VW Racing Cup: Coggan Takes Pole at Soaked Silverstone

A first pole of the season for Josh Coggan gives the DW Racing driver equal lead of the Volkswagen Racing Cup standings, as the two points put him level with Martin Depper. Coggan, who won last time out as Snetterton will look to take control of the championship here at Silverstone, the longest circuit of the year, producing a pole time of 2min 42.182.

As the rain continued to fall, the 15 drivers ventured out to find space and grip in slippery conditions. Lewis Smith set the early pace, with a 2min 44.772, over a second quicker than the opposition.

Coggan appeared to hold back in the first half, pitting for a check after his first run. As the time ticked down, he made the most of the clear air, dropping Smith’s benchmark by almost two seconds. It would be a position he’d keep as despite improvements from those behind he remained on pole by 1.912 seconds.

Smith had pitted prior to the flag, though lines up second for his best start position of the year. He’ll have his work cut out in the race though, with championship protagonists Martin Depper and Owen Walton setting late laps to line up third and fifth respectively. They would have occupied the second row exclusively, but with the final improvement of Saturday, Rob Allum snatched fourth, as he looks to continue his run of podiums at Silverstone.

The top Hankook Trophy driver would be Tony Prendergast. The JW Bird Motorsports driver qualified sixth overall, narrowly ahead of Jeff Alden, who had been running as high as second earlier in the session. Russell Joyce continued his pace in eighth place, as Mark Wakefield and Matt Evans completed the day on the fifth row.

Further back, Simon Walton could not carry over his Snetterton performance, with last rounds polesitter only eleventh and six places behind his SlideSports teammate. The third SlideSports driver Mark Steel was twelfth ahead of Richard Gilbert. A disappointing session for Jack Depper saw him beached out on track after just a couple of laps, losing his front bumper in the process. He lines up on the back row with Michael Jones.