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Pictured: Martin Depper. Click to open hi-resolution version

NEWS RELEASE: 11 AUGUST 2013

WIN FOR DEPPER AS MASON CLOSES ON TITLE

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A breathtaking photo-finish second race at Brands Hatch brought a deserved victory for KPM's Martin Depper, with Aaron Mason bagging another second-place finish to all but seal his bid for the championship title.

Mason now enjoys a 64-point lead over his closest rival and to guarantee the crown he needs only a top-seven finish in one of the two Donington Park races which will conclude the championship in October.

Sixth place in race one handed Depper pole position on the semi-reversed grid for race two, and the Birmingham driver did not waste the opportunity, haring into the lead at Paddock Hill Bend ahead of Henry Gilbert, with whom he shared the front row, Chris Panayiotou and Aaron Mason, who made a swift getaway from P5.

Just as determined as he had been in race one, Mason was soon on the move, diving inside Panayiotou at Surtees for third. His hopes of progressing further took a knock into Paddock next time around however; he ran wide and put two wheels off the track and Panayiotou was able to repass.

Up front, Depper was meanwhile pulling a gap on Gilbert which, at its sixth-lap zenith, amounted to 1.6 seconds. Alas for Henry, his already unbalanced Golf then dropped a wheel in the dirt at Dingle Dell and he ran well off track, rejoining fifth with a broken differential.

Gilbert’s drama was not good news for the leader, either, for it promoted Mason (who had regained third from Panayiotou on lap three) to second and the AWM man was intent on narrowing Depper’s advantage. Towing Stewart Lines and Panayiotou in his wake, Mason entered the final lap right on the KPM driver’s tail. An error in the last couple of corners could have handed victory to any of his pursuers, but none came and Martin’s Scirocco crossed the line a nose ahead of Mason, with Lines third ahead of Panayiotou. Less than a second covered all four.

Said Depper: “The boys pushed me really hard at the end there. I made a break early on but they managed to catch me up and by that time my rear left tyre had gone off a bit, so I was relieved to see the chequered flag.”

“I thought I might just be able to pip Martin at the end there but it wasn’t to be,” said Mason. “This weekend has taken a lot of pressure off me for the championship, so I’m really pleased with my results and looking forward to going on to Donington Park and hopefully wrapping things up there.”

Gilbert did well to bring his hobbled Golf home fifth, well clear of race one victor Nick Beaumont, whose efforts were hampered by a wild second-lap excursion through the Paddock Hill bend gravel trap which cost him five places. Joe Fulbrook and Phil House enjoyed a great scrap for seventh, settled in Joe’s favour only after they ran side by side for three-quarters of the ninth lap.

Ross Wylie, brakes restored, raced from the back of the grid to ninth, with Tom Barley Team HARD’s top man, in 10th, after Sutton’s bad luck again got the better of things and he pulled off two laps from home.

Joker player Kieran Griffin came home 11th with 16-year-old Sam Morgan scoring his best finish so far in 12th, ahead of David Fairbrother, Graham Perkins and Mark Clynes. Simon Andrews was penalised five seconds for exceeding track limits and ended up 16th, just ahead of Philip Morris, whose Golf was tagged from behind into a spin at the first corner; he did well to exit the gravel trap and regain the track, and to haul his way back from dead last to 17th. Paul Dehadray, Simon Tomlinson and Richard Levett completed the running order.

Joining Sutton in retirement with mechanical problems were Richard Morgan, Peter Wyhinny and Kieran Gallagher, with Jack Walker-Tulley sustaining rear suspension damage after a clash of wheels early on. Josh Caygill posted his first retirement of the season when the bonnet of his Golf broke a retaining clip and flew open, smashing his windscreen.

Further backing for the APR Volkswagen Racing Cup comes from ECM, CEVA, Hankook, Milltek, Paragon and Prestige Performance Centre.

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Pictured from top: race 2 podium - Mason, Depper, Lines; Stewart Lines; Chris Panayiotou. Click to open hi-resolution version