Phil House won the opening VW Racing Cup round of the weekend at Snetterton. Despite making a poor start, he worked his way back into the lead to win by almost five seconds over his nearest rival.
Dennis Strandberg lined up on pole and maintained the lead into the first corner as House struggled to get away. As the field settled down, Strandberg looked to build his lead over House, who had recovered from his slow start, to catch the leader and break away.
There was disaster for Bobby Thompson though as he pulled off track with issues. The series leader will be frustrated to have lost valuable points having made a name as the consistent finisher.
Back at the front it was all change as House managed to take the lead off of Strandberg. As for Simon Rudd, he continued to battle with Paul Ivens for the final podium place. Rudd came out on top, quickly closing in on Strandberg who was not as competitive as he’d been in qualifying.
House set the fastest lap, as Strandberg was now only just hanging on to second from Rudd and Ivens. It soon became a five car train as Rob Allum and Kieran Gordon finally caught the leaders in fifth and sixth.
As the time counted down, House took another easy victory taking the championship lead. Strandberg did hold on to second after pulling away slightly from Rudd. It was all change though as Rudd was later disqualified for a technical infringment, breaking rule C3.1.1.
A final lap overtake from Allum saw him take third with Ivens being edged out to fifth, behind Gordon. Completing the top seven was Kenan Dole and Tom Witts, who will be devastated to have lost ground on his rivals. Another poor weekend for Toby Davis saw him take eighth.
TCF caught up with House after he had been on the podium. He talked about his poor start and how his race went;
“I didn’t really get a good start, Paul [Ivens] gave me a good shove to keep me in second place off the start line, which is great of him. I have coached him in the past so its good for him to pay me back.” he laughed
“Dennis in the first two laps really drove away and I couldn’t keep up with him. He made a few mistakes at the hairpin, which allowed me to have a go straight away. I was surprised I was able to break away, but kept up the consistent laps until the end.”
