Victory for House on second ever Saloon race
A brace of brilliantly exciting Volkswagen Racing Cup events at Croft in North Yorkshire this afternoon (Sun) provided not only thrills but also resounding victories for championship regular Ken Lark and series newcomer - and local hero - Philip House.
Hertfordshire driver Lark and his Corrado VR6 held at bay determined Beetle pilot Ray MacDowall to claim the honours in round three of the championship, while Ripley-based racer House led from start to finish of round four in his Beetle to claim a popular maiden win.
Meanwhile, although reigning champion Rob Carvell failed to add to the twin wins he scored at Donington Park last month, he did leave Croft with an extended championship lead.
The event also marked the worldwide motorsport debut of the new Golf, journalist Nick Trott scoring well in both races in the 2-litre TDI Mk V.
The first race of the day provided a superb tussle for victory throughout, Lark getting the best of it after making a blistering getaway from pole position to lead MacDowall's ECM Beetle.
Carlisle driver MacDowall's pursuit of victory was relentless, the Beetle well able to match the Corrado's pace around the circuit's twistier sections. On the straights, though, Lark had the legs of MacDowall and was able to pull out enough of a breathing space to ensure victory.
MacDowall's biggest effort came on the fifth of the 13 laps, when he outbraked Lark into the sharp right-hander, Tower Bend. But Ken fought back in front on the run down to the Jim Clark Esses and was never headed thereafter. Lark crossed the line 3.7s ahead.
"It was a great race," said Ray. "Ken drove superbly and made his Corrado very wide in places. Towards the end I started to get gear selection problems and had to settle for second." Added Lark: "Ray was behind me all the way and never let up. My car was excellent and I had a lot of guidance from Pirelli about getting the best from the tyres. I'm very pleased."
The battle for third place was no less intense, featuring the cars of Craig Inskip (Northiam), Mark Smith (Hednesford), Shaun Hollamby (Chelsfield), House and Martin Rutherford (Harrow) for much of the distance.
Inskip's Becra-backed Golf held sway until the fifth lap, when Smith's Bora edged ahead; three laps later Hollamby's Beetle found a way past Inskip also, but then Hollamby and Smith were in collision in the Complex and Inskip was able to pick his way through the incident to regain third. Smith spun back to eighth and Hollamby's race came to an end with a holed radiator.
In the later stages Inskip came under severe pressure from House, but the local hero had no answer for Inskip's pace. Craig was 0.8s ahead at the flag to record his best-ever Racing Cup finish, on a circuit he had never raced before.
Paul Dukes (Newark) crossed the line fifth in his Beetle but was later deemed underweight and was excluded. Thus Smith inherited fifth, his late-race battle with Carvell a highlight of the closing laps. Carvell's Scirocco had been forced to start from the back of the grid with a 10-second penalty after post-qualifying scrutineering revealed an infringement of the technical rules.
Undeterred, Rob blasted through to the top 12 by mid-distance and was delighted with his sixth-place finish.
Brislington's Grant Woodhatch overcame a delay in his early-race progress to claim seventh in his Vento ahead of Martyn Culley's (Basingstoke) similar car and the BP Golf diesel of Mark Thomas.
Exeter's Alex Dziurzynski placed 10th after a brush with the barriers, ahead of Lloyd Allard (Cheltenham), Barrie Culley (Thatcham), Datchet driver Michael McInerney's Europcar R32 and the Mk I Golf of Claire Tippet (Cheltenham).
Car journalist Nick Trott enjoyed a highly competitive outing in the new Golf, finishing 15th on what was not only his maiden race but also the car's world racing debut. He said: "The new Golf has such good ingredients for a racing car; I know that someone with experience could really get a great result in it."
The other motoring writer in the field, Jason Barlow, failed to make the distance after a suspected wheel bearing failure on his Europcar Beetle; Barlow had enjoyed a good battle with Trott in the middle stages.
Carvell started the second race of the day not only from pole position but also firm favourite for victory. But it was not to be, his Scirocco swamped at the start by the slick-starting cars of House, Smith and Inskip. House in particular made a blistering getaway, his Ripley Caravan Park-backed Beetle enjoying a lead of 1.8 seconds by the end of the opening lap.
Croft race school instructor Philip, 23, made great use of his circuit knowledge to widen the gap to his pursuers over the course of the next two laps. By the time Carvell had disposed of Inskip and Smith, House was 4.5 seconds up the road.
"I made a perfect start," said House, "and then pushed on using my knowledge of the track to build a gap. It was a worry when I saw Rob in my mirrors, but I concentrated on keeping it tidy and it paid off."
Carvell closed down the gap with metronomic efficiency, but by the end of the 13 laps House still had an advantage of 1.7 seconds.
Rob had other problems to worry about, chiefly MacDowall, who fought through from fifth on the grid to third, right on Carvell's tail, by the end. Lark capped his weekend with fourth ahead of Inskip, Woodhatch, Smith, Martyn Culley and Dziurzynski. McInerney proved his Donington results were no fluke with a fine 10th, just ahead of Trott's new Golf, the Vento of Barrie Culley and the redoubtable Caddy of Peter Wyhinny.
Tippet placed 14th once again and Jonny Moore was 15th in his Polo G40, one place ahead of newcomer Andrew Boakes's G40.
The Volkswagen Racing Cup enjoys the support of Augustus Martin, Castrol, ECM Vehicle Delivery, Europcar, Experian, gedas UK, Inchcape Automotive, ISG Occupancy, K&N Filters, Sabelt, Mondial Assistance, Pirelli, Proximity London, KW Automotive, Sony UK, Superchips, TMD Friction, TNT Logistics and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.
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Victory again at Oulton Park leaves title in balance
The Volkswagen Racing Cup is shaping up for a two-way duel to the wire between reigning champion Rob Carvell and Philip House after each took a race win this weekend at Oulton Park in Cheshire.
Bedworth-based Carvell and his Scirocco romped to a two-second victory in Saturday's seventh round of the championship, while House's Beetle RSi claimed the win in today's encounter - a race brought to a bizarre early finish by a crashing helicopter.
The incident occurred on the seventh of the planned 10 laps, when a passing chopper made a heavy emergency landing at the circuit heliport. Fortunately the pilot was uninjured, but race stewards were forced to red flag the race to allow rescue vehicles to gain access to the crash scene.
After eight of the championship's 12 rounds, Carvell's title lead is now 32 points - but North Yorkshire driver House has yet to play his points-doubling Joker card and could quickly close the gap.
Carvell was untouchable on Saturday; he braved the treacherous conditions of the streaming wet qualifying session to post a lap time more than two seconds faster that that of his nearest rival, Northamptonshire's Mike Neuhoff (Corrado VR6). And in the first of the weekend's races Rob did not put a wheel wrong, increasing his lead over Neuhoff on almost every lap to head him over the line by 1.2 seconds.
Neuhoff never faltered in his pursuit, a fact Carvell recognised: "The pace was furious throughout. I managed to open out a bit of a gap but then lost it all again passing back markers, and then I had to make a big effort to make the break again." It was Carvell's third race victory of the season.
Neuhoff, the 2001 champion, was delighted to return to the podium: "The engine had been letting us down prior to this race but hopefully that is now sorted and this will be the first of many good results."
Ken Lark's Corrado VR6 took third ahead of an inspired Craig Inskip, who started from 10th on the grid in his Golf Turbo and who posted fastest lap of the race in his pursuit of fourth place.
Steve Wood looked set to take fifth on his first Golf VR6 outing but instead ended his race in the Lodge Corner gravel trap with four laps remaining so Steve Walker's Golf Turbo inherited the position, the Stockport driver revelling on his home circuit.
House, who had suffered major handling problems in qualifying, took sixth ahead of Mark Smith's Bora, the Golf VR6 of Andrew Smith and the Vento VR6s of son-and-father team Martyn and Barrie Culley. The Beetles of Dave Turner and motor journalist Jason Barlow were 11th and 12th, just ahead of Peter Wyhinny's New Caddy. Mail on Sunday writer Russell Bray piloted the New Golf TDI to 18th spot, two places behind the Polo TDI of Paul Lloyd-Roach, which was making its race debut.
Lloyd Allard was among several drivers to run into trouble. The Gloucestershire driver had qualified third in his Golf TDI but was forced out of the race on the opening lap with turbo problems. An encouraging debut drive from Bentley motorsport director Brian Gush came to a halt with a puncture a lap from home; he had been holding 12th in the Europcar Golf R32.
With Saturday's top six reversed in order for the next day, House started from the pole and immediately built up a handsome advantage over his pursuers, led by Inskip. Alas Craig's race lasted only three laps through a turbo problem, and so Carvell, who had started sixth, fought through to second and began the chase for victory.
But, try as he might, Rob could not dent the Beetle's advantage. By the race's premature end after six laps, House was 6.7 seconds to the good. "I kept plugging away at it but I couldn't close the gap," said Carvell. "Philip drove brilliantly."
"I tried to make a good start and managed to pull away," said House. "After the problems I had in qualifying my aim for race one was sixth, so that I could start the next race from pole. It all worked out brilliantly."
Neuhoff placed third ahead of Walker, who was credited with fourth despite his race ending with his Golf in flames due to a broken exhaust. Lark was fifth from Wood - who had started from the back of the grid - Mark Smith and Andrew Smith. Turner was an impressive ninth ahead of Martyn Culley, Barrie Culley, Claire Tippet's Mk I Golf, Barlow and Gush. Bray placed 20th this time, just ahead of Wyhinny's Caddy, which was suffering turbo pipe problems.
The Volkswagen Racing Cup enjoys the support of Augustus Martin, Castrol, ECM Vehicle Delivery, Europcar, Experian, gedas UK, Inchcape Automotive, ISG Occupancy, K&N Filters, Sabelt, Mondial Assistance, Pirelli, Proximity London, KW Automotive, Sony UK, Superchips, TMD Friction, TNT Logistics and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.
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Championship for House at first time of asking
The Volkswagen Racing Cup yesterday (Sun) crowned its second champion within the space of five weeks, Yorkshire's Philip House claiming the title following the exciting final rounds of the 2004 championship at Brands Hatch.
Beetle racer House, 23, thought his championship hopes were over in late August when Rob Carvell won round 10 at Thruxton and put his points tally beyond Philip's reach. But post-race scrutineering revealed a technical rule infringement in Carvell's car and, only last week, he was excluded from the Thruxton results.
Thus four drivers went into the closing races with a chance of championship victory - House, Carvell, Ken Lark and Craig Inskip. Inskip's hopes were crushed by a startline accident while Lark's brace of seventh-place finishes secured him third place overall in the points standings.
In an incident-packed first Brands race Carvell took third and House fifth, setting up a down-to-the-wire battle between the two men in race two. Carvell did everything he could, beating his nearest rival to the chequered flag by a seven-second margin, but House's third position was enough to seal the title.
'I'm over the moon,' said Ripley-based House. 'I came into the championship this year hoping to collect a few top-10 placings, so to win two races and now the title is a dream result. Rob drove an excellent race - I saw him coming in my mirrors and let him past me because I knew I didn't have to beat him.' House, who is backed by Ripley Caravan Park, plans to defend his Volkswagen Racing Cup title in 2005.
PLATO RACES TO TENTH IN CADDY IN CADDY TDI
BTCC star Jason Plato proved his crowd-pleasing versatility at Brands Hatch when he swapped his SEAT touring car for Volkswagen's Caddy racing van.
Plato came away impressed by the performance of the TDI-powered machine, which he drove to its best-yet finish, 10th, in the first of the day's races. 'It's been tremendous fun,' said Jason. 'It's a long way from a touring car but it has amazing torque and handles brilliantly.'
Plato had to dash for an Australia-bound plane and was forced to miss race two; next weekend he races in the Bathurst 1000km.
