VW Cup Headlines at Deustschefest

Last weekend our partner series the Volkswagen Racing Cup was at Brands Hatch for the Deustchefest weekend. This year they were the main race at Brands and were able to set up and race from the pit lane garages and host the Deutschefest pit walk.

Qualifying was on Sunday morning this time as the track was being used on Saturday. After a close session, Ruaridh Clark from JWB Motorsport came out on pole, followed by Chris Panayiotou from Maximum Motorsport in 2nd and Simon Walton from Slidesports in 3rd.

Race 1

After a messy grid formation, with Chris Panayiotou stopping forward of his grid box and possibly jumping the lights, along with pole-sitter Ruaridh Clark, the action got underway at Brands Hatch.  Coming into Paddock Hill corner, Clark maintained the lead, with Panayiotou close behind. Behind them Simon Walton and Jamie Bond were battling it out for 4th and 5th place.

Panayiotou took the lead on lap 4 at Paddock Hill Bend with close contact between himself and Clark at Graham Hill corner. Having taken 4th, Bond was now pressuring 3rd placed Ethan Hammerton for 3rd, and relieved him of it going into Paddock Hill. Further back, Paul Taylor, Owen Walton and Tom Walker were three abreast across the start/finish straight and they continued to closely challenge each other for the duration of the race

The final result saw Maximum Motorsport’s Panayiotou claim the top podium step, with JWB Motorsport’s Ruaridh Clark in 2nd and Team HARD’s Jamie Bond in 3rd. The Hankook Trophy was awarded to Josh Coggan.

Race 2

For Race 2 there was a reverse grid, leading to a Team HARD front row lockout as new driver Dennis Strandberg assumed pole position alongside team mates Toby Davis in P2 and Jamie Bond in P3.

As the lights went out it was a charge to Paddock Hill corner with Davis taking first place down the hill on the outside of Strandberg, who took the place back on the inside of Druids corner. As they went three abreast into Graham Hill, Davis in the middle went sideways hitting Bond from behind, pushing him onto the grass and allowing Strandberg to make his getaway.

Further back, Matthew Evans and Paul Taylor had a coming together at Surtees, resulting in Evans’ race being over. Then Tony Prendergast succumbed to the gravel at trap at Paddock Hill, resulting in the Safety Car being deployed. With 12 minutes to go the race got back underway with Strandberg leading the way, Simon Walton in 2nd and Jamie Bond in 3rd.

Later on there was another Safety Car period after two more drivers ended up in the gravel at Paddock Hill. Bizarely, Tom Witts managed to run into new Team-HARD driver Ashley Clements behind the Safety Car.

When the Safety Car came in there was only one lap to go.  Strandberg maintained his lead but the racing wasn’t finished behind him. Ruaridh Clark overtook Davis at Druids for 3rd place, but went wide at Graham Hill corner, allowing Davis to re-take the position. So the podium was a Team HARD exclusive zone, with Strandberg in 1st, Jame Bond in 2nd and Toby Davis in 3rd. The Hankook Trophy was also awarded to Mark Wakefield from Team HARD.