A last-minute lap for VW Racing Cup driver Jamie Bond puts him in pole position for the final weekend at Brands Hatch Indy. Slightly overcast weather threw a spanner in the works for many teams during the Saturday qualifying.
Going into the weekend, a number of drivers could still win the title, but it was second place Tom Witts who started the day in fine form, becoming the first driver to drop below the one minute mark.
Unsurprisingly though it was Phil House who hit back with the first time under 54 seconds. The benchmark continued to drop as the field settled into a rhythm. Bond hasn’t raced since Silverstone, though immediately became another front-runner in the battle for pole, going second early on.
The drizzle became an issue for many of the drivers and with six minutes to go a number of them filed in to the pits to change the set up. At this point, Kieran Gordon was in second, behind House, thus keeping his chances alive.
Once again the timing screen lit up. Simon Rudd had been struggling, but leaped up to second in the final two-minute sprint. As it turned out though, the only driver to beat House was the Golf of Bond.
Behind him was House and Darelle Wilson. The Scirocco had been off the pace all season, but a years best third could throw up an upset in the championship.
Rudd could only manage fourth with Gordon and Witts on the third row. With his main title rival in second, a sixth place could be disastrous for the local driver who wanted to end the year on a high. As for the other two contenders; Bobby Thompson and Kenan Dole, they could only manage ninth and twelfth respectively.
Due to the conditions, the race time has been reduced to 18 minutes with 2 green flag laps in order to prepare the drivers for the race ahead.