Dunlop V.A.G Trophy Rnd 1 – Silverstone GP

The Dunlop V.A.G Trophy 2014 Round 1 – Silverstone GP Class A – BATTLE ROYALE TO KICK-START THE SEASON Class B – DOWN TO THE FINISH LINE………

Qualifying

As the reigning champion, all eyes were on Dan Rose to see if he could maintain his pace off the back of 2013. Much to his rival’s dismay, he duly delivered with pole position and a margin of nearly two seconds back to second place runner Stewart Lines ahead of BTCC and WTCC racer Harry Vaulkhard and Paul Taylor. Tony Absolom’s Golf and Martin Culley’s Beetle were not too far away, which demonstrated a tight playing field right from the start. So over one lap Rose may have had the edge, but the race was a different story….

In the Mk2 category, all eyes were sure to be on the start as Jamie Martin had secured an early advantage over Tom Witts and Jason Tingle, and with them mingling with the Class A runners, they’d have to be careful at Abbey corner first time of asking. In Class B, James Dowding impressed by placing 6th overall to be the leading competitor, with the next car in the class in 12th overall courtesy of a strong lap from Mike Smith, just a few tenths ahead of Darren Bedford.

So to the first race of the season, and anything could happen.

Race one

At the start Rose was pressured by Lines and was never given an inch to make an error. Elsewhere, many drivers got off to a disappointing start as the Golf of Absolom was out of the race before the first lap was over, joined on the sidelines by Tony Taylor’s VR6, Andrew Warnes’s Golf and the Vento of Len Simpson.

The Scirocco of Lines swarmed all over the Leon determined to push Rose into a mistake, which eventually came. Rose ran wide and the stewards certainly didn’t miss it. However, despite picking up a penalty for exceeding track limits, it was all academic anyway as Stewart Lines retired on the fourth lap just as it looked like he’d inherit a win on aggregate. Not that Paul Taylor was complaining as he grabbed second place.

The battle for fourth (which of course became third) was an uphill struggle for Vaulkhard as he couldn’t keep David Fairbrother’s Scirocco at bay forever and he lost the place on lap 3. Then as Lines retired, Vaulkhard realised he was now battling with Ken Lark for fourth instead of fifth, but try as he might the VR6 Corrado refused to throw in the towel and on the final lap Vaulkhard relented, so Lark finished 4th and Vaulkhard 5th.

The battle between James Dowding and Darren Bedford was the talk of the race in Class B as the Mk4 Golfs duelled for position throughout. Bedford made up four places on the opening lap and overtook Mike Smith and then fought with Dowding in the closing stages for the victory. He had to wait until the final lap for the crucial move, but as they say “good things come to those who wait”. JamesBark in his Mk2 Golf GTI Championship-spec 16v was able to put two Class A cars between himself and the next Mk2 GTi runner Jason Tingle on lap three for the honour of first in the Mk2 GTI Championship spec class, in a race that saw many of the established runners in the category dropping like flies, with Andrew Aldridge, Adrian Ward, Tom Pitts and Brian Passmore all failing to take the chequered flag.

Class A 1stDan Rose (SEAT Leon Cup #26) 2ndPaul Taylor (Mk4 Golf R32 #1) 3rdDavid Fairbrother (Scirocco #9) Fastest Lap: Stewart LINES (2:27.503 on lap 2)

Class B 1stDarren Bedford (Mk4 Golf GTi #6) 2ndJames Dowding (Mk4 Golf GTi #29) 3rdMike Smith (Mk4 Golf GTi #25) Fastest Lap : BEDFORD (2:37.333 on lap 5)

Mk2 Class

1st 2nd 3rd

James Bark (#85) Jason Tingle (#65) Adam Hance (#122)

Fastest Lap : TINGLE (2:40.754)

Race Two

Just when everyone thought Rose might have it easy in race two, Paul Taylor chucked a spanner in the works and made a cracking start to take an early lead. By contrast, Rose slipped to third on the opening lap after an incident with Fairbrother’s Scirocco and fell behind both Taylor and Fairbrother. Richard Morgan in his Mk5 Golf 2.0tfsi, Ken Lark and Martin Culley in the Beetle RSI all passed him on lap two, but Rose was back into fifth by lap four.

As the foursome squabbled for position, Taylor was able to build an insurmountable lead of around 11 seconds, a lead he maintained to the flag. Culley dropped from the rest of the top six and into the clutches of Stewart Lines, but he valiantly held on to complete the top six. Once again an amazing

start to the season and the fight for the championship has only just begun. There is no dominant force, just a lot of hard work to do for all!

James Dowding got revenge for the loss of the race one class win by just keeping Darren Bedford at bay for the entirety of race two, but it was particularly close on both the track and the lap charts. Mike Smith led the opening lap before Dowding and Bedford both passed him in the space of three laps. The two stretched out a two second gap to Smith by the flag in an all-Mk4 top three in class B

James Bark was denied a double in the Mk2 GTis by the cruellest of fates – a last lap retirement. That handed the bragging rights to Adam Hance in his ultra-reliable Mk2 Golf 16v, leading home Jason Tingle and Andrew Aldridge.

Class A 1stPaul Taylor (Mk4 Golf R32 #1) 2ndDavid Fairbrother (Scirocco #9) 3rdRichard Morgan (Mk5 Golf GTi #48) Fastest Lap : Dan ROSE (2:29.093 on lap 5)

Class B 1stJames Dowding (Mk4 Golf GTi #29) 2ndDarren Bedford (Mk4 Golf GTi #6) 3rdMike Smith (Mk4 Golf GTi #25) Fastest Lap : BEDFORD (2:35.625 on lap 5)

Mk2 Class

1st 2nd 3rd

Adam Hance (#122) Jason Tingle (#65) Andrew Aldridge (#100)

Fastest Lap : TINGLE (2:41.034 on lap 6)

So as the field moves from Silverstone on the Grand Prix circuit to the spectacular arena of Rockingham, the fans are going to be treated to the second chapter of what is promising to be a thrilling battle in the 2014 British motorsport season. Nobody dares talk about calling a potential champion yet as things are just way too close, which only adds to the spectacle of an exciting campaign.

Next Championship round is on the weekend of 24th / 25th May at Rockingham.

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