An incredible three-way fight for the win saw Phil House come out on top at Donington in the VW Racing Cup. The win will be good news for the JW Bird Motorsport driver who failed to finish in the top seven yesterday after issues.
Paul Ivens made the best start, launching to the front of the grid as Bobby Thompson made the best start-up to second. pole sitter Paul Dahadray had less fortune as he spun at the first corner, dropping to the back.
Thompson has had an unlucky few races and was determined to make the most of the opportunity, taking the lead on the second lap. He couldn’t pull away though as Ivens and Tom Witts broke away from the crowd.
Their battle was short-lived though as Toby Davis’ car was beached in the gravel. He walked away, but the car needed to be removed. With the car fully beached in the gravel, it took a few minutes for the Team HARD Racing car to be extracted.
House had been another driver to benefit at the start with Michael Barrable behind him as the track went green once again. Sadly for Barrable, he found himself in the gravel a lap later after a mistake at the Esses.
The battle for second intensified with Witts diving up the inside at the hairpin. It didn’t work and House got past into third. This became second as he edged Ivens to the outside at the old hairpin. Witts followed him through, catching up with House.
It became an intense championship battle with a few minutes to go. As House pressurised Thompson with Witts behind.
To the disappointment of the Power Maxed Racing crew, Thompson ran wide at the penultimate corner to forgive the lead to House. Witts followed him through, as Thompson settling for third.
Ivens would take a comfortable fourth as a final sector pile up saw chaos behind. From the mess, Kieran Gordon weaved his way through to take fifth with Benjamin Wallace in sixth.
An impressive run from Barrable ended in the gravel at the Esses. (Credit: Nick Smtih/TheImageTeam.com)
