Multiple sports car race winner Dominic Pettit is the latest addition to the burgeoning APR Volkswagen Racing Cup grid. The 21-year-old from Cambridgeshire will race a Jetta with backing from his local Volkswagen retailer Vindis Group.

Pettit’s confirmation swells the grid for Easter Monday’s (7 April) opening rounds to an anticipated 24, confirming the APR Volkswagen Racing Cup as the best-supported junior saloons series in the UK.

Dominic has been itching to get into the Volkswagen Racing Cup since his fairytale debut in the series at Brands Hatch in 2010, when he raced a rented Golf GTI to second place. Milton-based Pettit started competing as a 15-year-old in Ginetta Juniors, winning the sports car maker’s Junior Festival in 2006; last year he won nine times from 10 starts in the Ginetta Challenge.

“I have always wanted to be in the Volkswagen Racing Cup but have never had the budget to be able to compete,” said Dominic. “Now Vindis has stepped in to help me and I am so grateful – hopefully I can repay the company’s faith in me with some good results.”

Family-owned Vindis has retail outlets across the east of England representing Volkswagen and its sister brands. Vindis’ operations director Jamie Vindis said: “We were keen to get involved and help Dominic. He lives in our area and is clearly a very accomplished driver – it’s always good to support local talent and it felt like a very good fit for Vindis.”

Pettit’s Jetta is being race-prepared by Kevin Poole’s KPM team – the biggest team in the championship, with eight cars this season. KPM will also field the new Sciroccos of former bike-racing champion Craig Milner and 2011 championship runner-up James Walker, as well as a host of Golfs.

With double champion Steve Chaplin seeking fresh motorsport challenges, the way looks clear for the driver of a Scirocco to take the crown for the first time, although there is a gaggle of Golf GTI drivers on the grid looking to repeat Tony Gilham’s 2007 championship win, the last for a Golf driver.

Heading the Golf brigade is AWM Motorsport’s Aaron Mason, a four-time race winner in 2011 on his way to championship third. There are Mk V GTIs also for former motocross champion Stewart Lines, last year’s top rookie, Tom Wilson, and the championship’s two disabled pilots, Simon Andrews and Philip Morris. Returning 2001 title winner Mike Neuhoff will race the latest Mk VI Golf GTI, and there will be Mk Vs for returnees Richard Morgan and Cameron Thompson and series newcomers David Fairbrother, Paul Dehadray and Simon Tomlinson.

Tony Gilham is not planning on racing at Oulton Park himself, but the BTCC ace’s new team will be there, and will be fielding GTIs this season for Andy Wilmot and Richard Kingsnorth.

The Scirocco contingent doubles from two to four for 2012, with last year’s Brands Hatch race winner Kieran Griffin returning in the Addison Lee-backed car, and newcomer Jonathan Wilson – father of Tom – joining the fray with the ex-Mike Kurton Scirocco.

The 2008 and ’09 Champion, Joe Fulbrook, is to return with the Bora he has raced in the series every season since his motorsporting debut in 2005, and there will be a bevy of Beetles on track also, in the hands of Tony Harberman, Robin Riley and diesel-powered Andrew Smith. The youngest driver on the grid, 16-year-old novice Nikhil Chopra, will pilot the only four-wheel-drive R32 Golf in the field, with SEAT boss Peter Wyhinny completing the diversity of the grid with his Leon Cupra.

Sam Roach of Volkswagen Racing UK says the grid is an impressive and healthy one: “It is an early start to the season this year so it is gratifying that so many drivers have made the effort to get their programmes rolling in time. There are new cars and many new faces, so it all bodes well for a fantastic season of competition.”

The Volkswagen Racing Cup – whose new title backer for 2012 is US Volkswagen group tuning giant APR – features 14 rounds over seven meetings, one of them at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. The series enjoys additional support from Ceva, ECM, Eibach, Hankook, Milltek Sport and Paragon.

APR Volkswagen Racing Cup – provisional entries

Simon Andrews - Golf GTI Mk V
Nikhil Chopra - Golf R32 / Prestige Performance
Paul Dehadray - Golf GTI Mk 5 / Slidesports
David Fairbrother - Golf GTI Mk V / KPM
Joe Fulbrook - Bora
Kieran Griffin - Scirocco R / Slidesports
Tony Harberman - Beetle RSI
Richard Kingsnorth - Golf GTI Mk V / Tony Gilham Racing With Hard
Stewart Lines - Golf GTI Mk V
Aaron Mason - Golf GTI Mk V / Awm
Craig Milner - Scirocco R / KPM
Richard Morgan - Golf GTI Mk V
Philip Morris - Golf GTI Mk V / KPM
Mike Neuhoff - Golf GTI Mk Vi / KPM
Dominic Pettit - Jetta Sport / KPM
Robin Riley - Beetle RSI
Andrew Smith - Beetle TDI / Vis-Tuning
Cameron Thompson - Golf GTI Mk V / KPM
Simon Tomlinson - Golf GTI Mk V / AWM
James Walker - Scirocco R / KPM
Andy Wilmot - Golf GTI Mk V / Tony Gilham Racing With Hard
Jonathan Wilson - Scirocco R / Complete Racing
Thomas Wilson - Golf GTI Mk V / Complete Racing
Peter Wyhinny - Seat Leon Cupra / KPM

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Kieran Griffin, a first-time race winner in 2011, is to return to the APR Volkswagen Racing Cup this season with the aim of scoring further victories. He will again be at the wheel of the Addison Lee Scirocco with which both he and his younger brother Liam – now a BTCC driver – have enjoyed success.

“I’m very much looking forward to the new season,” said 41-year-old Kieran, “and will still be racing in the Scirocco. No dramatic changes are planned beyond trying to develop the car to make it more competitive.” The car will again be prepared by Mark Jenkins’ SlideSports team, and will be one of a host of Sciroccos on the grid.

“It’s exciting to see a new flock of Sciroccos coming in this season under the championship’s new stewardship,” added Griffin. “This will only be a good thing for the racing and image of the Volkswagen Racing Cup. Obviously I am looking for some podiums and hopefully much more consistency.”

In addition to the new title sponsor, the US Volkswagen Group tuning specialist APR, the championship enjoys additional support from Ceva, ECM, Eibach, Hankook and Paragon. The series is about to enter its 13th season and is the sole saloon-racing supporting event to British GT and British F3. This year the championship will also race at Brands Hatch alongside the German touring car championship and at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium as a supporting event to the 25-hour Fun Cup. The action gets underway at Oulton Park over Easter.

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Finally we can talk about this! Yes, we’ve known about this for sometime but our good friend’s at APR Motorsport would kill us if we leaked it. Good friends, huh! All joking aside, this is great news and opportunity for APR’s world domination.

We cover a lot of the Volkswagen Racing Cup here. It’s such a great racing series with a wide variety of VW models banging doors. From Champion Steve Chaplin and his “Herbie” New Beetle RSI to the sweet looking Caddy that holds it own.

The Volkswagen Racing Cup is to enter the 2012 season with a new title sponsor – US Volkswagen Group tuning specialist APR, which is backing Britain’s most competitive and best-supported one-make saloon series as part of a new push into Europe.

Alabama-based APR, one of the biggest names in the world of Porsche, Audi, SEAT, Skoda and Volkswagen aftermarket performance products, has set up its European headquarters in Milton Keynes alongside those of Volkswagen Racing UK, and is set to become not just the championship’s title sponsor but also a technical partner.

APR will assist with scrutineering and offer technical assistance to competitors in the APR Volkswagen Racing Cup. “APR was established in 1997 and has many years of motorsport experience in the USA,” said vice-president Keith Lucas, “and it is a logical progression for us to bring the expertise we have gained to the European motorsport market and to offer it to competitors here.

“Britain is the ideal place for us to start our European program and the Volkswagen Racing Cup is a natural partner for us. It is a great championship and the competitors are enthusiastic and driven, just like APR.”

Sam Roach of Volkswagen Racing UK welcomed APR to the series: “It’s a great fit – APR has built a peerless reputation in the world of motorsport and aftermarket Volkswagen performance parts and the company’s knowledge and experience will prove a major benefit to the championship.”

In the United States, APR Motorsport has enjoyed major success over several seasons in GRAND-AM sports car racing – the team is set to contest the Rolex 24 at Daytona later this month with the first Audi R8 LMS in North America – and also races two Mk VI Golf GTIs and three Mk VI Jetta GLIs in the ST class of the GRAND-AM challenge.

The Volkswagen Racing Cup was established in the UK in 2000 and is entering its 13th season as the sole saloon- racing supporting event to British GT and British F3. This year the championship will also race at Brands Hatch alongside the German touring car championship and at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium as a supporting event to the 25-hour Fun Cup.

- Volkswagen Racing Cup | APR

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Reigning champion Steve Chaplin and rapid front-runner Aaron Mason made it four different winners from the first four rounds of the 2011 Volkswagen Racing Cup with FUCHS Lubricants at an action-packed Snetterton in Norfolk over the weekend.

Marking the championship’s first visit to the new ‘300’ circuit configuration, the racing was as unpredictable as ever, although Chaplin, Mason and Steve Wood filled the podium for each encounter.

Wood, who has returned to the championship full-time this year in his Mk V Golf GTI, was the star of qualifying with a dominant performance and he backed this up with a very close second to Chaplin in round three, and third in round four.

Most importantly though, Wood opted to play his points-doubling ‘Joker’ ahead of Saturday afternoon’s race and so he has rocketed into the championship lead on 186 points, ahead of Mason, who played his Joker for round four.

Following the opening two rounds at Oulton Park last month, former double champion Joe Fulbrook was tied at the top of the standings with James Walker but the Bora driver didn’t have the best of weekends in East Anglia.

After a slide and subsequent spin at the Esses on the opening lap of round three, which resulted in contact with Mason, Fulbrook failed to score with a penultimate lap retirement. However, a superb drive through from 18th on the grid on Sunday was rewarded with an excellent sixth place.

The weekend marked the first appearance of the fantastic new Caddy Van Racer in the hands of Simon Elliott, who achieved 11th and 14th place finishes. Meanwhile, front-runner Peter Felix left the track even before qualifying got underway on Saturday due to problems which his Golf developed in testing.

Round 3

Chaplin managed to nose ahead of pole-sitter Wood at the beginning of the opening encounter while fourth-placed starter Mason surged into the top three as they headed to Riches, before getting ahead of Wood soon after.

Behind the leaders, contact in the mid-pack involving the Scirocco of Kieran Griffin and the Golfs of Richard Morgan and Martyn Walsh resulted in all three retiring on the spot – it also ended Morgan’s involvement in the remainder of the weekend.

Through the infield Chaplin held the lead in his ‘Herbie’ Beetle RSI, just fending off the rapid Mason out of Agostini shortly before the latter’s storming start to the race really came unstuck through no fault of his own.

As he made his way through the second part of the Esses, Mason’s Golf was collected by the Bora of Joe Fulbrook, which bounced across the grass sideways after an unfortunate moment heading into the turn. Mason rejoined 10th while Fulbrook continued until his car expired on lap nine.

Chaplin and Wood were well clear of the chasing pack due to Mason’s removal from the equation but the fight for third didn’t take a back seat – father and son Richard and James Walker in a great scrap with the impressive Tim Snaylam.

Mason continued his charge back up the order and after going fifth on lap five at the expense of James he quickly scythed his way past Richard and Snaylam as they dueled at Riches on lap six. Mason then ousted Walker Snr from third at Riches on lap seven to complete his tremendous recovery to the podium – a slim hope at best midway through lap one.

Second placed Wood began to encounter problems with his ECU, causing him to lose time, so to post the fastest lap and hustle Chaplin all the way was a measure of his performance, just 0.3 seconds splitting the pair in the end.

Behind the top three, Richard Walker remained ahead of son James by a couple of seconds while Peter Lettinga rounded off a superb race in sixth ahead of Zoe Wenham and Thomas Wilson. Snaylam had to settle for ninth after two spins and the Caddy was just outside the top 10 on its 2011 debut in 11th place.

“Fortunately for me Steve had a problem with his ECU cutting out,” said Chaplin. “He’s a formidable competitor and he’ll have a go if he has half a chance so I was mindful of that but also mindful of driving my own race.”

Wood added: “Luckily we had a bit of a gap to the cars behind. The ECU cut out a few times but with a quick flick of the engine off and on I was able to catch back up to Steve within a lap or so. I didn’t want to try anything too aggressive against my team-mate though.”

“The knock I had on the front of the car put the tracking out but that did give me amazing traction for the right-handers”, explained third placed Mason, “so I was able to pick people off quite easily on the brakes.”

Round 4

With the top-six finishers reversed on the grid for the second race, Dutchman Lettinga lined up on pole position and he made a terrific getaway to lead before being bundled back to fourth a couple of corners later.

Mason shot away from the second row and displaced both Walkers at Riches before taking the lead into the infield as Lettinga dropped positions. Soon after, the pole man was also passed by Chaplin and Wood, demoting him to sixth.

Team-mates Chaplin and Wood continued their good progress by getting ahead of James Walker, but behind the lead bunch there was a substantial gap to the remainder of the field following a multi-car tangle early in the race.

Through the mayhem came Fulbrook, a tremendous start already gaining him 10 places, and he closed down a substantial time deficit over the course of the race to be within just 0.1 seconds of fifth at the flag.

By lap three, Chaplin was really on the move and starting to close rapidly on Mason, with Wood third ahead of the Walkers, Richard still leading James, and Lettinga in sixth. Chaplin then took the lead before turning into Riches at the beginning of lap four but Mason didn’t let him pull away.

On the fifth tour, though, the leader ran wide exiting Williams which allowed not only Mason through to retake first place but also promoted Wood to second. On lap six, it was Wood’s turn to go a little wide – this time at the hairpin – and so Chaplin moved back to second some 2.5 seconds adrift of Mason.

The Beetle driver produced a series of ultra-quick laps to get right back on Mason’s case but although rain started to fall during the last lap or two, the Golf runner held on strongly to win and – with the aid of his ‘Joker’ – move up to second in the championship behind Wood.

“It did become quite greasy towards the end, it was a case of just hanging on and taking things that bit easier,” reported Mason. “I was worried about my fifth gear for the last two laps – it was going in but it was clunking. Thankfully it held on. It’s a great way to finish the weekend, I’m really happy.”

Chaplin was just 0.138 seconds shy of Mason at the flag with Wood third and leading home Richard and James Walker. The impressive Fulbrook was sixth from Lettinga, Griffin, Walsh and Mark Howard, with Peter Wyhinny’s SEAT Leon 11th and Elliott’s Caddy 14th.

“I hadn’t really noticed the rain to be fair although it did back Aaron up a bit and things were a bit skatey,” said Chaplin. “I pushed to try to make a move on him but he drove a cracking race, he deserved the win.”

- Volkswagen Racing Cup

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In round two Walker came through strongly to grab the lead from his dad, Richard, on the final lap to brilliantly cap a fantastic opening weekend of the championship.

Ever-consistent Chaplin secured a brace of third places to get his title defense off to a good start. For expected front-runner Aaron Mason, though, problems with his rear brake-bias led to a pit-lane start for round one and a finish of just 13th – wholly unrepresentative of the Golf driver’s genuine pace.

With Griffin unable to take up his position at the front of the grid, Richard Walker effectively started from pole and he made it count to head Felix, Chaplin, and Fulbrook to Old Hall. The round one winner wasted no time in clearing Chaplin to take third out of the first turn before ‘Herbie’ then slipped back another spot behind James Walker. With positions unchanged at the mid-point of the lap, Felix then grabbed a surprise lead from Richard Walker at Lodge.

As good as the move was, his place at the front lasted only yards as Walker blasted back past into Old Hall and Fulbrook then piled on the pressure to Felix too in his attempts to go with the Walker. Keeping Felix very busy indeed, the Bora of Fulbrook certainly looked quick, but he wasn’t able to find a way by.

With the lead group bunching up as the race entered lap four, Chaplin in fifth wasn’t able to get on terms but in the end his more measured approach paid dividends.

At the end of lap five, Walker Jr. managed to usurp Fulbrook for third and around the same time his race-leading dad began to explore more and more of the curbs and grass as he persisted in running wide at Old Hall and also the exit of Cascades.

Second placed Felix was also driving the curbs hard and in the end this proved costly, as he had to pit on lap nine with a damaged wheel and suspension.

Although running wide more than he would have liked, Walker Sr. never really offered an opportunity to his pursuers – until the last lap at the hairpin, where a moment on the grass enabled son James, Fulbrook and champion Chaplin to shoot past.

Spoiling the prospect of a real family affair with a Walker lock-out for first and second, the moment did supply a true grandstand finish to the race with the top two covered by less than 0.2s at the flag.

Chaplin was six seconds further back in third, just ahead of the recovering Richard Walker, with Wood taking an impressive fifth on his first weekend back and Mason climbing through the order brilliantly into sixth from 13th place.

Kurton improved on his race one effort with seventh and Zoe Wenham, the category’s sole female competitor – and the youngest at just 16, took a fantastic eighth place in her Golf Mk V.

Snaylam and Martyn Walsh completed the top 10, with Morgan the leading rookie runner in 13th.

“I think my dad just used his tires too much,” said race winner James Walker on the podium. “He and Peter were really hitting those curbs. I’m really happy with such a good result, it’s a great start to the year.”

Round 2
1 – James Walker – Normanton – Golf Mk5 GTI – 21m 25.693s / 82.91mph
2 – Joe Fulbrook – Maidenhead – Bora 1.8T +0.184s
3 – Steve Chaplin – Maisemore – Beetle 3.2 RSI +6.278s
4 – Richard Walker – Tuxford – Golf Mk5 GTI +7.027s
5 – Steve Wood – Ashleworth – Golf Mk5 GTI +13.377s
6 – Aaron Mason – Doncaster – Golf Mk5 GTI +23.536s
7 – Mike Kurton – Corse Lawn – Scirocco 2.0 R +30.599s
8 – Zoe Wenham – Tewkesbury – Golf Mk5 GTI +34.515s
9 – Tim Snaylam – Bolton – Golf Mk5 GTI +34.713s
10 – Martyn Walsh – Chipping Norton – Golf Mk5 GTI +52.814s

Fastest lap: James Walker 1m55.313s / 84.04mph

Provisional championship standings
1 – Fulbrook & James Walker – 86 points
3 – Chaplin – 76
4 – Richard Walker – 72
5 – Wood 64; 6 Kurton – 58
7 – Mason & Snaylam – 52
9 – Walsh – 48
10 – Wenham – 46

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