NEWS RELEASE: 25 SEPTEMBER 2011

MASON & WALKER JNR GRAB THE DONINGTON RACE WINS

The Volkswagen Racing Cup with FUCHS Lubricants is set to go down to the wire at Silverstone in two weeks after the unpredictable British weather played an integral role in rounds 11 and 12 of the championship today on the Donington Park Grand Prix circuit. There was action aplenty throughout the field – at 24 cars the largest of the season – as the drivers contended with treacherous track conditions.

The 2008 and ’09 champion, Joe Fulbrook, got the best of things in Saturday’s dry qualifying session at the wheel of his Warranty Direct Racing Bora Turbo, but it was Golf men Aaron Mason and James Walker who claimed the victory laurels, denying championship leader Steve Chaplin the opportunity to settle the title fight two weeks early.

Chaplin and his ‘Herbie’-liveried Beetle RSI head for the Silverstone showdown with a 32-point lead and with three rivals in with a chance of denying him.

Round 11
The rain arrived at Donington 30 minutes before the race, giving the drivers the daunting task of choosing which tyres to use; most opted to use full wet Hankooks.

AWM Motor Sport man Aaron Mason made a brilliant start off the line from fourth on the grid and set about his rivals to exit the first corner, Redgate, on top, taking advantage of polesitter Fulbrook running wide. As Mason took command there was plenty of action behind, providing spectators with some thrilling bumper-to-bumper action.

Fulbrook recovered from his first-corner error to pass Chaplin at the Goddards hairpin to end the first lap in second; Chaplin seemed to be struggling with the wet conditions with the Beetle.

KPM Racing’s James Walker, determined to show off his wet-weather skills on his home circuit, ended the opening lap in fourth, with his father, Richard, hot on his tail as the pair looked to use the track conditions to their advantage.

On lap three, a charging Walker Jnr was able to make the perfect move on Chaplin into Redgate and, if that was not enough, the two-time race winner then took second off Fulbrook’s hands, followed through by Walker Snr.

Fulbrook, who played his points-doubling Joker card prior to the round 11 action, still had that determined look about him as he attempted to take the fight back to the Walker pairing, but an error at Starkeys ended his hopes of challenging for second, leaving the Maidenhead-based driver with a fourth place finish, behind Mason, Walker Jnr and Walker Snr. Chaplin finished fifth to claim a respectable points haul, ahead of his Gloucestershire compatriot Steve Wood.

A notable performance came from another of KPM Racing’s Nottinghamshire drivers, Mark Howard, who brought home his Golf GTI seventh, achieving his best result of the year to date. Championship debutant Chris Levett, a seasoned truck racer but new to saloon racing, placed eighth ahead of Richard Morgan and Tim Snaylam.

Craig Milner had an entertaining introduction to the series, the Matlock driver, who has raced in the Ferrari Open series this year, able to recover from several spins to bring home the SEAT Leon 15th.

“I made a great start and it was nice to enter Redgate and exit the corner in first,” said Mason. “We had a very good set up on the car for the wet and I managed to pull a good lead in the first lap, which left the four cars behind me battling and I was able to build on that as the race went on and the tyres came in. The Golf felt brilliant and it’s a credit to the team.”

“I got a terrible start and ended up back in the midfield,” said James Walker. “I anticipated that everyone would slow into Redgate on the inside which enabled me to go round the outside and make up a few places. I struggled to get past Steve and Joe, and by that time Aaron was four or five seconds up the road and I just couldn’t close the gap.”

“We seemed to go well in the wet today,” said Richard Walker. “The car performed very well and with our experience we did well, I’m happy to be on the podium again.”

Round 12
James Walker claimed his third victory of the season in another wet race to end a successful weekend of racing for the Nottingham driver in his Golf GTI, and for the KPM team.

It was all action into the first corner: pole man Wood made a good start off the line in his Golf GTI but soon came under intense pressure from Walker Snr and Jnr, after close racing between Fulbrook and Chaplin allowed the family duo to go ahead into second and third respectively, with Wood soon losing his position to the pair of racers from Nottingham.

Chaplin recovered to take third, followed through by Fulbrook and Mason, as Wood’s first lap went from bad to worse.

AWM’s round 11 winner Mason soon set about Fulbrook and, as the pair went through Coppice for the second time, the Doncaster driver, now in his third year of Volkswagen racing, was able to make his move stick after an impressive start from sixth on the grid.

As the Walkers edged away from the chasing pack, there were further changes to the order behind, with Chaplin struggling to maintain his pace in the wet, allowing Mason and Fulbrook through into third and fourth respectively.

Fulbrook was by no means ready to let things lie after losing out to Mason on the second lap, the Bora man piling the pressure on Mason as he attempted to win back the position lost. It was to no avail, however; Mason continued to shine in the wet and secured his second podium finish of the weekend with third place behind the Walkers.

As the race progressed the battle between the Walker clan intensified, Junior eventually pushing Senior to his limits and causing the experienced racer to make a slight error exiting Redgate on lap seven. Despite a fight-back from dad, James seemed well at home in the tricky conditions and was able to lead his father to the line.

Chaplin led home Fulbrook for fourth and, continuing his impressive debut weekend, Levett improved on his round 11 performance to bring home his Golf a respectable sixth, in front of Wood.

Howard was unfortunate not to match his round 11 result but was pleased to have bought his Golf home eighth after a productive weekend. His KPM team-mate Peter Lettinga placed ninth and Morgan rounded out the top ten.

Other notable performances came from SlideSport’s 17-year-old charger, Zoe Wenham. She started 23rd and was able to work her way up through the field to finish 14th, despite a brief moment on lap six at the Old Hairpin. Caddy Van racer Simon Elliott also put in a fine showing after suffering a non-finish in round 11. The Northamptonshire man came through the field to finish 15th.

“To win today on my home track, that I have been coming to since I was a child, is brilliant,” said James Walker. “I got another poor start off the line and I had the inside line thinking that I was completely blocked. Luckily for me Joe and Steve went to the outside of the corner and that allowed me to get down the inside into second. From that point we managed to edge away and gain a bit of a gap and I was able to get my dad on the exit of Redgate. It’s been a fabulous weekend and to share it with my old man is brilliant.”

“I had a fantastic start for a change,” said Richard Walker. “I managed to get into the lead at Redgate and I was away. I used the tyres up fairly hard in the opening stages of the race, which meant that James was always behind me from then on. Unfortunately I made a mistake at Redgate and James was there to capitalize on that. I’m very happy to take second.”

“My start out of the blocks was pretty good,” said Mason. “I got boxed on the outside at Redgate and couldn’t get back to the inside so I lost quite a lot of ground; it took me a few laps to get over that. I had a battle with Joe for four or five laps and by the time I had got into third, the lead pair had too much of a gap.”

Post-race scrutineering
Technical checks after the Donington events found irregularities in the engine map of Richard Walker's Golf GTI, which was excluded from the results of both races.