On their debut, the Audi TT took victory in the first race of the 2017 VW Racing Cup at the hands of series rookie Owen Walton. The crew started fifteenth, but utilised the changeable conditions.
The top three on the grid; Phil House, Tom Witts and Bobby Thompson made the cleanest start, pulling away from the rest of the field. By the end of the first lap, even Thompson had a 3.5 second gap to Toby Davis in fourth.
Davis had been another driver to have made a quick getaway, scything through the field before his run was halted by Darrelle Wilson. By the second lap, Wilson was the quickest driver on the track, quickly catching Thompson and taking third before chasing after the leading two.
After disposing of Witts, Wilson was soon on the back of House, outdragging him into the first corner. From there he didn’t look back.
He wasn’t the only driver on the move though, as Jamie Bond and the Audi TT of Walton started mixing it amongst the leaders, with Walton even setting the fastest lap.
With the track drying, the Audi and Wilson were coming into their own as one of the few cars on dry tyres. Walton was not about to be held up and disposed of Wilson with two laps to go.
Walton took the victory by 4.1 seconds over Wilson as Bond followed them through into third, completing an unlikely podium.
House dropped to fourth overall having looked comfortable early on with rival Witts taking fifth. The top eight was completed by Thompson in his debut for Team HARD, Tom Walker and Kenan Dole.
“It was a case of tyre choice out there” said Walton to TCF. “The team decided to put all slicks on. I was a bit dubious but it wasn’t all wet. It was going to go one way or the other and it went the right way, so I’m ecstatic about that result.
“I remember coming round in P9, as I started P15 and before long it was P6. From there I could see there was five cars in front and though I could get a podium here. There was so much grip on the circuit because of the tyres.”
