VW Cup Wins for Wood and Culley at Thruxton as Taylor is Crowned

01 October 2006

The Volkswagen Racing Cup in association with Hankook enjoyed a truly grand 2006 finale at Thruxton this weekend, Golf R32 driver Paul Taylor clinching the championship title and Steve Wood and Martyn Culley claiming the victory honours in a pair of breathtaking races.

Wood broke through yesterday (Saturday) to give the Mk V Golf GTI its maiden championship win, and local hero Culley pleased the Hampshire crowd with victory in today’s tricky damp-weather 12th round.

Taylor led both races but finished neither on the podium, but his Saturday fourth and seventh today earned the Hertfordshire man enough points to settle the championship in comfortable style.

Taylor more than made up for a disappointing qualifying – he started from ninth on the grid – by making an electrifying start to Saturday’s race to seize the lead on the opening lap. His charge through the pack had at least one unintentional side-effect; seeing him steaming up behind, Lloyd Allard moved his Golf TDI over to block the four-wheel-drive Golf’s progress and they brushed wheels, hard enough to puncture one of Allard’s rears and end his race moments after it had started.

Meanwhile, Brands Hatch victor Tony Gilham started from the pole for the first time in his Beetle RSi and was chasing Taylor for all he was worth, with Culley’s Vento VR6 close behind and Wood fourth, up from sixth on the grid.

Lap two brought near disaster for Culley, who was pushed wide and on to the grass up the fast Woodham Hill section. ‘I was fired on to the grass at about 130mph and it was a scary moment,’ said Martyn. ‘Somehow – perhaps it was my grass-track racing experience – I managed to hold it together and get back on to the tarmac in time to brake for the Club chicane.’ Culley’s problems were not yet over, however: his tyres, now covered in damp grass, subsequently provided him with less grip than he was expecting through the Noble left-hander and he spun at 100mph. He ended the lap fifth.

Gilham snatched the lead from Taylor’s grasp on the fifth lap and held on in front for another three laps until he was held up by a back-marker through Club. ‘My Beetle doesn’t have the straight-line speed of some of the other cars,’ said Tony, ‘and I need to keep up the momentum. Unfortunately I was held up, and Steve Wood caught me and I couldn’t keep him behind.’

Wood became the third different leader of the race on the ninth lap, but Gilham was close behind and intent on revenge. Unfortunately for him he was delayed by back-markers once more on the final lap and Wood was able to achieve the win by 2.3s.

It was the first time Wood had seen a chequered flag wave for him – although he was technically a winner at Thruxton two years ago, that came after two cars in front had been excluded from the results for technical infringements. ‘It’s a great feeling finally to see the chequered flag,’ said 44-year-old Steve. ‘It was a really close and very enjoyable race. I managed to get Tony into the complex after selling him a bit of dummy and then pulled enough of a gap.’

Culley moved back into fourth on the sixth lap, then lifted third from Taylor with two laps to go. Martyn’s dad, Barrie Culley, was a superb fifth in his Vento – his best-ever result – ahead of Steve Chaplin’s Beetle, whose sixth spot came at the expense of Caddy TDI pilot Peter Wyhinny, who qualified an impressive eighth and was headed towards sixth, and the pole for race two, when a collision with Chaplin sent the Caddy to the pits with a broken driveshaft.

Michael McInerney followed up his strong Silverstone showing in the Europcar Golf GTI to take seventh, ahead of 17-year-old Darelle Wilson at the wheel of a borrowed Bora, his Beetle having suffered engine problems last weekend. Andrew Smith returned to the championship in his VR6 Golf and took ninth ahead of Mike Kurton’s Golf GTI, Damian Gray’s Vento and Paul Lloyd-Roach, who had had to stop to change his Beetle from wet-weather tyres to slicks. Steve Dorrell and Jamie Turner were the final finishers.

Thruxton’s reputation as a car-breaker held true, with several drivetrain related retirements. Alex Dziurzynski’s Corrado fell from fourth with gearbox problems, similar trouble halting John Quartermaine, Giles Lock and Ken Lark. Adrian Dziurzynski spun his Golf on the opening lap and was collected by Joe Fulbrook’s Bora, while Max Power journalist Nick Trott suffered clutch hydraulic problems in the Polo GTI. Craig Inskip’s Golf stopped early with a blown head gasket.

Today’s showery weather suited Taylor’s machine down to the ground and it romped into its customary lead within a couple of corners, despite starting from sixth on the grid. By first lap’s end Taylor had stolen a 2.7-second march on Culley Jnr, but Martyn found the track conditions suiting his Vento more and more with each passing lap.

‘Dad and I had gambled on slicks and it didn’t look good when there was a shower right before the start,’ said Martyn. ‘But as the track dried the car got better and better.’ Taylor fought to maintain his advantage but Culley whittled the gap away to nothing on the third lap and stole past and into the lead at Church. Taylor soon after fell into Wood’s clutches, and then Gilham’s to fall back to fourth.

Wood had opted for a full set of wet-weather Hankooks and, as the track dried, he began to struggle to stay with Culley. Steve was soon under threat from Gilham who, after seeing off a renewed challenge from Taylor, was gunning for second. Tony’s Beetle found its way past the Golf GTI with four laps to run; he finished 11.9s behind Culley.

But the result could all have been very different, for Culley had had a slowly deflating tyre since before mid-distance. Yards after victoriously crossing the line, Martyn had to pull off on his slowing-down lap when the tyre let go. His Vento was brought to the podium ceremony on the back of a recovery truck.

‘I’ve always gone well at Thruxton,’ said Martyn, ‘but never had much luck here before. This is a great result and a superb way to end the season.’ It was Culley’s second race win of the season and helped him secure championship runner-up spot. Barrie Culley was sixth to add to the family celebration.

Wood found himself in more and more tyre trouble as the race neared its conclusion but managed to hang on to third, some 13 seconds ahead of Allard, whose charge from the back of the grid was a highlight of the race. Alex Dziurzynski, another rear-of-grid starter, placed fifth, with Taylor finishing seventh behind Culley Snr.

Wilson looked set for a strong finish until he and Taylor got a little too close for comfort at the chicane; the youngster backed off to take eighth ahead of Adrian Dziurzynski, Lloyd-Roach, Fulbrook, Lark, McInerney, Wyhinny, Inskip and Smith. Trott claimed 17th in the Polo GTI.

The Volkswagen Racing Cup in association with Hankook enjoys the additional support of Augustus Martin, Castrol, ECM Vehicle Delivery, Europcar, Milltek Sport, Mondial Assistance, KW Automotive, Superchips, TNT Logistics, Turbo Dynamics, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and Volkswagen Financial Services UK.

Final Championship Placings
1 Paul Taylor 228 points; 2 Martyn Culley 200; 3 Lloyd Allard 198; 4 Tony Gilham 186; 5 Steve Wood 148; 6 Joe Fulbrook 132; 7= Martin Rutherford & Alex Dziurzynski 96; 9 Adrian Dziurzynski 78; 10 Barrie Culley 76

See 2006 series calendar for VW Racing Cup

Related Story 01.10.2006 - Taylor Takes Volkswagen Racing Cup Title