Fulbrook & walker share the wins during 2011 opener

FULBROOK & WALKER SHARE THE WINS DURING 2011 OPENER

Joe Fulbrook and James Walker each made an excellent start to the 2011 Volkswagen Racing Cup with FUCHS Lubricants at Oulton Park yesterday, Easter Monday, by taking a win and a second place apiece - tying the pair on points at the top of the championship standings.
Fulbrook, the 2008 and 2009 Racing Cup Champion, dominated qualifying with a pole position time almost half a second clear of closest rival Walker in his Golf Mk V GTI.
Round one was very much a lights-to-flag victory for Maidenhead driver Joe, albeit under sustained pressure from the chasing pack of Walker, reigning champion Steve Chaplin in his Beetle RSI and the Golf of Peter Felix.
In round two Walker came through strongly to grab the lead from his dad, Richard, on the final lap to brilliantly cap a fantastic opening weekend of the championship.
Ever-consistent Chaplin secured a brace of third places to get his title defence off to a good start. For expected front-runner Aaron Mason, though, problems with his rear brake-bias led to a pitlane start for round one and a finish of just 13th - wholly unrepresentative of the Golf driver’s genuine pace.
Another to suffer a major setback was round two pole-sitter Kieran Griffin. Into the pits before the green flag lap even began for the second outing, a complete loss of drive meant he wasn’t able to even contest a single lap.
Round one: The first race of the new season delivered some superbly close action at the front but nobody had an answer for Fulbrook. That said, his win was by no means easy, with just half a second the margin to James Walker at the chequered flag.
Fulbrook held the inside line for Old Hall to repel the fast-starting Walker while behind the front-row duo Chaplin maintained third ahead of Felix, championship returnee Steve Wood and Kieran Griffin.
Wood managed to get ahead of Felix at the hairpin but at Old Hall on lap two the Derby racer hit back. Running wide on the exit, he looked set to lose out to Wood again but into Cascades Felix had the line covered.
Griffin capitalised on the battle ahead to get his own good run to Island Bend and when the cars re-emerged Wood had been barrelled back to seventh with Griffin up to fifth and Richard Walker sixth - Walker Snr having scythed his way through from 13th on the grid.
He then passed Griffin for fifth at Old Hall on lap three to make the possibility of a sensational podium finish very realistic indeed. Back at the front, Fulbrook continued to stay ahead of the younger Walker, with Chaplin in third only a second adrift of the lead.
The gap between the top five widened and then closed up again on multiple occasions, but each time the order remained static. Then, on lap 10, Richard Walker looked to have made a breakthrough at the chicane but Felix held firm. He tried his hand again at the chicane on the 11th and final lap, but the lateness of his braking resulted only in a lock-up and an excursion down the slip road. Felix held on untroubled in fourth, finishing six-tenths shy of the podium.
“To be fair, I think James was quicker into Cascades than me which made things quite tricky,” commented race-winner Fulbrook. “We all had the pace up there at the front, it certainly wasn’t easy but it was quite enjoyable.”
Walker Jnr added: “I couldn’t really attack Joe like I wanted to but it’s great to be on the podium in the first race.”
Griffin finished the race sixth, just ahead of Wood, with Mike Kurton steering his Scirocco to eighth, the SEAT Cupra R of Jamie Corstophine taking ninth and Tim Snaylam’s Golf rounding out the top 10.
There were strong showings for championship newcomers Thomas Wilson, who placed 12th in his Golf; Richard Morgan, another Golf man, in 16th; Mark Howard - who had been due to debut the new Mk VI Golf GTI, but who raced a Jetta instead, to 19th; and Beetle driver Cameron Thompson, 20th.
Round two: With Griffin unable to take up his position at the front of the grid, Richard Walker effectively started from pole and he made it count to head Felix, Chaplin, and Fulbrook to Old Hall. The round one winner wasted no time in clearing Chaplin to take third out of the first turn before ‘Herbie’ then slipped back another spot behind James Walker. With positions unchanged at the mid-point of the lap, Felix then grabbed a surprise lead from Richard Walker at Lodge.
As good as the move was, his place at the front lasted only yards as Walker blasted back past into Old Hall and Fulbrook then piled on the pressure to Felix too in his attempts to go with the Walker. Keeping Felix very busy indeed, the Bora of Fulbrook certainly looked quick, but he wasn’t able to find a way by.
With the lead group bunching up as the race entered lap four, Chaplin in fifth wasn’t able to get on terms but in the end his more measured approach paid dividends.
At the end of lap five, Walker Jnr managed to usurp Fulbrook for third and around the same time his race-leading dad began to explore more and more of the kerbs and grass as he persisted in running wide at Old Hall and also the exit of Cascades.
Second placed Felix was also driving the kerbs hard and in the end this proved costly, as he had to pit on lap nine with a damaged wheel and suspension.
Although running wide more than he would have liked, Walker Snr never really offered an opportunity to his pursuers - until the last lap at the hairpin, where a moment on the grass enabled son James, Fulbrook and champion Chaplin to shoot past.
Spoiling the prospect of a real family affair with a Walker lock-out for first and second, the moment did supply a true grandstand finish to the race with the top two covered by less than 0.2s at the flag.
Chaplin was six seconds further back in third, just ahead of the recovering Richard Walker, with Wood taking an impressive fifth on his first weekend back and Mason climbing through the order brilliantly into sixth from 13th place.
Kurton improved on his race one effort with seventh and Zoe Wenham, the category’s sole female competitor - and the youngest at just 16, took a fantastic eighth place in her Golf Mk V.
Snaylam and Martyn Walsh completed the top 10, with Morgan the leading rookie runner in 13th.
“I think my dad just used his tyres too much,” said race winner James Walker on the podium. “He and Peter were really hitting those kerbs. I’m really happy with such a good result, it’s a great start to the year.”
In addition to title backer FUCHS Lubricants, the Volkswagen Racing Cup is supported by Hankook Tyres, Paragon, Milltek Sport, Superchips, Ceva Logistics and ECM Vehicle Delivery.
Provisional results
Volkswagen Racing Cup with FUCHS Lubricants
Round 1 (of 14)
Oulton Park International 25 April 2011 11 laps = 29.59 miles
Pos Driver Home Car Time
1 Joe Fulbrook Maidenhead Bora 1.8T 21m 26.307s / 82.87mph
2 James Walker Normanton Golf Mk5 GTI +0.525s
3 Steve Chaplin Maisemore Beetle 3.2 RSI +1.173s
4 Peter Felix Derby Golf Mk5 GTI +2.284s
5 Richard Walker Tuxford Golf Mk5 GTI +3.942s
6 Kieran Griffin Essendon Scirocco 2.0 R +12.106s
7 Steve Wood Ashleworth Golf Mk5 GTi +12.282s
8 Mike Kurton Corse Lawn Scirocco 2.0 R +28.281s
9 Jamie Corstophine Teddington SEAT 2.0 Cupra R +30.130s
10 Tim Snaylam Bolton Golf Mk5 GTi +38.142s
Fastest lap: Richard Walker 1m 55.169s / 84.14mph Record
Round 2
Oulton Park International 25 April 2011 11 laps = 29.59 miles
Pos Driver Home Car Time
1 James Walker Normanton Golf Mk5 GTI 21m 25.693s / 82.91mph
2 Joe Fulbrook Maidenhead Bora 1.8T +0.184s
3 Steve Chaplin Maisemore Beetle 3.2 RSI +6.278s
4 Richard Walker Tuxford Golf Mk5 GTI +7.027s
5 Steve Wood Ashleworth Golf Mk5 GTI +13.377s
6 Aaron Mason Doncaster Golf Mk5 GTI +23.536s
7 Mike Kurton Corse Lawn Scirocco 2.0 R +30.599s
8 Zoe Wenham Tewkesbury Golf Mk5 GTI +34.515s
9 Tim Snaylam Bolton Golf Mk5 GTI +34.713s
10 Martyn Walsh Chipping Norton Golf Mk5 GTI +52.814s
Fastest lap: James Walker 1m55.313s / 84.04mph
Full TSL timesheets: http://bit.ly/fwgptU
Provisional championship standings
=1 Fulbrook & James Walker 86 points; 3 Chaplin 76; 4 Richard Walker 72; 5 Wood 64; 6 Kurton 58; 7= Mason & Snaylam 52; 9 Walsh 48; 10 Wenham 46 etc
Next rounds: 15 May Snetterton 300
Images from Oulton Park on Flickr