VW Racing Cup: Depper Surges into Championship Hot Seat

A spectacular win for Martin Depper gives the Maximum Motorsport driver the Volkswagen Racing Cup points lead at the end of an exciting weekend at Snetterton. The 50-year-old had to fight for his victory after a four lap dice with teammate Lewis Smith. The VW Cup rookie had benefited from the slippery conditions, jumping ten places in the opening lap. Depper meanwhile leaves the weekend on 148 points, 2 ahead of main rival Josh Coggan, who finished the race third.

Russell Joyce started on pole thanks to the reverse grid format, which promoted the sixth place driver from the opening round. Grid positions though seemed to matter little on the opening lap with Lewis Smith scything his way from tenth to lead at the end of the lap. Josh Coggan had started sixth, but just like in race one had appeared to make the most blistering start, leading by the hairpin, though dropped back after being caught out by slippery conditions at Oggies.

A safety car was called after contact between Matt Evans and Rob Allum saw them park their Volkswagen’s on the infield, as Jack Depper also spun into the wall. There was better news for his father Martin, working his way up to second by the time the safety car was deployed after starting eighth.

Smith initially made the break, but the former BTCC driver was far from out of the competition. After spending two laps closing the gap, Depper hounded the Super Silhouette champion, biding his time and taking a closer line through Bomb Hole. Smith, on the outside line, was up on three wheels, just getting his Scirocco stopped for Murrays as Depper drove around the outside.

From there Depper was clear, setting personal bests and breaking away for his first win of the year, taking the championship lead as a result. Coggan caught Smith in the closing laps, but the Maximum Motorsport driver remained strong, forcing the race one winner into a mistake at Brundle. Smith would take second, his first podium of the season, with Coggan third.

Owen Walton took a respectable fourth for Slidesports. It had been an up-and-down race for the team, but the Audi’s result was an incredible result from eleventh on the grid. He eventually beat Mark Wakefield who had been running as high as second off the start. The #18 Golf remained largely out of trouble at the, but struggled to keep up with the leaders as laps ticked down. Fifth place matches his race one result, a success for the driver who had almost missed the days running after a broken clutch he sustained in qualifying.

Hankook Trophy went to Russell Joyce after picking up sixth for PMR Racing. Joyce had started on pole, dropping back initially in the opening lap as the more experienced drivers found their feet. Like Wakefield he repeats his result from the opening race.

Local driver Tony Prendergast would finish seventh for JW Bird Motorsports. Despite not matching his race one heroics, Prendergast records his best combined weekend in the series. He’d also spent the closing lap holding off Simon Walton. The Audi driver had worked his way as high as fourth, but ran wide at Riches, dropping to the tail of the top ten. He did however record the fastest lap (his second of the weekend), as Richard Gilbert and Mark Steel rounded out the top ten. Completing the competitive field would be Michael Jones’ Golf.