Fulbrook and Taylor are the Donington VW Victors

23 April 2007

With race wins for 2007 championship leader Joe Fulbrook and reigning champion Paul Taylor, the third and fourth rounds of the Volkswagen Racing Cup at Donington Park provided not only interesting results but also some exciting action.

Fulbrook drove his Bora Turbo from pole position to chequered flag in the day's opening race to claim his third consecutive victory in the Hankook-backed championship - overcoming challenges from Taylor and Steve Wood to do so - while Taylor got his title defence back on track in race two with an untroubled win in his Golf R32.

Fulbrook may have had things all his own way at Oulton Park a fortnight ago but the Berkshire man and his Warranty Direct-backed Bora were made to work hard every inch of the way in the first of the Donington dices.

Fulbrook had annexed pole position by a two-tenth margin from Steve Wood in qualifying but neither of the front row men was able to make the most of his advantage come the start of the race.

Instead it was the superior off-the-line traction of Taylor's four-wheel-drive Golf which won the drag race from row two down to Redgate Corner, with Wood slotting past Fulbrook as Joe scrabbled for grip. 'I very nearly lost it completely at the first corner,' said Fulbrook. 'The rear end just went away from me and I was lucky to get it back.'

Undeterred, Smokin' Joe quickly set about making up his lost ground and found a way past Wood's second-placed GTI through Schwantz Curve on the second lap. Two laps later his target was the lead. Taylor, Fulbrook and Wood exited Coppice virtually three abreast, with Fulbrook able to outdrag his rivals for top spot down the Dunlop Straight.

Taylor was unable to fight back, the throttle response of his Golf having gone awry. 'I'd push the pedal to the floor and nothing would happen for several seconds,' said Paul, who slipped behind Wood and back to third on the next lap.

Wood, who was playing his points-doubling Joker card, clearly had his sights set on the ultimate prize and, after tailgating Fulbrook for a couple of laps, swept past the Bora through Redgate and quickly established a handy lead.

Joe shattered the lap record in his pursuit and was rewarded on the 12th lap when Wood encountered gear selection problems as they entered McLeans nose to tail. 'I went for third and just couldn't find it,' said Steve. 'From then on I had to leave it in fourth and hope for the best.'

Fulbrook was not slow to seize on his rival's misfortune and nipped ahead, but despite his gearbox woes Wood was able to stay right on Joe's tail and made several passing attempts. 'I found I was able to get alongside him into corners,' said Steve, 'but then because I was stuck in fourth there was no grunt there to take me past.'

Fulbrook held on in front to take his third successive race win by less than two-tenths of a second. 'It was a great race with Steve,' said Joe, 'and it was just a shame that Paul didn't have the pace to join in.'

Despite his throttle problems Taylor hung on to third ('How, I don't know,' he said) ahead of a fierce three-way battle for fourth spot contested by Alex Dziurzynski, Jamie Perry and Oulton Park hero Tony Gilham.

Gilham's new Golf GTI, which still requires development to find its ultimate pace, just pipped Dziurzynski for fourth at the line, Alex's Corrado hampered by an intermittent late-race misfire. Perry's V6 Golf, which had been in the thick of the fight for most of the race, was a few seconds behind for sixth after losing ground with an ignition glitch on the final lap.

The youngest driver in the race, 21-year-old Jamie Turner, scored a personal-best seventh in his Allard Turner-prepared Golf GTI, in which he was deputising for an unwell Mike Kurton. Martyn Culley, who had toiled long hours to repair his Vento since its misadventures at Oulton Park, could manage no better than eighth, his VR6 engine suffering a mysterious lack of power.

Magazine publisher Graham Johnson placed ninth at the wheel of the promising new Golf GT TSI on what was the Caterham racer's saloon and front-drive racing debut. 'There was a lot to learn but the Golf was great,' said Graham. 'The engine is so powerful that it hauled me out of trouble on several occasions.'

Barrie Culley's Vento placed 10th and Michael McInerney shot from 17th on the grid to an excellent 11th at the chequered flag in the Europcar Golf GTI, just ahead of Steve Chaplin's 'Herbie' Beetle and Peter Wyhinny's Caddy TDI.

Darren Blumson's Beetle was a down-on-power 15th behind Andrew Smith's Golf, with Graham Needham surviving a spin in his R32 to take 16th. Richard Kingsnorth, his Golf TDI having found double its Oulton Park power thanks to Superchips' engineers, was 17th after starting from pit lane and Paul Lloyd-Roach, another with engine woes, took 18th.

First-lap incidents marred an otherwise exciting second race. One was triggered by a spin at Redgate by Turner, whose broadsiding Golf was clouted heavily by Wyhinny's Caddy. Several cars took to the grass in avoidance or were damaged in the melee, including those of McInerney and Johnson.

Just around the bend, in the Craner Curves, there was further drama as pole-sitter Perry lost it and took Wood with him. 'I could see him going,' said Steve, 'and had time to choose which way I'd go around him. I chose wrong.' Both men's Golfs ended their race in the gravel.

All of which left Taylor, his R32's throttle problems cured, out front and pulling away from Gilham's GTI at a rate of knots. Reigning champion Paul guided his Taylor Heating-backed machine to a relatively untroubled first win of the season. 'My season starts here,' he said. 'It was a great race which I badly wanted to win after the problems I'd had earlier and I'm delighted to have done so.'

Gilham again showed strong pace for the Regal Autosport team but could do nothing about catching Taylor; he was 3.8s behind at the chequered flag.

The battle of the race was for third, disputed by Fulbrook and Alex Dziurzynski almost all the way from the green light. They traded places several times and spent many laps locked in side-by-side combat, never once touching, as they fought for the final place on the podium. 'I lost count how many times we swapped places,' said Alex. 'There was nothing between our cars.'

Dziurzynski's Corrado had to give best to Fulbrook's Bora on the run down the Dunlop Straight on the final lap. 'I had no idea I was racing for third,' said Joe, 'and I didn't really care. I was just enjoying the fight - much more fun than winning a lonely race.'

Martyn Culley fared well given his engine woes to take fifth, with Smith claiming one of his best-ever finishes in sixth. Chaplin held off a determined Johnson to claim seventh, while Tony Harberman made up for the disappointments of race one, which ended for him in a gravel trap, with ninth.

Adrian Dziurzynski, a non-starter earlier in the day, survived a spin to take 10th ahead of Needham, Blumson, McInerney and Kingsnorth.

Barrie Culley was another to retire, his Vento getting tangled in Adrian Dziurzynski's spin, while Lloyd-Roach and Doug Ross's Polo were both unable to make the start after first-race mechanical problems.

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.

See 2007 series calendar for VW Racing Cup

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