Pictured: Aaron Mason. Click to open hi-resolution version

NEWS RELEASE: 20 OCTOBER 2013

MASON MIXES IT IN HOCKENHEIM SCIROCCO RACE

APR Volkswagen Racing Cup Champion Aaron Mason made a superb international track debut yesterday at the Hockenheimring in Germany, dicing with former champions and earning praise for his performance.

Mason was taking part in the final round of the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup – his prize for winning the UK Volkswagen title earlier this month. Despite unfamiliarity with both the car and circuit, he qualified 22nd on the 25-car grid and battled to 14th at the chequered flag, sandwiched between touring car legends Frank Biela and Laurent Aiello. Among the guest drivers, Aaron was beaten to the line only by past-masters Manuel Reuter, who finished 10th, Eric Helary and Biela.

Le Mans victor and former British Touring Car Champion Aiello tried everything he knew to get past Mason, achieving the feat with a late-brake into the hairpin on the ninth lap. The French driver locked up, however, and Aaron was able to repass. “I really enjoyed it… it was a really good battle,” said the Doncaster driver. “I got past Aiello and then had a great battle with Frank Biela. I was chuffed just to have been racing with people with that sort of talent, and to have been able to keep up with them.

“The German series Scirocco is very different to the car I drive in the UK – it snakes about under braking because of the ABS, and you have to modify your driving style quite a lot. The only time I had in the car prior to qualifying was a 40-minute practice on Friday, during which I had to learn the circuit also. But I looked at the data from that test and found 1.5s in qualifying, just on the brakes.

“The race was a new experience, not least because the cars have a ‘push to pass’ turbo boost button. At the end of the race I still had four boosts left because I didn’t realise it was the last lap; I should have used them to try to get past Biela.”

The race – and championship – was won by 17-year-old South African driver Kelvin van der Linde. Also taking part were Mason’s VW Cup rival Ross Wylie, who retired after a lap with accident damage, and ‘stratosphere diver’ Felix Baumgartner, who finished 19th on his race debut.