The
dire Easter weather tried but failed to dampen the excitement of the
opening rounds of the Volkswagen Racing Cup today (Monday) at Oulton
Park, with spectators enjoying two enthralling battles against the
elements by a quality field.
There were surprises galore -
including two podium finishes for the entertaining Caddy TDI, its
best-ever results - a tactically brilliant race win for Steve Wood and
his Hankook-shod Golf GTI, and a dominant second-race victory in the
snow for Paul Taylor's AmD Technik Golf R32.
"An improved
exhaust system from Milltek and a matching AmD Technik remap really
gave the R32 a new lease of life. The car was just perfect and with
further improvements from AmD Essex in the pipeline we are looking
strong for the championship", said Taylor.
Oulton Park was
also notable for the world racing debut of the Jetta TSI Sport. The
1.4-litre turbocharged and supercharged saloon was raced by evo editor
Jethro Bovingdon, who scored an excellent 10th-place finish despite a
spin in race one and then stole through to fifth in race two.
A
steady downpour of sleet was the pre-race one welcome for drivers and
the unseasonable weather gave many a tyre-choice dilemma. Alex
Dziurzynski, whose Corrado upset the formbook in Saturday's qualifying
to nab pole position by eight-hundredths of a second, opted to start
the race on slick Hankooks, as did Taylor, alongside him on the front
row in his Golf R32. Among those opting for wet-weather rubber were
Wood, who figured that starting from seventh on the grid he had little
to lose by gambling.
It proved to be a brilliant choice by Wood,
whose Travis Perkins-backed Golf GTI overhauled five cars on the
opening lap and then deposed the fast-starting Taylor from the lead the
next time around. Paul had an advantage with his car's four-wheel drive
but nonetheless found the going tricky, and Dziurzynski was managing
literally to keep a loose grip on third.
A two-lap safety car
period, brought about when John Quartermaine crashed his Golf into the
Old Hall Corner tyre wall, gave Wood another lucky break. With the
track drying rapidly his grooved Hankooks were beginning to suffer; the
reduced pace of the safety car laps were just what he needed to
preserve them.
At the restart Wood blasted away once more from
his pursuers and on to a 4.9-second win over Taylor. It was his first
race victory since 2006 and was due entirely to tyre choice, he said:
'I made a late choice to switch to wets and thankfully it was the right
call. They lasted really well.' Taylor reckoned that if the race had
been a couple of laps longer there might have been a different result:
'As the track dried my car was getting quicker and quicker, but I just
ran out of laps'
The Easter weather was even more unkind in race
two, with bright pre-event sunshine lulling all on to slick tyres. The
heavens opened after only three laps and the sleet flurries not only
made the track treacherously slippy but also reduced visibility
dramatically. The red flags were flown to halt the race after just five
laps, before a serious accident spoiled proceedings.
It was
AmDs' Taylor who made the best start and whose four-wheel-drive Taylor
Heating-backed Golf was best suited to the conditions. Paul sliced
through to the front from row three of the grid well before reaching
the first corner, Old Hall, and sped effortlessly into the middle
distance.
This leaves Taylor, who has uk-mkivs support this
year, with a 12 point championship lead and the next round will be on
the 26th May at Rockingham, Northants.
1 Paul Taylor 88
2 Joe Fulbrook 76
3 James Walker 76
4 Steve Wood 70
5 Steve Chaplin 68
6 Mike Kurton 64
Links:
AmD Technik
Volkswagen Racing Cup
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