Caygill Top Six In VW Cup After Robust Brands Weekend‏

Second-year Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup driver Josh Caygill managed to retain a top six placing in the championship standings after the penultimate event of the season at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit over the weekend, 30th/31st August, despite two very challenging races.Posting a best result of ninth place in round 12 on Sunday, Netherton-based Caygill was somewhat frustrated with the eventual outcome having been capable of top five pace but his potential points scoring capability was tempered after contact in race one put his weekend on the back foot.Looking to bounce back strongly after suffering ongoing electrical issues with his Scirocco during the previous VW Racing Cup event at Spa-Francorchamps in July, the 24-year-old qualified within 0.8 seconds of the front row of the grid for round 11 with the ninth quickest lap time.Getting away from the line cleanly in Saturday afternoon’s encounter, Caygill’s race soon took a turn for the worse when contact at Surtees from an out-of-control Volkswagen pitched him off the track and dropped him to the tail of the 30-car field.Ending lap one in 26th position, the Safety Car then made an appearance after a separate tangle on the start/finish straight and that was precisely what the Briton didn’t need as he wanted every racing lap possible to try and make his way back through the order.When the action resumed after four laps, the West Yorkshireman set about trying to undo as much damage as possible and over the course of the second half of the contest Caygill displayed strong pace as he sliced his way through into 19th position. Frustratingly, he posted the fifth fastest lap to underline performance which would have been good enough for a significant points haul.Beginning race two from 19th place, Caygill made swift progress on lap one to climb into the top 15 but the Safety Car was again required. The re-start came after a single lap and the second year VW racer started to thread his way through the order, climbing into 11th position by lap seven. Moving into the top 10 on the penultimate tour, Caygill capped a strong drive with ninth on the final lap.“Race one decided the weekend for us”, said the frustrated racer, “There was some contact on the first lap with a couple of cars at Surtees, one of them lost control and side-swiped me and put me across the grass back over to the Indy track. After that, I was dead last and at the end of lap one the smash on the start/finish meant the Safety Car came out.“That ran for about six laps which obviously meant there wasn’t much time left for me to try and recover, I was pleased with my pace though which was easily good enough for the top five. Taking 19th put us down there for the start of race two and when you’re smack in the middle of the pack it’s always going to be tough with cars all around you. Ninth wasn’t a bad result, though, considering.”Donington Park Grand Prix Circuit in Leicestershire will host the final two rounds of the Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup just a fortnight from now, over the weekend 13th/14th September.Provisional 2014 Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup Driver Standings (after Rd12):6th Josh Caygill, 274pts


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