House and Davis split the VW Cup honours
Double Volkswagen Racing Cup champion Phil House admitted he had to “defend for his life” to defeat Simon Rudd in race one, although Rudd himself was not immune from pressure either courtesy of the charging Jack Walker-tulley.
A storming start from fifth on the grid propelled the Scirocco of Darelle Wilson into the lead as the field poured into Turn 1 on the first lap. Wilson’s moment of glory was to be short-lived though, when he slewed sideways at Deene, handing the advantage to Rudd’s Golf. Seconds later, House hit the front with a fine move at Gracelands but Rudd refused to let the leader pull out a significant gap. Elsewhere, Kenan Dole snatched third before the end of the opening tour.
Walker-tulley, meanwhile, was seeking to gain ground after falling to sixth. After moving into fourth by lap four at the expense of Jamie Bond and Toby Davis, the cousin of former series champion James Walker closed on thirdplaced Dole. By lap seven, Walker-tulley moved his Scirocco ahead of Dole’s Golf, but the latter remained close behind. Both drivers were also keeping Rudd, who was swarming all over the back of House’s Scirocco, honest.
All eyes concentrated on the leading quartet as the race neared its end. Rudd continued to pressurise House initially but as the laps counted down, the former had to think more about defending to keep Walker-tulley at bay.
Consequently, House was able to make a decisive break and drive on to victory. Rudd just held off Walker-tulley to claim a hardearned second, with Dole maintaining fourth.
With the top six on the grid reversed for race two, Bond inherited pole position in his Golf. Hopes of race victory disappeared though as an excursion at Yentwood on lap one dropped him down the order. Davis inherited the lead as Wilson came through to second, having made yet another flying start.
Following a brief caution period, Wilson surrendered second with a mistake at Tarzan. House was the beneficiary, chased hard by the impressive Walker-tulley. A strong pass at Gracelands on lap nine altered the positions and enabled Walker-tulley to close down leader Davis.
Once again, Walker-tulley gave his all in attempting to grab the advantage, but it was to no avail. Ahead by just 0.2seconds at the flag, a relieved but delighted Davis clung on to record his first win in the series. House completed the podium, with Bobby Thompson’s Polo beating Dole to fourth.