Shaun Hollamby‘s return to the wheel of the AmDTuning.com Volkswagen Golf was a fitting one, taking a Jack Sears Trophy class victory at the final meeting at Brands Hatch to send the car into BTCC retirement on a high note.
At his local event, Hollamby tasted sweet success in race one by winning the S2000 class in the returning VW Golf – absent from the series since Croft – at a sodden Brands Hatch circuit on Sunday, after class champion Lea Wood spun out to gift Hollamby a lead he would never surrender.
Battling with the NGTC-spec Exocet Racing Audi A4 of Jake Hill on his way to taking the flag 15th overall, a delighted Hollamby therefore celebrated a popular first win for himself in the S2000 class on his one and only appearance of 2013, having spent an interrupted Saturday getting back up to speed behind the wheel of the Golf driven by James Kaye during the initial five meetings of the season.
“It’s been the perfect day really,” he said. “We came into the weekend wanting to take a Jack Sears Trophy home with us and that is exactly what we got in the opening race. We lacked a bit of pace in race two but the car was improved in race three and we had another strong result.
“The car was reliable all weekend and I couldn’t have asked for much more. We got some good coverage on the TV for both Scorpion and APR, and to have a win for them both in the first race was fantastic. It shows the”
Speaking to TheCheckeredFlag the day before his victory, Hollamby commented: “It’s all gone well; I’ve just been trying to get back into the swing of things really and getting comfortable in the car again.
“I haven’t been in the car for so long that it’s just about getting used to driving it again. It’s a bit of a shame that I haven’t been able to have a clean run with all the red flags, but I’ve enjoyed it.”
Volkswagen Golf in BTCC – A fond farewell for a fan favourite?
Hollamby’s race one Jack Sears Trophy class triumph was a hearty way to send off the Volkswagen Golf, which he first brought to the British Touring Car Championship back in 2010 with the enthusiastic AmD squad.
In its following three seasons the car became a regular icon of the BTCC grid, and soon challenged for top 10 results – including leading briefly into the first corner at Donington’s reverse-grid race in the trusty hands of Tom Onslow-Cole during a competitive 2011 season.
Now the West Thurrock-based team look towards the future for the car after its four-year life in the BTCC.
“Of course it will be missed. We had a good run with it”, concluded Hollamby as he bids farewell to the machine that picked up three S2000 class wins this season in the hands of himself and Kaye.
“It’s been a real adventure for us with the Golf in the BTCC and there have been a number of highs and lows along the way.
“To send her off into ‘retirement’ with a trip to the podium was the perfect way to go into the off-season, and we now need to sit down and have a think about the options that there are for next year.”
AmDTuning.com’s Volkswagen Golf Mk5 in numbers:
3 – Jack Sears Trophy wins in 2013
6 – Top 10 finishes for the team overall
6th – Best qualifying result (2011 – Tom Onslow-Cole – Thruxton)
7th – Best race result (x2) – (2011 – Tom Onslow-Cole – Donington/Thruxton)
93 – BTCC starts