Robert Barrable took victory in the final race of the season, as Joe Fulbrook clinched his third championship title after a chaotic season finale in Donington.
Team AWM/Warranty Direct’s Fulbrook crossed the line in the third, which was enough to deny KPM Racing’s Lucas Orrock in the title race by just six points come the end of proceedings.
The season defining race began in dramatic fashion, with pole-man Stefan Di Resta stalling on the grid, as 32 cars streaked passed without contact. By the time the Scotsman eventually he got going, Orrock had taken the lead into Redgate for the first time ahead of James Greenway and Fulbrook, who only needed to finish third or higher to claim the title.
Whilst Di Resta’s close-call had started the initial lap, the end of the lap was overshadowed by the coming together of David Fairbrother and Andy Willmot at Goddards, with the latter crashing in to the barrier, his VW Scirocco R coming to rest on it’s side. Both drivers were okay, but the coming together brought out the red flag.
On the restart, Di Resta failed to make the most of his second chance, again stalling from pole and plummeting down the field, and seeing his vague title hopes diminish. Meanwhile, Brands Hatch winner David Sutton took the lead out front, with Orrock and the charging Barrable in close proximity behind.
With Orrock in second, all he needed were the points for fastest lap to gift him the title, with Fulbrook down in fourth behind the leading trio. However, the 23-year-old was embroiled in a scrap with Barrable for the second step on the podium, with the two exchanging positions for the majority of the eleven lap race whilst Sutton held a cushioned lead out front.
Sutton’s lead however wouldn’t be race-long; SlideSports driver encountered traffic on the final lap, causing the chasing duo of Barrable and Orrock to close-in on the run down to the Melbourne Loop for the last time. Barrable out-braked himself, punting Orrock into the side of Sutton mid-corner. Barrable came out best, and took the flag and the race win for his maiden victory, ahead of Orrock and Sutton, with the trio in reversed order from just three corners prior to the chequered flag.
Fourth place went to Fulbrook, who takes his third title in seven years in the VW Racing Cup, after a nervy series climax. Jack Walker-Tully drove a storming race to finish fifth after starting from the back-row of the grid after his race one troubles, ahead of Team Hard’s Howard Fuller and James Greenway, who free-fell through the order in the closing stages of the race.
James Walker finished eighth, ahead of Di Resta who put in an impressive recovery drive for ninth ahead of outgoing champion , whose poor race start and subsequent damage left him a lowly tenth.
