Podium finishing Audi Sport TT Cup driver Josh Caygill moved ever closer to the championship top five during the penultimate event of the 2015 season at Germany’s Nurburgring over the weekend, 26th/27th September, with a best points finish of sixth place in round nine on Saturday.
Delivering a continuation of the great recent form which has catapulted the Netherton 26-year-old into the coveted series top six, Josh looked well on course to match his opening race performance in the second contest on Sunday but a debatable drive-through penalty robbed him of the opportunity.
Even so, the British racer now goes into the final race meeting of the campaign at Hockenheim just under a month from now a mere 9.5 points shy of fifth in the standings – having been 23.5 points adrift at the start of this weekend’s racing – and only 11.5 points away from the top four.
“We had good pace again this weekend, free practice went well and although I was a bit disappointed with qualifying it wasn’t too bad”, said Josh, “If I’d put all my best sectors together, we could have been on for a top three start for the first race but to finish sixth in the points was a good start. Without the drive-through in race two, I think a top five was definitely achieveable.”
Low hanging mist delayed the start of qualifying on Saturday morning but when the session did get underway, Josh posted the 10th fastest time for the round nine grid – less than 0.5 seconds shy of the second row – while his second best lap ensured an improved top eight start for round 10.
Holding station off the start in Saturday afternoon’s race, the West Yorkshireman remained there until lap three when edged back a place behind Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky, but he was able to break back into the top 10 on lap five.
Staying behind Ahlin-Kottulinsky for the next three laps, on the final tour a multi-car tangle enabled Josh to leap into the points-paying top six and he ultimately ended the race just 0.9 seconds away from fifth position.
From the fourth row of the grid on Sunday, the ex-motorcycle racer maintained eighth position during an early Safety Car period before climbing into seventh place on lap five and then moving into the top six on the subsequent tour.
His progress was short lived, though, when officials served Josh with a contentious drive-through penalty linked to the positioning of his Audi at the start of the race. Having been unable to see his grid box due to the wicked glare of the late afternoon sun, unbeknown to Josh the right-hand wheels were marginally over the right-hand markings of the slot and he was penalised as a result.
Dropping him to the tail of the field and a long way behind the pack, Josh managed to close down the significant gap with lap times a match for top five performance and he eventually ended the race 16th overall.
“When we pulled onto the grid the sun was really low and I couldn’t see anything, couldn’t see the grid box full stop”, explained Josh, “There was a marshal to the side of the track who waved me forward and gave me the ‘thumbs up’ I was behind the line, but the right-hand wheels were half a metre over the right side of the box which I didn’t realise – so they gave me a penalty for it.
“I think it was pretty harsh as it wasn’t like I was gaining anything, I was actually on a dirtier piece of track so it was of no benefit to me at all – the guy behind me was penalised for the same thing. It’s frustrating as we could have ended the weekend in the championship top five without that.”
Hockenheim in Germany will host the finale of the inaugural Audi Sport TT Cup season three weeks from now, over the weekend 17th/18th October.
Provisional 2015 Audi Sport TT Cup Driver Standings (after Rd10): 6th Josh Caygill, 96pts
