VW Racing Cup: Like Father Like Son, as Depper’s and Walton’s Feature

A double father-son podium headlined the second Volkswagen Racing Cup Silverstone race, as Martin Depper took the flag, with his son Jack securing his first Hankook Trophy.

Depper (senior) now leads the series by 12 points, ahead of Owen Walton, who finished third behind his father Simon. The older Walton had spent the race battling with M.Depper, briefly leading in the early stages. Both drivers had benefited from misfortune for the front-row starters, with Depper now on 230 points.

Misfortune for the front row ensured a similar podium scrap from race one was back on the cards, this time with Simon Walton holding off Martin Depper for the lead. The two had been in the wars during the opening encounter over the final podium place and in race two, it was all about the lead on the third lap.

An uncharacteristic mistake for Walton allowed Depper to take the lead at Vale, with the championship leader further extending his gap in the standings as the Walton teammates struggled to chase him down.

In a mirror to his race one misfortunes, Rob Allum was forced to sacrifice the lead, due to technical issues on track – falling to ninth at the end of the first lap. Tony Prendergast had led the first two laps after Allum’s misfortunes, but was unable to fend off the experienced Audi’s and Martin Depper, dropping back into the midfield as a result.

Both Prendergast and Allum found their feet in the second half, chasing down Owen Walton for the final podium place. The younger Walton needed to not drop too many points to Depper ahead and would be fortunate as Prendergast, Allum and Mark Wakefield squabbled, holding each other up. Prendergast held on to fourth, as Allum beat Wakefield in a virtual dead heat, the two separated by a mere 0.002 seconds.

Josh Coggan had started at the back after his race one retirement and with no ballast, was easily a driver to watch, along with his fellow back row partner-in-crime Lewis Smith. It would not be a fairy tale for either though, as Smith retired after working his way as high as fourth. As for Coggan, he’d cross the line seventh, just ahead of Russell Joyce, after struggling with damage.

Hankook winner Jack Depper had had a physical on-track battle with Jeff Alden, resulting in contact between the Maximum Motorsport teammates, though it would be the Scirocco who came out on top, in ninth as Alden fell to twelfth, behind Matt Evans and Mark Steel. Michael Jones would round out the finishers.

Speaking to Martin Depper about his race, the 50-year-old was in a good mood, talking about his on track battle with Simon Walton.

“Simon was keeping me honest. I’d just pull away and I’d make a little mistake and he’d be right on me again. He’d just made that one little mistake at Vale and that was all I needed.”

He was proud to share his win with son Jack, who joined him on the podium.

“It’s the first year for Jack. The season started off by me just wanting to show him the ropes, see how he ran and give him some coaching, but then obviously the competitive nature in me takes over. It’s fantastic to see him. Every time we go out, he’s getting quicker, learning the lines, I’m very proud. And now for him to get the Hankook Award, I’m really pleased.” – Martin Depper

The younger Depper seemed even more ecstatic, recording the first Trophy of his fledgling racing career.

“It’s amazing! I didn’t expect to be up here so soon to be honest. We had some great battles with Jeff Alden out on track, got it off the line to start with, which I had been struggling with previously and from then on it was about keeping up with the pack. My pace did drop off towards the end, so that’s something I’m going to have to be wary of, but we’ll sort that out.” – Jack Depper