VW Cup: Allum Wins at Back to Back Weekends

Victory in the second race at Croft hands Rob Allum his second win of the year, putting him second in the Volkswagen Racing Cup standings. The Allumy Motorsport driver started on pole in the reverse grid race, holding the position throughout.

The Nottinghamshire driver left the field for dead on the start as Owen Walton made sure not to leave the Allumy Motorsport driver on his own up front for long. The pair were unchallenged throughout, as Allum gained a three second margin to Walton over the 20 minute event, also securing the fastest lap. Walton’s result gives him the championship lead with 366 points (340 dropped).

As the rest of the field were stuck initially behind Tony Prendergast, it was up to race one winner Josh Coggan to break the deadlock, running the JW Bird Motorsport driver wide at the Jim Clark Esses with Simon Walton following him through. Mark Wakefield would be the next car passed and soon became the star of the second half, reeling in the leaders.

With four minutes to run, Wakefield, who started eighth, was into fourth ahead of Simon Walton and catching third place Coggan. Unlike the leaders, the Mark Wakefield Racing with HSG Sport driver was not carrying any weight and saving his tyres for the latter stages allowed him to make the move into Hawthorn picking up a third podium of the year, his first not on the top step. A five second penalty for Coggan for track limits meant that Simon Walton finished fourth, with Coggan fifth.

Prendergast had started on the front row, but was quickly swamped by the front runners throughout the opening laps. He held his ground for over half the race, as his battle with Clark continued until the ninth lap, when, on his third attempt, the 2018 vice-champion made the dive into Tower Bend work. Prendergast was not to be easily beaten though, retaking the position a few laps later to finish sixth.

The Hankook Trophy went to Mark Steel with a personal best finish of eighth. It was the Golf Mk7 drivers first Trophy of the year and ensured that all SlideSports driver picked up silverware this weekend. Previous Hankook winners Jack Depper and Matt Evans rounded out the top ten, with Evans under severe pressure from Richard Gilbert and Russell Joyce in the closing laps. Jeff Clark’s finish ensured that the weekend finished with no retirements.

Race winner Rob Allum celebrated the momentum he’s built over the last two weekends, delighted that he could make a mends for his time penalty on Saturday for track limits;

“It made up for yesterday’s penalty. To finish third yesterday and end up sixth, with a track limits penalty, it puts the icing back on that cake. There was a silver lining which was reverse grid pole so it’s just converting that into a win. I got a good start, but I knew Owen wasn’t that far behind, so I had to push on and keep him behind.” – Rob Allum

Hankook Trophy winner Steel said;

“I’m absolutely elated. It’s a tough competition out there. So to finish with a Hankook Trophy as a novice does mean the world. There was good racing and I even kept people like Tony Prendergast [and Clark] alive at the end, so I’m really pleased. Credit to SlideSports and the sponsors who got me here, it was fantastic, really, really pleased.”

New points leader Walton was positive heading towards the end of the season.

“It’s all about picking up those maximum points, keeping it clean and safe, that’s what is going to make a difference, towards the end of the season, these high scoring points.”