Thirty Volkswagens Line Up for Brands Hatch Finale

24 September 2004

A capacity field of 30 cars - the biggest grid of the season - will line up at Brands Hatch next Sunday (3 Oct) to provide a superb finale to the 2004 Volkswagen Racing Cup season.

And not only will the Brands double-header feature all the race winners from the year, but also British Touring Car Championship frontrunner Jason Plato, who will be piloting Volkswagen's van-tastic Caddy TDI racer.

'It's going to be a great way to close the season,' said Volkswagen Racing UK director Sam Roach. 'With so many potential race winners in the field, and Jason Plato as well, I think both races will be stunning.'

Adding to the excitement is the debut of a car new to the championship, a four-wheel-drive Golf R32 to be driven by 2003 Brands Hatch double winner Shaun Hollamby, who lives close to the Kent circuit, at Chelsfield.

Hollamby will be going into battle against the likes of Rob Carvell (Coventry), who has taken the chequered flag at four Volkswagen Racing Cup events this season in his family-built Scirocco GTI; Ken Lark (Peters Green), a triple race winner with his Corrado VR6; double victor and Beetle RSi racer Philip House (Ripley); and 2001 champion Mike Neuhoff (Northampton) with his Corrado.

Plato will meanwhile be swapping his multiple BTCC race-winning SEAT Toledo Cupra for the potent Caddy, powered by a 2.0-litre, 230 PS turbodiesel engine. 'I'm really looking forward to it and I'm hoping it will be a lot of fun,' said Plato. 'It's certainly the first time I've ever been asked to race a van, and it will also be my first experience of racing a diesel, so it will all be totally new.'
The New Caddy's usual pilot, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles director Peter Wyhinny, will be handling its racing predecessor, nicknamed 'Classic Caddy', at Brands Hatch.

Hollamby's new mount has been created for the championship by Big Boys Toys Motorsport, based at West Thurrock. 'Our team manager, Chris Tweed, has done an incredible job preparing this car in double-quick time, and the attention to detail is testament to his preparation skills,' said Hollamby. 'There are many features on the R32 taken straight from the touring car paddock, so big things will be expected of me…'

Backing for the project comes from bigboystoys-uk.com, Revo Technik, Milltek Exhausts, Pipercross Filters and KW Suspension. Hollamby, who won the 1989 Multisports Championship, was fourth in the Volkswagen Racing Cup last year at the wheel of a Beetle.

Another Golf R32, the Europcar-backed machine of Michael McInerney (Datchet) will make it two four-wheel-drive machines on the grid.

Also slated to appear at Brands is London journalist Sophie Robinson, who will drive the new Golf TDI 2.0; it will be her first circuit race but she's enjoyed a successful rally career, including third-place overall finishes in 2002 and '03 in the Castrol Polo Challenge.

With Sophie at the wheel of the newest Golf it's only appropriate that another woman, 23-year-old Claire Tippet from Cheltenham, will drive the oldest - a Mk I Golf GTI. There will be several examples of the Golf's first, second, third and fourth generations in action also, along with a host of 2.8-litre Beetles, the Bora Turbo of Mark Smith (Hednesford), the Polo TDI handled by Paul Lloyd-Roach (Douglas) and a Lupo GTI for Oslo-based driver Mark Hope.

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, Milltek Sport, Mondial Assistance, Pirelli, Proximity London, KW Automotive, Sony UK, Superchips, TMD Friction, TNT Logistics and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.

See 2004 series calendar for VW Racing Cup

Related Story 20.09.2004 - Touring Car Star Plato is the Brands Hatch Van Man