The final races of the season for the VW cup was contested at Donington Park last weekend with local racer, Simon Rudd hoping to finish the year on a high.
Having overcome clutch issues at the previous round at Brands Hatch, Rudd was looking for a smooth weekend in which he could show his ability, but this was unfortunately not the case.
The VW cup field had their first session of the week on Saturday afternoon for their qualifying in which Simon took to the track, only to be plagued with engine issues leaving him to drag around an under-powered VW Golf. Having only completed a few laps, qualifying was over for Simon leaving him to start race one from the rear of the field with an unrepresentative time.
Team HARD worked to fix Rudd’s machine, but their efforts did not pay off in time for the first race. Once the race got underway, it was clear that Rudd was still battling with a troubled car, managing to hang on to the back of the pack, but not being able to mount a challenge due to the time lost on the fast flowing sections of the Donington Park circuit.
After picking up a few positions through the first half of the race, Simon’s efforts were eradicated when his engine finally lost almost all drive leading to his first DNF of the season.
The outcome of race one meant Simon had to start from the very back of the field for the final race of the season, but thankfully the power issues that had troubled him all weekend, had finally been found and treated.
Having 25+ similarly powered VWs in front of him, race two was never going to be easy in the short 20 minute sprint race, but Simon quickly got stuck in. The race was nearly a lap old when an incident mid pack broke out, which Rudd managed to avoid just before the red flag came out to allow the track marshals to clear up the errant Volkswagens.
The positions gained from the opening lap’s action were for nothing, since it was declared a full restart from the original grid positions – Simon had it all to do again! – With the clear up complete, and the race back underway, Simon was involved in a tight 3-4 car battle for the final top 20 positions. One of which was his fellow Team HARD, RCIB insurance sponsored team mate, Tom Barley (Who had earn a top ten in race one, and was up to sixth in the original race two start before a brief electric fault put him to the back of the grid).
With positions swapping each and every lap between the battling pack, Simon managed to demonstrate his race craft and put on a strong show for the team and sponsors to cap of the season. Once the team mates cleared their squabbling competitors, Simon managed to keep with
Barley as they ran 18th and 19th in the closing stages, again proving the pace Simon had considering just how high Barley had managed to run through the course of the weekend. Rudd brought it home in an impressive 18th position in a highly competitive field of equal Volkswagens.
It may have been a case of too little, too late when it came to solving the engine issues, but Simon kept his chin up and battled through the troubles and was rewarded in a strong showing in the final race of the season. With a long winter break for the series, Simon now has time to work on his plans for next year and can use these highs and lows from his challenging debut year racing a tin top, for the years ahead.