Another closely-fought APR Volkswagen Racing Cup contest at the Brands Hatch GP circuit this time went the way of Martin Depper, beating Aaron Mason to the flag as the latter inched closer to a maiden title.
Sixth place in race one handed Birmingham’s Depper pole position after the reverse grid draw for race two, the KPM Scirocco driver immediately surging ahead as he led fellow front row starter Henry Gilbert into Paddock Hill Bend, while Mason was quick to gain a place up to fourth.
The AWM/Warranty Direct man sat behind Chris Panayiotou for very little time, diving inside the KPM Golf GTI newcomer at Surtees for third place, although exuberance so nearly got the better of the series leader on the following lap of the Brands Hatch GP circuit when he ran wide at Paddock Hill and fell back behind his rival to fourth once more.
Depper marched clear from Gilbert at the head of the field, extending his lead up to almost two seconds over the sideways Golf driver who then conceded that spot with an off at Dingle Dell that lost him three places down to fifth.
This promoted Mason up into contention as he slotted into second spot, upon which he pursued the race leader Depper until catching him on the final tour of the circuit to stage a thrilling conclusion to the encounter.
With the top four of Depper, Mason, Stewart Lines and Panayiotou all starting the last lap over a blanket, Depper failed to crack under the pressure as he took a narrow win by 0.092s despite a great slipstream almost seeing Mason steal it, the KPM man taking a second win of 2013.
Third went to Depper’s team-mate Lines and another KPM driver, Panayiotou, the top four separated by less than a second while fifth went the way of a struggling Gilbert, who survived despite handling a broken differential throughout the race.
Sixth went to race one winner Nick Beaumont who recovered from a lurid slide through the Paddock Hill gravel trap early in the race, while Joe Fulbrook beat Phil House in a crowd-pleasing dice for seventh that saw the pair alomst side-by-side for an entire lap on the ninth tour of the 12-lapper.
Ross Wylie charged from the back to ninth after his brake problem in race one, ahead of Team HARD‘s Tom Barley in 10th place after team-mate David Sutton again suffered bad luck on the penlutimate lap of the race when he had to park his Golf, Sutton joined in retirement by Richard Morgan, Peter Wyhinny and Kieran Gallagher and Jack Walker-Tulley while Josh Caygill had to join the list when the bonnet of his Golf flew open, smashing his windscreen.
Heading into the final two rounds at Donington with a comfortable championship lead of 64 points, Mason said: “I thought I might just be able to pip Martin at the end there but it wasn’t to be. This weekend has taken a lot of pressure off me for the championship, so I’m really pleased with my results and looking forward to going on to Donington Park and hopefully wrapping things up there.”
