NEWS RELEASE: 3 OCTOBER 2011

FOUR VIE FOR VOLKSWAGEN RACING CUP TITLE

Steve Chaplin stands on the brink of a second successive Volkswagen Racing Cup title as the FUCHS Lubricants-backed championship heads to the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit for a thrilling conclusion to the season this Sunday.

The 46-year-old from Gloucestershire arrives with a 32-point advantage after a spectacularly successful season with the Complete Utilities-run ‘Herbie’ Beetle which has netted him four race wins and four additional podium finishes. A finish anywhere in the top seven in the first of the weekend’s races will ensure he retains the crown.

However, there are still three men who could yet deprive Chaplin of the title – Joe Fulbrook, the 2008 and ’09 title winner; James Walker and Aaron Mason.

Fulbrook’s mathematical chance is the slimmest of the three: he would have to take pole, win both races, set fastest lap in each and hope that Chaplin could not muster 12 points from the two Silverstone races. Fulbrook was a race victor at Silverstone in both of his championship-winning years.

It’s a similar story for Walker and Mason; Chaplin requires 29 points to deny Walker and 15 to keep the crown from Mason’s clutches. James and Aaron have each won three races this year, including a win apiece last weekend at Donington Park, where Chaplin was playing a cautious game and settled for safe top-five placings.

“I’m sure that Steve is going to have a nervous time in the days before Silverstone,” said championship manager Melissa Wright. “There are never any foregone conclusions in motor racing and we have seen championships lost by the favourite at the final hurdle.”

For many other competitors there’s still all to play for as they seek to confirm places in the top 10.

Seventeen-year-old Zoe Wenham is not only the youngest on the grid but also one of only two females to have competed this season; she is eighth overall and has her eyes set on seventh, which position is currently held by Dutch driver Peter Lettinga. Wenham’s Golf GTI is prepared by SlideSports, and Lettinga’s, like James Walker’s, by KPM.

Others to watch out for next weekend include Golf-driving championship newcomers Thomas Wilson, Mark Howard and Richard Morgan, and one of the championship’s two disabled drivers, Simon Andrews, who has made major progress this year and is aiming for a top 10 finish to his season. Tim Snaylam, who made it to the podium at Zandvoort in the summer, will be looking for a return visit with his Golf.

The crowd-pleasing Caddy and its irrepressible pilot Simon Elliott is always a spectacular prospect, meanwhile, and then there is the new-for-2011 Mk VI Golf GTI, the latest incarnation of the breed, which Auto Express journalist Owen Mildenhall is scheduled to drive. Former bike racer Craig Milner will be at the wheel of a Golf GTI, while ex-champion Paul Taylor is to return after a season’s absence with his four-wheel-drive R32 Golf.

Other returnees this weekend include the Dziurzynski brothers, Alex with his Corrado and Didge with his elderly Mk II Golf, Steve Dorrell and Cameron Thompson with their Beetles, Paul Wyhinny in the promotional SEAT Leon and Mike Kurton with his Scirocco.

Chris Jones, who enjoyed his championship debut at Donington, will be back with the Jetta Sport, and Stewart Lines returns in a Mk V Golf after his first outings at Donington. Cassey Watson, who scored Lunar Racing’s first points with the Mk IV Golf GTI, will be in action also, and there will be a total of five Beetles on the grid with the addition of those of Robin Riley and Andrew Smith.

A grid of 28 cars – another record for the season – is anticipated.