Pictured: David Sutton. Click to open hi-resolution version

NEWS RELEASE: 31 AUGUST 2014

SUTTON SCORES A SECOND BRANDS HATCH WIN

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His first win may have been a long time in the making, but David Sutton’s second Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup victory came around very quickly indeed. Thanks to some robust manoeuvres on the opening lap, the SlideSports driver shot from sixth to second, and he went on to lift the lead from Lucas Orrock on lap three.

Sutton is the first double winner of the 2014 season, and his timely victories lift him into contention for the championship crown as the series heads towards its concluding rounds at Donington Park in a fortnight.

Sutton’s Saturday win meant that under the reverse-grid rules he would start from the third row of the grid. A lightning getaway thanks to his Scirocco’s DSG semi-auto gearbox allowed David to make up several spots on the run into Paddock Hill Bend. As Orrock gained the lead ahead of pole man Joe Fulbrook, Sutton launched his Scirocco down Fulbrook’s inside to steal second.

Unfortunately his manoeuvre caused a ripple effect through the frontrunners which led to Joe Fulbrook’s Golf bumping James Greenway’s Scirocco, which went for a time-consuming trip through the Paddock gravel trap along with Aaron Mason’s sister AWM Scirocco.

There was further first-lap drama at the Druids hairpin, where Darrelle Wilson and Jack Walker-Tully collided, with the former beaching in the gravel, which necessitated a one-lap safety car period.

It was Orrock’s first time leading a train of cars under the safety car, and unfortunately his inexperience cost him the lead at the restart: “I thought we were going around again, but then the safety car went for the pit lane, and I thought, ‘OK, right, we are racing…’” Orrock’s hesitation allowed Sutton to pounce down his inside at Paddock at the start of the third lap, and by mid-distance David had built a useful lead.

Another fast-starter was Howard Fuller, who climbed from 14th on the grid to sixth on the opening lap. He went on to pick off Stefan Di Resta, Stewart Lines and Fulbrook before seizing second from Orrock down Cooper Straight on the sixth lap. Fuller gained quickly on leader Sutton and attacked him into Surtees on the penultimate lap to go ahead, only to run wide on the exit and slip to fourth behind Sutton, Orrock and Fulbrook.

From that point Sutton was home free; he crossed the line half a second clear of Orrock. “I got a great start,” said David, “and managed to build a bit of a gap, but then my tyres just went off and I slowed right down. Howard caught me and got by, but then ran wide. It’s great to win both races here, and good for my championship hopes, although it’s going to be difficult for me to win it…”

Lucas Orrock was magnanimous about his chances of beating Sutton in a straight fight: “To be fair, I think David was too quick for me – we didn’t quite have the pace today and it was a case of trying to get the best result I could in what was not the quickest car.”

Fulbrook’s third place, his fifth podium of the year, puts the double champion back on top of the points table heading for the Donington finale. “I had a great race with Lucas,” said Joe, “wheel to wheel, bumper to bumper, fast and fair and with respect for each other, which is how it should be. Third is a good result for me and now it’s all going down to Donington, so that will be an interesting weekend...”

Fuller’s run of troubles continued into the final corner, Clark Curve, where his Golf got out of shape, started to slide and was collected by James Walker’s GTI. Fuller was cannoned into the pit wall and Walker delayed long enough by the fracas for Aaron Mason to nip through and steal fourth. Walker recovered to take fifth, well ahead of Lines, with Barley seventh to be Team HARD’s highest finisher.

Greenway recovered from his first-lap visit to the gravel trap to fight back to eighth by the end, one spot ahead of his team-mate Josh Caygill, with George White completing the top 10 in his KPM Scirocco. David Fairbrother maintained his 100% scoring rate with 11th ahead of Kieran Gallagher and Tim Snaylam. Erstwhile championship leader Stefan Di Resta was a disappointed 14th after an early hit from another car knocked his steering awry. “The steering was all over the place,” said Stefan, “so there wasn’t much I could do.”

Chris Knox made up for the disappointment of his early departure from race one to secure 15th in the THM Racing Golf, ahead of Simons Rudd and Andrews, Graham Ewing and Robin Riley. The JWB Motorsport technicians did a great job to rebuild Paul Dehadray’s Scirocco after his Saturday crash, and he repaid their efforts with a 20th-place finish. Championship newcomer and race debutant Paul Inglis was 24th to record his second successful finish of the weekend for Team HARD.