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NEWS RELEASE: 8 SEPTEMBER 2014

FIVE UP FOR THE CUP AT DONINGTON

The best-supported season in the history of the Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup comes to an exciting conclusion this weekend at Donington Park, where five drivers will go up against each other to determine who will wear the champion’s crown.

Between them, the famous five have won 10 of the 11 races held so far this season. Two of the drivers are former champions, one is completing his second season in the championship, and two are remarkable rookies looking to cap successful introductory seasons.

The quintet is separated by 44 points – coincidentally the number of points scored for a race win. With two races on the Donington card and everything to play for, high excitement is guaranteed…

The contenders are:

Championship leader Joe Fulbrook, 43, from Maidenhead
Champion 2008 & ’09, 2nd 2013, 3rd 2007
380 points: 2 wins, 2x2nd, 1x3rd
AWM/Warranty Direct Golf GTI

He’s won the championship twice but memories of 2007, when he went to the final meeting of the year with a two-point championship lead only to have the crown snatched from him by Tony Gilham, are uppermost in his mind.

Says Joe: “I know only too well how easy it is to lose a championship lead. I only had to finish in the top 15 at the final round of 2007 to win the championship and my driveshaft snapped on the startline. We’re taking nothing for granted and we know what we have to do, and we shall endeavour to get the job done. It’s actually quite exciting with five drivers in with a chance; anything could happen and I’m up for it.”

2nd Lucas Orrock, 23, from Cambridge
First year in championship
374 points: 1 win, 2x2nd, 3x3rd
KPM Racing Scirocco R

The youngest of the five contenders and one of the least experienced, Orrock has quickly established himself as a driver with a big career ahead of him. Like Stefan Di Resta, this is his first season of car racing but his results have been as impressive as his racecraft and professionalism.

Lucas said: “I feel very confident, having scored very strong results in the second half of the season. The points gap between Joe and me is quite small – if I can win both races at Donington, even if Joe finishes right behind me we can win the championship. I’ll be taking a conservative approach and not taking a lot of risks, but then the best way to win a championship is by winning races, and that’s what I’ll aim for. I think I have a very good chance of the title, but if it doesn’t happen I can still look back on a fantastic first season in car racing.”

3rd Stefan Di Resta, 25, from Bathgate
First year in championship
364 points: 2 wins, 2x3rd
JWB Motorsport Scirocco R

Vying not only for the championship title but also with Orrock to decide which of them ends the year as top rookie, Stefan – younger brother of DTM racer Paul – shone mid-season, winning at Snetterton and Spa to claim the championship lead. He slipped back in the points last time out, at Brands Hatch, where his Scirocco suffered a series of knocks.

Stefan: “After Brands Hatch I think my chances are very slim. I just need to go out there and do my best, but I’m relying on the two drivers in front of me to have a bad meeting. So the odds are against me and I feel that I’m the least favourite now, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be trying. I had high hopes of doing well when I came into the championship, and if you’d asked me at the start of the season whether I would win races I’d have said ‘I hope so’, and if you’d asked me whether I thought I could be in with a chance of the championship I’d have said ‘what a bonus that would be…’”

4th Aaron Mason, 34, from Doncaster
Champion 2013, 3rd 2009, ’11 & ’12
348 points: 3 wins, 2x2nd
AWM/Warranty Direct Scirocco R

With 19 wins to date, Aaron has won more VW Cup races than any other driver but, despite winning more races so far this year than anyone else, he finds himself 32 points behind his team-mate Fulbrook. The rails came off his title defence at Spa, and an ankle injury hampered his hopes of a Brands Hatch victory; it continues to cause him difficulty when braking.

Aaron said: “I’ll not be 100 per cent fit for Donington; I should be OK, but it will be what it will be…We should be good there, to be fair. We’ve always been quick at Donington, and there are not too many heavy braking areas, so I don’t think it will be as difficult for me as Brands Hatch was. I won’t be able to close the points gap without one or two of them having mechanical dramas, but there’s still plenty more bad luck out there for people to suffer, so anything is possible.”

5th David Sutton, 24, from Rotherham
Second year in championship (8th 2013)
336 points: 2 wins, 2x2nd, 1x3rd
SlideSports Scirocco R

After a season and a half of knocking on the door of race victory, Sutton broke through finally late last month, winning both Brands Hatch races. He’s 44 points off the top of the championship lead and faces the biggest task of any of the five.

Says David: “I have only an outside chance, but if everything goes to plan like it did at Brands Hatch last time, anything could happen. After my two wins at Brands everyone in the team is buzzing. We all know what we can do now, and I have the monkey off my back; we’ll be going into the Donington weekend aiming to do exactly the same. All I can do is to try my best and let everything else take care of itself.”

A field of around 30 Volkswagens is expected at Donington with qualifying scheduled for Saturday afternoon and two races on Sunday, either side of the British GT Championship decider.