Joe Fulbrook rocketed into the lead of the Volkswagen Racing Cup today thanks to twin wins at Snetterton at the wheel of his turbocharged Bora. Joe took the first of them on the final lap after shooting to the front of a four-car fight, and then had the second win drop almost in his lap when leader Jamie Perry struck car trouble almost within sight of the flag.

The long Snetterton straights always make for superb slipstreaming action, and the first of the day's races in the Hankook-backed championship provided plenty of it, with four cars battling for victory for much of its distance and three different leaders.

The 2006 champion, Paul Taylor, made one of his customary dramatic starts in his four-wheel-drive Golf R32, slicing from row two of the grid between front-row men Adrian Dziurzynski (Golf GTI) and Fulbrook to take up an early lead.

But Hertfordshire-based Taylor was not allowed to escape, Bournemouth boy Dziurzynski keeping close tabs on him and even pulling alongside him on the main straight on a couple of occasions. Perry's Keith Garages-backed Golf GTI was close behind in third and Fulbrook was soon on the tail of the leading trio to join in the fun.

Taylor kept his pursuers stopped up like a cork in a bottle until the 12th lap, when Dziurzynski nipped through on the inside at the Sear right-hander to lift the lead, and he was followed through by both Fulbrook, who had earlier snatched third, and Perry. Taylor, whose Golf suffered suspension damage when it touched the Dziurzynski Golf, fell to fifth as Martyn Culley's Vento sped past also.

With impeccable timing Fulbrook went to on to liberate the lead from Dziurzynski at the Bombhole on the same lap - well timed because the red flags would soon be flying to bring a slightly early end to proceedings after Culley's car shed a rear wheel and came to rest in an awkward spot on the exit to the Russell chicane.

Fulbrook took the win, his first of the season, by a shade less than a second from Dziurzynski; it was Adrian's best result since his second place at Oulton Park at the start of the 2007 season. Perry came home third and Taylor, perhaps fortunate the race had been curtailed, fourth.

The top three were unanimous that it had been a fantastic battle: 'It was the best race I have ever had,' said Fulbrook. 'I was hanging back a bit waiting for something to happen to the cars in front, but nothing much did, so I thought I had better put the hammer down. The car was superb, all credit to my team.'

'It was awesome,' agreed Dziurzynski, 'and it is great to be back on the podium again…'

Seventeen-year-old James Griffiths put in another mature drive in his Golf GTI, lifting sixth from the experienced hands of Steve Chaplin at Riches on the eighth lap; he was promoted to fifth by Culley's demise, with Chaplin's 'Herbie' Beetle taking sixth ahead of the Golf GTIs of Mike Kurton and Liam Griffin.

Doug Ross scored his best-ever result with ninth in his Polo and Giles Lock streaked to 10th in the Classic Caddy TDI, ahead of the Beetles of Nick Dunn and championship returnee Steve Dorrell. Among the unhappy non-finishers was erstwhile championship leader James Walker, whose turbo blew.

Race two was no less dramatic, not least for Taylor, who tried another straight-through-the-middle manoeuvre from the second row of the grid. Unfortunately for Paul he chose to go for a small gap which was getting smaller by the tenth of the second as front-row men Griffiths and Chaplin moved together, and the three cars collided with an almighty bump. Both Taylor and Griffiths were forced to the pits for lengthy repairs; Chaplin continued in second place as Perry took advantage of the drama to claim a handsome early lead.

A lengthy Safety Car period, brought about after the cars of Dziurzynski and Walker touched on the Revett straight on the third lap as they disputed fourth, and Adrian piled off into the barriers, shaped the course of the race in more ways than one. Perry's useful lead over Fulbrook was wiped by it and then, at the restart, Jamie's Golf failed him. 'The driveshaft just snapped,' said a disappointed Perry, 'and I fear it could have cost me the championship.'

Thus Fulbrook inherited the lead and, with Chaplin and Walker squabbling over second place, staying out front was a relatively easy task for Joe. He won by half a second and profited further still thanks to playing his points-doubling Joker card. 'We lucked out a bit in that one,' said Fulbrook. 'A few people didn't make the start and some fell by the wayside… But my car was awesome.'

Chaplin was passed by Walker on the penultimate lap but fought back to second by the end to equal his and Herbie's best-ever Racing Cup result. Griffin, new to the championship this season, claimed an excellent fourth in the Addison Lee Golf, with Mr Consistent Kurton doing his championship hopes further good with another top-five finish.

Naked ambition drove Lock to sixth place, his and his old Caddy's best-ever result, with Dunn seventh ahead of Dorrell, Michael McInerney's Europcar Golf and Chris Adams in the Golf TDI 4motion. Eleventh and claiming his second race finish of the day - in only his second saloon car race - was Autosport.com journalist Glenn Freeman at the wheel of the new Jetta TSI Sport.

The results of Snetterton race two remain provisional pending further investigation of on-track incidents by officials.

The Volkswagen Racing Cup in association with Hankook is additionally supported by Augustus Martin, Castrol, Ceva Logistics, ECM Vehicle Delivery, Milltek Sport, Mondial Assistance, KW Automotive, Superchips, Turbo Dynamics, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and Volkswagen Financial Services UK.