Congrats to Steve Chaplin, claiming a 2nd and a 3rd in his New Beetle RSI!
Didge Dziurzynski, the driver with the greatest number of race wins in the 2009 Volkswagen Racing Cup, opened his account in the 2010 championship in fine style yesterday (Monday) at Oulton Park, driving his West End Precision Golf GTI to a win, a second place and a new lap record.
Thanks to his Oulton successes the 26-year-old from Bournemouth heads the Fuchs Lubricants-backed championship by a 10-point margin from the other Oulton race winner, Derby-based Golf GTI pilot Peter Felix.
Dziurzynski’s win came in the first of the day’s races, which had to be stopped and restarted after a multi-car pile-up on the opening lap left several cars out of action: of the 28 cars which took part in qualifying, only 25 took the restart. Didge started from the pole but was beaten back to third on the opening lap by James Walker’s Golf GTI and the ‘Herbie’ Beetle of Steve Chaplin. Dziurzynski found his way by Chaplin for second at Old Hall Corner on the third lap and, two laps later, squeezed by Walker for the lead.
Didge went on to a 0.7s win, declaring himself “ecstatic” with his victory. “It’s a great start to the season – the car performed brilliantly and the racing was excellent.”
Chaplin bumped Walker back to third – James complaining of a lack of straight-line speed – with three laps to go. “It’s a much better start to my season than I had last year,” said Steve.
Felix held fifth for much of the race but outsmarted Golf man Aaron Mason to deprive him of fourth with a couple of laps to run, with Kieran Griffin completing the top six in the Addison Lee Scirocco to claim his best-yet race finish and earn the pole for the second race under the reverse-grid rule.
Tim Snaylam’s Golf headed home SEAT UK boss Peter Wyhinny for seventh, Peter at the wheel not of a Volkswagen but a SEAT Leon Cupra promotional car, which enjoyed an encouraging debut. Michael Kurton’s Scirocco and the Corrado of championship returnee Alex Dziurzynski completed the top 10.
The championship’s two disabled drivers, Simon Andrews and Phil Morris, both enjoyed encouraging race debuts. Andrews raced his Golf GTI from 24th on the grid to 14th at the chequered flag, just ahead of the RAC-liveried Caddy of Simon Elliott, while Morris, in the Team Fuchs Titan Race Golf, claimed 20th.
Among the disappointed non-finishers were the Culley family, Martyn and Barrie, whose cars developed mechanical dramas, and Richard Styrin, whose Golf was tapped into the barriers on the opening lap.
A fast-starting James Walker held the round two lead briefly before Felix, who started from third on the grid, took command. Despite still being hampered by a lack of straight-line speed, Walker gamely chased the leading Golf until he fell into Didge Dziurzynski’s clutches five laps from the end.
By this stage Felix was 2.7s up the road. Dziurzynski did all he could to reel the leader in, reducing the deficit to half a second on the penultimate lap, but in the end Didge ran out of laps to achieve his second win of the day. “I was having a few braking problems,” he said, “and then on the last lap at one point I went in too hot and lost a lot of time. I knew it was the last lap and I had to give it everything. Fair play to Peter: he drove a fantastic race.”
Felix was delighted with his maiden Volkswagen Racing Cup win: “I was really under pressure there but I managed to hang on and make it difficult for Didge. This win has been a long time coming and hopefully will be the first of many.”
Chaplin fell back to sixth with a missed gear at the start of the race but battled through to claim the final slot on the podium with Herbie, just ahead of Griffin. Golf men Sam Edwards and Snaylam finished fifth and sixth, with Wyhinny went one better in the SEAT this time to take seventh ahead of Kurton and Daniel Walker’s new Golf.
Paul Taylor made the most of his R32′s four-wheel-drive traction to rocket into fourth on the opening lap but suffered damage in contact with another car and slipped to 10th by the end. Styrin bounced back from his first-race dramas to take 13th, with Andrews 15th – again one place ahead of the Elliott Caddy – and Morris 19th.
The Volkswagen Racing Cup with Fuchs Lubricants is additionally supported by Augustus Martin, Ceva Logistics, ECM Vehicle Delivery, Hankook, Milltek Sport, KW Automotive, Superchips and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.
Provisional results
Volkswagen Racing Cup with Fuchs Lubricants
Round 1 (of 14)
Oulton Park 5/4/2010 8 laps = 21.54 miles
Pos – Driver – Home – Car – Time
1 – Didge Dziurzynski – Bournemouth – Golf GTI – 15m 44.025s
2 – Steve Chaplin – Maisemore – Beetle RSI – +0.690s
3 – James Walker – Normanton-on-Trent – Golf GTI +2.015s
4 – Peter Felix – Derby – Golf GTI – +3.250s
5 – Aaron Mason – Doncaster – Golf GTI – +3.719s
6 – Kieran Griffin – Essendon – Scirocco R – +6.628s
7 – Tim Snaylam – Bolton – Golf GTI – +13.197s
8 – Peter Wyhinny – Solihull – SEAT Leon Cupra – +14.378s
9 – Michael Kurton – Corse Lawn – Scirocco R – +14.597s
10 – Alex Dziurzynski – Exeter – Corrado GTI – +23.959s
Fastest lap: Didge Dziurzynski 1m 56.502s / 83.18mph
Round 2
Oulton Park 5/4/2010 11 laps = 29.61 miles
Pos – Driver – Home – Car – Time
1 – Peter Felix – Derby – Golf GTI – 21m 35.117s
2 – Didge Dziurzynski – Bournemouth – Golf GTI – +2.769s
3 – Steve Chaplin – Maisemore – Beetle RSI – +8.621s
4 – Kieran Griffin – Essendon – Scirocco R – +8.760s
5 – Sam Edwards – Aylesbury – Golf GTI – +15.492s
6 – Tim Snaylam – Bolton – Golf GTI – +23.542s
7 – Peter Wyhinny – Solihull – SEAT Leon Cupra – +25.761s
8 – Michael Kurton – Corse Lawn – Scirocco R – +25.973s
9 – Daniel Walker – Newark – Golf GTI – +29.682s
10 – Paul Taylor – Great Amwell – Golf R32 – +41.737s
Fastest lap: Didge Dziurzynski 1m 55.835s / 83.66mph Record
Provisional championship standings
1 Didge Dziurzynski 90 points
2 Felix 80
3 Chaplin 78
4 Griffin 68
5 Snaylam 62
6 James Walker 60
7 Edwards & Kurton 58
9 Mason 52
10 Daniel Walker & Alex Dziurzynski 50 etc.
Next races: Zandvoort, Netherlands 21/22 May
Looking for more? Have a look below.
- Bumper grid for Volkswagen Racing Cup’s 10th birthday season
- Volkswagen Racing Cup: Donington double for Didge Dziurzynski
- Volkswagen Racing Cup: Golf victories at Snetterton for Dziurzynski and Walker
- Volkswagen Racing Cup: Didge Dziurzynski to debut new Golf at Rockingham
- Volkswagen Racing Cup: Wins for Taylor and Dziurzynski at Oulton Park season opener
