BBT Blasts Oulton Park!

Shaun Hollamby and his amazing four-wheel-drive Golf proved an unstoppable combination at Oulton Park at the weekend (23/24 April), racing to twin wins in both of the incident-packed Cheshire rounds of the Volkswagen Racing Cup.

Though neither victory was straightforward for the Kent driver and his Revo Technik/Big Boys Toys-backed R32, they were nonetheless convincing displays which, with the championship now one-third completed, have earned Hollamby a handsome overall points lead.
Hollamby led every inch of Saturday's round three, from pole position to chequered flag, and broke the circuit lap record along the way for good measure. But a first-corner incident came close to upsetting his progress to victory.

The accident was triggered when Ray MacDowall (Carlisle) was tipped into a spin in his ECM Beetle as the pack streamed through Old Hall Corner for the first time. Miraculously only one other car became seriously entangled - the Caddy TDI of Peter Wyhinny. The van suffered only wheel and driveshaft damage but the Beetle was badly banged about and dropped oil and other fluids on the circuit as MacDowall tried to limp back to the pits.

The safety car was brought into play for a lap and, at the restart, Thackeray closed right on to Hollamby's rear end, the youngster looking determined enough to challenge for the lead. 'Dan was driving brilliantly and really giving me some hassle,' said Shaun. 'I messed up the restart and it nearly cost me the race.' Alas for Thackeray his engine gave up the ghost a couple of laps later.

 

With second place the subject of a fierce dispute between Martin Rutherford (Little Chalfont) and Craig Inskip (Northiam), Hollamby seized his chance to make good his escape. He crossed the line just over a second ahead of his rivals.

Old Hall Corner once again claimed victims in the second race of the weekend, a first-lap multi-car pile-up bringing a very premature end to the races of Les Latham (Kirkby Mallory), Michael McInerney (Datchet), Rutherford and Barlow. Nobody was hurt in the incident, which necessitated another period under the safety car.

House had made a great getaway from row two to snatch the lead from pole man Culley on the opening lap, but Philip's continuing misfire meant he had no answer when Hollamby came looking the lead on lap five. Shaun swept past the Beetle and on to his third race win of the year, by a half-second margin

More image from the Race can be see here in the Gallery.