Inskip Goes Backwards for VW Racing Cup Win
at Donington
04 April
2005
Golf GTI racer Craig Inskip claimed a memorable motorsporting first
at Donington Park on Sunday when he crossed the Volkswagen Racing
Cup finishing line backwards at 100mph - yet still managed to win the
race.
Inskip's victory, his first in four seasons in the championship, was
the astonishing climax to a breathtakingly exciting race which had
seen him and Shaun Hollamby,
driving an R32 Golf, swap the lead at least a half-dozen times.
They entered the final lap with Northiam-based Inskip just ahead and
seemingly on course for a trouble-free win, but as he entered the
Goddards Esses for the
final time Craig encountered a backmarker at precisely the wrong moment, they
touched mid-corner and Inskip's car was pitched into a violent high speed spin.
Inskip was powerless to control the Becra-backed Golf as it rocketed
backwards across the slippery grass alongside the main straight
- but as luck would have
it, it still crossed the finish line a gnat's whisker ahead of Hollamby's car,
albeit rear-end first.
A shaken and surprised Inskip said on the victory podium:
"That was a fantastic race with loads of overtaking and I enjoyed every
minute
of it, right up to the
last corner! Thankfully the car isn't badly damaged and it's only my nerves that
have suffered…"
Hollamby, who lives in Chelsfield, Kent, added: "Normally
you're delighted to see a rival spin off, but I wasn't this time. I
think
that was the best race
I've ever had and Craig thoroughly deserved to win it."
The two men had dominated the race, round two of the Volkswagen Racing
Cup, both charging through from the third row of the grid to assume
first and second
places
on the opening lap. None of their rivals could live with their pace - the
reigning champion, North Yorkshireman Philip House, was their nearest
challenger, five
seconds behind in his Beetle RSi.
Earlier in the day Hollamby and Inskip also saw off the rest in the opening
round of the championship, but this time it was Shaun who took the win -
a decisive
one with the Golf R32 ahead all the way from pole position to a five-second
victory margin at the chequered flag.
Third behind the Golf men was the sensational 16-year-old Dan Thackeray
(Buntingford), enjoying an impressive maiden outing in his Saxon
Motorsport Corrado VR6.
Not only was it Dan's first Volkswagen Racing Cup event, but it was also
his first
race on a grid of adult drivers. Unfortunately he fared less well in round
two, retiring with mechanical problems after a lap-one clash with another
car.
Hednesford-based Racing Cup veteran Mark Smith enjoyed one of his
most competitive days with the Chase Accident Repair-backed Bora
Turbo. Mark
finished third
on the road in round one but was penalised by two seconds - dropping
him to fifth
- for a flag infringement, then raced to fourth place in round two, just
ahead of championship newcomer Giles Lock (Farnham) in his Golf TDI.
The new Golf GTI enjoyed a competitive world racing debut in the
hands of Car magazine road test editor Chris Chilton, taking 15th
place in
round one
despite
some teething problems with fuel delivery. 'It has the makings of a
great race car,' said Chris, whose second outing was curtailed
by a gravel
trap visitation.
There were mixed fortunes for Martin Rutherford, who qualified his
turbo-powered Beetle on the front row for round one and raced to
fourth but who then
dropped well down the field in race two after an early spin, recovering
to 10th.
Ken Lark was in the wars also, his Corrado failing on the second-race
grid after
a promising run to sixth earlier.
The other top-10 finishers from the two races were Dave Turner's
Beetle and Lloyd Allard's diesel Golf, the Vento VR6s of Grant
Woodhatch and
Martyn Culley, Steve
Wood's Golf VR6 and the Mk V Golf TDI of championship debutant Rob
Palmer.
See 2005 series calendar
for VW
Racing Cup
Related Story 29.03.2005 - Claire
Tippet Ready for Race 1 of the VW Racing Cup
