE 30 JULY 2015

British Touring Car Championship racer Aiden Moffat will make his debut in the Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup this weekend at Brands Hatch. The 18-year-old Scotsman will race a Team HARD Golf GTI to get in some useful track-learning experience ahead of the BTCC’s visit to the Kent circuit in October.

Said Aiden: “When it comes to races on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit I’m always there or thereabouts but I lack experience on the back section of the track. The VW Cup is a championship that we looked at contesting prior to the BTCC coming up, and I’m friends with [Team HARD] boss Tony Gilham and I keep up with the championship through him, so all things considered it was too hard to say no.

“There are a lot of talented drivers in it who know their cars inside out, while I’ve never driven one at all, so I am there to have fun and not expecting great results. But any time I am on track I try to give my best, so I’ll definitely be pushing.”

In 2013, aged just 16, Moffat made history as the youngest driver ever to enter the BTCC. He completed a full season in touring cars in 2014 in a Chevrolet Cruze and is this year piloting a Mercedes A-Class. Aiden first competed aged eight in karts and tacked the Scottish Junior Banger Championship before switching to the Ford Fiesta series in 2013.

Moffat will be joined on the Brands Hatch Volkswagen grid by another BTCC star, Tom Onslow-Cole, who will be at the wheel of a KPM Racing Scirocco. Sunday’s second VW Cup race will be screened live on Motors TV.

NEWS RELEASE 24 JULY 2015

With just six races remaining over which to decide the outcome of the Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup, next weekend’s (1/2 August) Brands Hatch rounds could prove crucial to the title hopes of the five drivers likely to be disputing the crown come season’s end.

Rotherham racer David Sutton has led the championship since his twin Easter wins at Oulton Park at the wheel of his SlideSports Scirocco. Further race victories followed at Rockingham and Silverstone and, even though weight penalties imposed at Spa-Francorchamps a fortnight ago blunted his pace, David achieved top-five placings to maintain his points lead. It was on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit only last year that Sutton scored his maiden race wins in the VW Cup.

Sutton’s SlideSports team-mate, 24-year-old Laura Tillett, will be hoping to provide David with as much back-up as possible, and at the same time scoring a good result at her home track. West Malling-based Laura endured a difficult debut with the SlideSports Golf GTI at Spa, with technical issues preventing her from scoring a worthwhile race finish. Those problems have been traced, she says: “In the races, it was a seized turbo, which we think stemmed from the issues we had in qualifying. We went all that way to Belgium for nothing really, but I couldn’t have been happier with the team and the effort they put in. That’s motorsport: those sort of things happen all the time.

“Hopefully we can put all that behind us at Brands Hatch. I am really confident with the car and with the team, so fingers crossed. It’s my local track – just a bike ride away from my home – and I really like the Grand Prix circuit. It has so many different levels to it, and it’s a really good, fun track to drive. I have raced on it in a single-seater before and it will be good to see how it goes in the Golf. I’m hoping for a top-10 finish, which would be my best result of the year and I’d be over the moon with that.

“I have a whole entourage of people coming; friends and family. Usually I race away from home, and so with this round being so close I have had everyone save the date and come along… probably enough of them to fill a grandstand.” Tillett will arrive at Brands fresh from competing in the CIK-FIA European Championship races at Kristianstad in Sweden, Laura having returned to her karting roots after a two-year lay-off.

She is not the only contender looking for home glory: Rochester’s Simon Rudd and his Golf-driving team-mates from Dartford-based Team HARD will be seeking further success after their strong showings at Spa, where Michael Epps and Howard Fuller crossed the line 1-2 in both races.

The 2013 and 2014 champions, Aaron Mason and Joe Fulbrook, will be hoping for a turnaround in their fortunes and that they can narrow the points gap between themselves and Sutton. Mason, the driver holding the VW Cup race victories record with 20 to his name, is still chasing his first win of 2015 and his AWM Scirocco hasn’t made the podium since Rockingham in early May. Safe and Sound Golf GTI driver Fulbrook claimed one of the Silverstone rounds, joining Scirocco men Joe McMillan and Jack Walker-Tully in the 2015 winners’ circle. A pair of good points finishes at Spa has lifted Walker-Tully to third in the championship, just ahead of Fulbrook.

Championship fifth-place man is KPM Scirocco driver Lucas Orrock. Victory has so far eluded the former kart champion but a return to the podium at both Silverstone and Spa suggests that the Cambridgeshire youngster is not far from achieving his goal. Former champion Phil House and Hornchurch-based Bobby Thompson are the season’s other top-three race finishers, the latter claiming his debut podium last time out.

NEWS RELEASE 11 JULY 2015

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Although Michael Epps repeated his strong Friday Spa form to cross the line first, fighting through from sixth on the grid to take the lead of an exciting race with three laps in hand, he was later excluded from the results for a technical infringement. The sister Team HARD Golf of Howard Fuller this inherited the victory, ahead of Lucas Orrock for KPM and Jack Walker-Tully.

As yesterday it was championship leader David Sutton who made the early running in his SlideSports Scirocco. He made a rocketship getaway from third on the grid to force his way between front-row men Orrock and Walker-Tully (Cooke & Mason Scirocco) and take the lead into La Source hairpin. Sutton dealt a glancing blow to Walker-Tully’s car as he charged past but neither machine was damaged.

Orrock seized second from Walker-Tully on the second tour and soon narrowed Sutton’s advantage. Lucas bided his time and, as they rounded the Bus Stop on the fifth lap, he stole in front. Sutton, his tyres’ effectiveness again blunted by the extra ballast on board his Scirocco, dropped back to sixth thereafter.

Meanwhile, the Team HARD boys were massing to attack. Fuller made it past Walker-Tully for third on lap three and Epps was on his tail in fourth by the next lap. As Sutton slipped down the order, so Epps managed to get an advantage on his team-mate and by the end of the sixth lap (of nine) the order was Orrock, Epps, Fuller with barely a cigarette paper’s width between them.

Orrock defended his lead manfully but had to give best to Epps at La Source on the seventh lap, Michael pulling clear to cross the line in front of his team-mate Fuller. Epps’s exclusion from the results for engine irregularities was confirmed in early October.

Michael Epps: “I thought I would try some old karting techniques around the outside at La Source and it worked out all right on the first lap and I gained a place. After that it was like Team HARD versus the next three and we had to pick them off one by one. It was fairly simple after I figured out where they were weak. Out of Sutton, Fuller and Orrock it was Lucas that was the hardest to pass; I got up alongside him on the straight and he held his line so well, so we went side by side into Les Combes, which was interesting…Then I managed to make a really good move at La Source and that is what made the race. After that I was flat out; I had Fuller right behind me and I reckon one more lap and it could have got messy.”

Howard Fuller: “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time the whole race, always having to defend… I am a bit gutted because Michael was in the perfect spot to take advantage and I wasn’t.”

Lucas Orrock: “I had to make the move on Sutton when I did because I was getting pressure from behind from Howard. I was really late on the brakes through the Bus Stop and just hung on to it and David gave me space; there was a tiny touch but we both made it through. Once I was in the lead I tried to push but eventually the Team HARD guys came up on me. I put up a good fight but they had a better package this weekend. I’m very happy with third, it was about the best I could have done today.”

Bobby Thompson, who slipped to sixth behind Epps on the opening lap, fought through to fourth place at the line but was unable to pass Orrock despite his best last-lap efforts. Alas for Bobby, his Team HARD Golf was found to be underweight in post-race scrutineering and he was excluded from the results. Walker-Tully thus inherited what became third place to bolster his newly gained third place in the championship, with Sutton’s grip-less Scirocco coming home fourth. Sutton maintains his overall championship lead, which now stands at 42 points.

Reigning champion Joe Fulbrook was a philosophical fifth. “I was pushing really hard with zero ballast and the car was really good but I didn’t really get anywhere. I enjoyed the challenge, but it is what it is…”

Simon Rudd (Team HARD) and Aaron Mason (AWM) completed the top seven, with Mason rueing his decision to dramatically soften his suspension settings pre-race. Andy Wilmot claimed another good result for the new Team HARD Passat with eighth, ahead of Pete Littler (JWB) and Sportsman’s Trophy winner Simon Tomlinson (AWM). Said Simon: “It was a good race until I lost my clutch about three laps from the end; it was a bit scary after that.”

Simon Andrews (Safe & Sound Golf) claimed two places on the final lap to take 11th, ahead of Graham Ewing (SlideSports) and Matthew Wilson (KPM). Tim Snaylam recovered from an early clash with Ewing’s car, and a subsequent time-consuming stall, to take 14th ahead of the final finisher, Philip Morris, whose KPM Golf was down on power once again. Laura Tillett’s miserable Spa weekend continued with further mechanical woes taking her out of the running.

Amended results Round 10 Spa-Francorchamps 11/7/15
9 laps / 39.17 miles
1 Howard FULLER / Team HARD Golf GTI 25m 09.400s / 87.21mph
2 Lucas ORROCK / KPM Scirocco R +1.921s
3 Jack WALKER-TULLY / Cooke & Mason Scirocco R +4.070s
4 David SUTTON / SlideSports Scirocco R +7.538s
5 Joe FULBROOK / Safe & Sound Golf GTI +8.668s
6 Simon RUDD / Team HARD Golf GTI +14.253s
7 Aaron MASON / AWM Scirocco R +14.909s
8 Andy WILMOT / Team HARD Passat +33.563s
9 Peter LITTLER / JWB Scirocco +48.006s
10 Simon TOMLINSON / AWM Golf GTI +48.947s etc
Fastest lap Fuller 2m 45.358s / 94.75mph Rec
Sportsman’s Trophy Simon TOMLINSON / Golf GTI

Full results

Provisional championship standings
1 Sutton 398 points; 2 Mason 356; 3 Walker-Tully 352; 4 Fulbrook 344; 5 Orrock 342; 6 Fuller 286; 7 Phil House 244; 8 Epps 242; 9 Joe McMillan 236; 10 Bobby Thompson 194 etc

NEWS RELEASE 10 JULY 2015

The Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup welcomed a new car to the grid at Spa, Team HARD’s Passat CC, which was piloted on its debut by British Touring Car Championship driver Andy Wilmot. Wilmot qualified the Passat seventh and raced to ninth on Friday.

Wilmot declared himself pleased with the car, the first Passat ever seen in the VW Cup: “I like it. It’s very much a car in development at the moment. We need to work on it so that it is set up like a touring car – at the moment it is set up very similar to a Golf or a Scirocco and it’s not really working. We need to give it a lot more rear wing and rear stability. Through the fast stuff we are getting snap oversteer, and it’s not the best feeling. You have to drive the car very smoothly, you can’t throw it around, but overall although I am not where I want to be we are still in the top 10 with a development car. Definitely a promising start.”

Team HARD boss Tony Gilham added: “The touring car Passat CC was my brainchild a few years ago when we introduced it to the BTCC, so it made sense to get one alive and kicking in the Volkswagen Racing Cup, and for us it’s a realisation of something we always wanted to do.

“It was great out of the box and here we are, first time on Hankook slicks, and we are in the top seven in qualifying. Andy is a very experienced driver and he’s given us some good feedback on what is really our first proper test. The results achieved are a testament to how good the Passat really is. Really it is pretty much identical underneath to a Golf: the only differences are the front and rear subframes and the steering rack.

“We want to run it as a guest car for the rest of the season and bring some big names to drive it; I’d love to have a go in it myself. Maybe I’ll be out in it at one of the rounds later this year, who knows?”

NEWS RELEASE 10 JULY 2015

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Michael Epps led home a Team HARD 1-2-3 at Spa-Francorchamps this afternoon, the 23-year-old former single-seater racer claiming a stylish maiden win in the Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup ahead of his Golf GTI-driving running mates Howard Fuller and Bobby Thompson.

Epps crossed the Belgian Grand Prix circuit’s finishing line 3.8 seconds clear of Fuller, Michael overcoming an early challenge from the SlideSports Scirocco of championship leader David Sutton.

Starting from the pole on a circuit he had never before visited, Epps controlled the start perfectly to lead the opening lap as Sutton slotted past Fuller from third on the grid to lead his pursuers.

David knew his best chance of adding a fifth win to his season’s tally was to attack early, and he seized the lead from Epps on lap two. Sutton held on in front of a patient Epps for three laps, but then the 100kg of additional ballast imposed on his car since its May Silverstone victory took an inevitable toll: “The tyres and the brakes were gone,” said David. “We might have got away with it had it been cooler today, but it was just too hot out there.”

After losing the lead to Epps through Les Combes on the fourth lap, within two laps Sutton had slipped to fourth behind Fuller and Thompson. Howard and Bobby enjoyed a great battle to decide the podium order, with Fuller hanging on to second spot by a half-second margin.

Winner Michael Epps: “I dropped the clutch a bit quick at the start and was worried that I might get too much wheelspin and lose out at the hairpin. That didn’t happen but Sutton was on me through Eau Rouge; I didn’t let him past the first lap but the second lap he managed it. I was able to keep relatively good pace with him and I managed to get him back when it mattered. Howard and Bobby have done a great job in locking out the podium for Team HARD.”

Second, Howard Fuller: “Sutton’s Scirocco had a better package at the start of the race, and we expected him to be aggressive. He and Michael were battling and pulling me along, and then I had Bobby right on me towards the end. It was a good race and I really enjoyed it.”

Maiden podium visitor Bobby Thompson, third: “I needed this result, for my sponsors, for myself and for the team, just to prove that I can do it. I’ve impressed myself, really! I did a race here a few years ago, when I was about 14 – a 24-hour race in a Smart car, so it was a bit different to this…”

Sutton held on for fourth, lucky not to fall into the clutches of Jack Walker-Tully’s Cooke and Mason Scirocco in the closing stages. Jack took fifth away from 2014 Spa victor Lucas Orrock on the sixth of the nine laps. The 2013 champion Aaron Mason enjoyed a race-long battle with reigning title holder Joe Fulbrook, Aaron making the decisive move to secure seventh place on the penultimate lap.

Touring car racer Andy Wilmot gave Team HARD’s development Passat an encouraging championship debut, placing ninth, with Simon Rudd close behind to make it five Team HARD cars in the top 10.

Sportsman’s Trophy honours were disputed by SlideSports Golf man Graham Ewing and AWM Scirocco pilot Tim Snaylam, with numerous changes of position between them until Snaylam exerted his superiority on the fifth lap to take 11th place and the trophy. “It was a brilliant battle the whole race,” said Tim. “Nice and clean and really enjoyable… I had forgotten completely there was a trophy at stake.” Sixteen-year-old Damani Marcano scored his best of the year on his Spa debut with 13th, ahead of Simon Andrews (Safe & Sound Golf) and Simon Tomlinson (AWM Golf).

Laura Tillett, who started from the back after missing qualifying through engine issues in her new SlideSports Golf, ran well in the early stages to move up to 13th before the gremlins returned on the final lap. She slipped to 18th at the line, finishing behind the cars of Matthew Wilson and Pete Littler, with a down-on-power Phil Morris 19th and the final finisher after Paul Dehadray failed to make the start with engine problems.

Provisional results Round 9 Spa-Francorchamps 10/7/15
9 laps / 39.17 miles
1 Michael EPPS / Team HARD Golf GTI 24m 51.139s / 94.56mph
2 Howard FULLER / Team HARD Golf GTI +3.783s
3 Bobby THOMPSON / Team HARD Golf GTI +4.215s
4 David SUTTON / SlideSports Scirocco R +9.802s
5 Jack WALKER-TULLY / Cooke & Mason Scirocco R +10.809s
6 Lucas ORROCK / KPM Scirocco R +11.559s
7 Aaron MASON / AWM Scirocco R +20.328s
8 Joe FULBROOK / Safe & Sound Golf GTI +20.726s
9 Andy WILMOT / Team HARD Passat +27.609s
10 Simon RUDD / Team HARD Golf GTI +30.658s etc
Fastest lap Thompson 2m 45.886s / 94.45mph Rec
Sportsman’s Trophy Tim SNAYLAM / AWM Scirocco

Full results

Provisional championship standings
1 Sutton 364 points; 2 Mason 328; 3 Walker-Tully 316; 4 Fulbrook 312; 5 Orrock 304; 6 Fuller 246; 7 Phil House 244; 8 Joe McMillan 236; 9 Epps 196; 10 Thompson 194 etc