TAYLOR, CULLEY VICTORIOUS IN NORFOLK

A third race win for championship leader Paul Taylor in his REVO Technik Golf R32 and a maiden victory for Martyn Culley were the highlights of the Snetterton rounds of the Volkswagen Racing Cup in association with Hankook, watched this weekend by a huge crowd of spectators making the most of the glorious weather.

Just as he did at Oulton Park in April and at Donington Park in May, Taylor secured a convincing victory in the first of the day's races at the wheel of his Big Boys Toys-run Golf.

His rivals are used to seeing the Hertfordshire driver take advantage of the R32's four-wheel drive to sprint ahead in damp conditions, but this time Taylor made it to the top step of the podium in the bone dry and blistering heat. "Big Boys Toys have fitted a pedal box which has improved brake pedal feel and also fitted an H&R anti-roll bar kit which has made the front end grip much better. REVO have also made a special engine map which gives slightly less power but a much broader power band. Next race we should have a REVO map which also gives us more power."

Paul threw down the gauntlet in qualifying on Saturday, securing pole position for the first time this season with a time two-tenths of a second better than that of his closest rival, Bora driver Joe Fulbrook. But with a bare second covering the top eight on the grid, Taylor's advantage appeared slim.

Paul made a superb start, lighting up all four Hankooks and sprinting instantly into a handsome lead over Berkshire's Fulbrook on the run down to the tight Riches right-hander and on to a two-second lead over the Bora man by lap's end.

Fulbrook's hopes of reeling in the leader took a blow within a couple of laps when his second place came under pressure from the flying Golf GTI of Exeter's Adrian Dziurzynski. Within a few laps Kent man Tony Gilham and his Beetle joined the party, along with fourth-round victor Lloyd Allard in his turbodiesel Golf, who had started 11th on the grid.

Fulbrook clung to second for nine of the 15 laps but had to give best to Allard at the Russell chicane. 'Lloyd got it all sideways and I had to back off to avoid hitting him,' said Joe, 'and then he was through and away.' Added Allard: 'It was a scary moment and I was lucky to get away with it. I'm grateful to Joe for giving me the room.'

By this stage Taylor was 3.6 seconds up the road and though Allard did his best to catch the R32, too few laps remained for him to achieve it. Taylor's winning margin was 2.3 seconds. He said: 'I made a good start and tried to pull away, then fortunately everyone else seemed to be having their own battles and I was able to keep clear. I'm very pleased with my third win.'

Gilham, his Beetle rejuvenated for this meeting by a new engine, pinched third from Fulbrook at the Esses on the penultimate lap to record his best-yet finish in the championship.

Gloucestershire driver Steve Wood gave his long-awaited new Golf GTI an encouraging race debut, battling through from 10th on the grid to fifth at the chequered flag, profiting from Ken Lark's problems - his Corrado slowed a lap from home with a broken driveshaft.

Martyn Culley finished sixth in his Vento VR6, ahead of Craig Inskip in a down-on-power Golf and Martin Rutherford, who was also suffering from a lack of straight-line speed in his Citygate Beetle.

Barrie Culley's Vento was ninth, the hobbling Lark 10th, 17-year-old Darelle Wilson 11th in his Beetle and Steve Chaplin, having his first run in his new Beetle, 12th just ahead of championship debutant Paul Wyhinny in his V6 Golf. Golf Plus magazine journalist Mike Breslin brought the Polo GTI home 20th, delighted with the car's performance but disappointed with his: 'I had to back off at the start to avoid a collision and lost a lot of time, but it was great fun fighting back and it's a brilliant little car to drive.'

Dziurzynski's strong run at the sharp end of the field came to a disappointing end after 12 laps with a broken driveshaft. Paul Lloyd-Roach was bitterly disappointed by his retirement with a brake-less Beetle, coming as it did after securing seventh on the grid.

There was to be no repeat of Taylor's runaway performance in race two, not least because of the reverse-grid rule which dictates the first-race victor must start race two from sixth on the grid.

It was Basingstoke-based Martyn Culley's turn to start from the pole and he and his venerable Vento - a veteran of 12 seasons of racing - made no mistake at the green light, rocketing away to gain a useful lead over his pursuers. There was confusion behind as Wood missed a gear and received a tap from Gilham; Taylor seized his chance to shoot past both and into second.

There was an even bigger drama at corner two, Sear, where Inskip - at the wheel of a borrowed Golf GTI to replace his ailing car - mounted the rear of Lloyd-Roach's Beetle and rolled. Craig was unhurt but his Golf badly damaged, and Lloyd-Roach was forced to retire also. A lengthy safety car period was required to clear the track of debris. Images of the crash can be viewed here.

Culley timed the restart to perfection to rebuild his lead, this time with Allard as his closest pursuer, Taylor having slipped back after a brush with Wood's Golf at the Riches chicane.

Allard's pursuit was relentless but the diesel driver had no answer to Culley's pace, Martyn clocking up a popular maiden championship victory. 'I'm over the moon,' said new father Martyn. 'I made the perfect restart and everybody behind seemed more interested in tripping over each other than in catching me.'

Allard was two seconds behind at the line, with Fulbrook third after holding off a challenge from Gilham to claim his second podium of the season. Wood was fifth ahead of Dziurzynski, Rutherford, Wilson, Lark and Taylor, a gearbox problem further hampering the championship leader's progress towards the end.

Chaplin, Michael McInerney, Breslin and Peter Wyhinny were the only other finishers in what proved to be a race of attrition.

With the championship at the half-way stage, Taylor's overall points lead is cut from 22 to 16. Rounds seven and eight take place at Brands Hatch in Kent at the end of August.

More images can be viewed here >>