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NEWS RELEASE: 19 JUNE 2011

GRIFFIN CELEBRATES FIRST WIN AS MASON TAKES CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD IN BRANDS HATCH THRILLERS

Rounds five and six of the Volkswagen Racing Cup with FUCHS Lubricants delivered superb action on the world-famous Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit today, with Kieran Griffin and new championship leader Aaron Mason claiming hard-fought wins.

Scirocco driver Griffin capitalised on an excellent start to hold Steve Chaplin’s Beetle at bay and take his first win in three seasons of Cup competition, with Golf GTI man Mason making a superb late-race charge to claim third step on the podium in the day’s first race.

A wet-but-drying track for the second event made tyre choice and performance crucial. Mason secured an emphatic win, leading for 10 of the 11 laps and resisting James Walker’s valiant efforts to snatch victory. Joe Fulbrook, opting for slick tyres front and rear, prospered as the track dried, blasting through to third and setting a fastest lap en route almost two seconds quicker than any of his rivals.

Heading from the Kent track to the season’s half-way point at Zandvoort in the Netherlands, Mason carries an 12-point championship advantage ahead of Steve Wood, with Chaplin – notably yet to play his points-doubling “joker” – just 10 points further adrift in third.

Round 5
The foundation for Kieran Griffin’s maiden Volkswagen Racing Cup victory was laid the moment the lights went out to start round five: a superb get-away from fourth on the grid saw the Addison Lee-backed SlideSports Scirocco R heading the field by the exit of the first bend. Meanwhile pole sitter Chaplin, who went into the race as championship leader, saw his advantage lost, not only to Griffin but also to the Golf GTI of James Walker, which claimed second place from the Complete Utilities Beetle RSI through Stirlings on the first lap.

Behind the leading trio, teenage Golf pilot Zoe Wenham was under intense pressure from Richard Walker for fourth, with Peter Wyhinny powering his (non-points-scoring) Seat Cupra R up four places from his number 10 grid spot. While Wyhinny prospered, Mason found himself trailing in ninth, having qualified his AWM Motor Sport GTI in second. This, however, was the start of an incredible fight back from the Doncaster driver, who set a new lap record on his way to a well-deserved podium finish.

While the leading trio of Griffin, James Walker and Chaplin established a cushion over the chasing field, Mason pulled himself up to fourth by the end of lap four, despatching Richard Walker out of Clearways. Wenham, meanwhile, had slipped out of contention, taking a pit stop on lap two.

Chaplin was far from a beaten man, passing James Walker out of Surtees on lap five and powering to within a second of Griffin. Lining up to take the lead as the two approached the Druids hairpin on lap 11, his manoeuvre was thwarted by a caution flag for the stranded Golf of Mark Howard. At the chequered flag Griffin was a second and a half clear of Chaplin, with Mason close on the Beetle man’s tail in third. James Walker fended off a late charge from Fulbrook’s Bora in fourth, with Richard Walker sixth, Steve Wood seventh and Wyhinny having the best of a near-race-long duel with Thomas Wilson’s Golf GTI to take eighth. Dutch racer Peter Lettinga rounded on the top 10.

Sadly the debut for the new Mk VI Golf GTI was short, Nick Beaumont retiring from the race after a melee at the exit of Paddock Hill Bend on lap one that also sidelined the Mk V GTI of Tim Snaylam.

“It was a great race, and a great feeling to have secured my first win in the championship,” said a delighted Griffin. “The start was key, after that it was a matter of keeping it steady and balanced. I’m sure there is still a lot more to come from the car.”

Round 6
The reverse top-six grid put Richard Walker on pole alongside a charged-up Mason. Walker held on – just – in a lurid first lap that revealed just how little grip the track had to offer, ahead of Mason and a fast-starting Wood, who made up four places to hold third from James Walker and Round 5 winner Griffin. One lap later, Mason had the lead with Richard Walker retiring from the fray, leaving Wood and James Walker second and third. Behind these frontrunners there was a furious battle, led initially by Wenham. The Tewkesbury driver brought her SlideSports Golf up from 15th on the grid to fourth by the end of lap three, only to fall back as a dry line developed, leaving Griffin, Wyhinny, Fulbrook and Chaplin fighting bumper-to-bumper to head the chasing pack.

Chaplin made a decisive move on Wyhinny on lap seven to run fourth, while Griffin’s race ended in the gravel at Druids one lap later. It was Fulbrook, though, who held the trump card, his slick tyres coming into their own the longer the race ran. Quicker than the field by at least two seconds a lap, he wrested third place from Chaplin two tours from the flag. At the front, James Walker brought his car within six tenths of a second of Mason, but the Doncaster driver was not to be denied, finishing almost a second to the good. Wyhinny held on to fifth from Wood, Lettinga, Wenham and Howard, with Simon Elliott bringing home the New Caddy Racer in an excellent 10th spot.

“My tyres were suffering towards the end and really didn’t think I could hold on, but obviously James was in a worse situation than I was. One lap longer, it might have been different,” said Mason. A philosophical Walker added: “I knew I couldn’t have pushed any harder, I would have ended up going off. Much better to come home second in the circumstances than not to finish at all.”

In addition to title backer FUCHS Lubricants, the Volkswagen Racing Cup is supported by Hankook Tyres, Paragon, Milltek Sport, Superchips, Ceva Logistics and ECM Vehicle Delivery.