Pictured: Joe Fulbrook. Click to open hi-resolution version

NEWS RELEASE: 21 JUNE 2014

FULBROOK GAINS A WIN AT MASON’S EXPENSE

Images for download

An uncharacteristic mistake from reigning champion Aaron Mason handed victory in this afternoon’s seventh round of the Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup to Joe Fulbrook, but it is Mason who is back in front of the championship after erstwhile points leader James Greenway struck trouble at Snetterton.

Mason’s AWM/Warranty Direct Scirocco led from pole position to just past half-distance, shadowed all the way by Fulbrook’s Golf GTI, after the team-mates had annexed the front row of the grid with a dominant display in qualifying.

Aaron and Joe left their rivals floundering from the start, with Mason looking set to collect his fourth race win of the season. But, as he rounded Oggies for the sixth time, he ran wide: “I just dropped a wheel into the dirt and it sort of pulled me off the track. I was lucky to be able to collect it up and tuck back in behind Joe without losing any more places. But after that my tyres were past their best and I couldn’t do much…”

With three-and-a-half laps to run, Fulbrook found himself in the hot seat. Said Joe: “Aaron just dropped a wheel on the grass and I got a run on him. Then it was just a case of praying that my car didn’t break. I drove well and the boys set the car up really well and that’s what it’s all about here. I don’t know if I’d have caught Aaron had he not dropped it off… he was a bit quicker than me in places.”

JWB Motorsport man Stefan Di Resta made a very smart getaway from the line to pull alongside the front-row men on the drag down to Riches before his Scirocco was beaten back. Stefan held on to third up to the penultimate lap when, like Mason before him, he misjudged Oggies and the closely pursuing Lucas Orrock was able to pounce down the inside in the KPM/Vindis Scirocco to seize the final place on the podium.

“Stefan got a bit deep into the corner and I managed to sneak inside him,” said Orrock, who was making his racing debut at his home circuit of Snetterton, and who had qualified third. “I had a really good race but unfortunately I got a bad start. If I had got away in third place I think I would have been able to challenge for the win.”

Di Resta claimed fourth, 2.2s ahead of Maximum Motorsport Scirocco man Stewart Lines, whose fifth place equalled his best finish of the season. “I made a fantastic start,” said Stewart, “and was going well until Fulbrook shut the door on me. I had the legs of Di Resta but before I could do anything about him I got passed by Orrock and suddenly I was having to defend like mad.”

The man putting Lines under pressure towards the end was Josh Caygill, who was another to lose ground at the start; Josh passed Jack Walker-Tully for sixth two laps from the end and crossed the line 0.7s back from Lines.

Walker-Tully brought the Cooke and Mason Scirocco home in seventh place, some 3.5s ahead of Team HARD Golf driver Howard Fuller, with Maximum Motorsport’s Chris Panayiotou and KPM’s Sam Morgan completing the top 10. Sam was delighted to have gained five places on his starting position after a disappointing qualifying session.

David Fairbrother finished ahead of his SlideSports team-mate David Sutton for the second race in succession, Fairbrother’s Pall-Ex Scirocco gaining six places from its start slot to finish 11th, ahead of Cobra Engineering driver Joe McMillan, with Sutton 13th after his Scirocco overheated and lost power.

Kieran Gallagher (HARD Golf) equalled his best finish of the season with 14th, ahead of Philip House who, like Sutton, overheated. Championship newcomer Simon Deaton claimed 16th for Team HARD, ahead of Craig Mason and Simon Rudd, with Tom Barley, another Oggies spinner, in 19th and Tim Snaylam 20th.

James Greenway endured a dire qualifying session which left the White Rose Scirocco driver languishing 27th on the grid. The mystery loss of engine power continued into the race and James gained but one place, finished ahead only of George White, who had lost time in the pits with a puncture. James Walker’s Milltek Sport Golf was bashed from behind into retirement on the opening lap, suspension damage stranding the car in an awkward position, necessitating a brief safety car period.