Podium finishing Audi Sport TT Cup racer Josh Caygill experienced a frustrating conclusion to the 2015 season at Hockenheim in Germany over the weekend, 17th/18th October, with a possible top five championship finish unfortunately slipping from his grasp.

 Despite two luckless races at the Formula One venue though, the Netherton driver still concluded the inaugural TT Cup season inside the coveted series top 10 after an impressive campaign in which he made fantastic progress – ending the championship a mere three points shy of the top six.

“This weekend wasn’t how we wanted to end the season, that’s for sure, but things just didn’t go our way from the start unfortunately”, said 26-year-old Josh, “It’s disappointing to slip down to 10th in the championship, it was so tight in the points, but I’m still very happy with the year as a whole as we made some big steps forward and I know I’m driving better than ever.

“I’d obviously love to be back for another crack at the Audi Sport TT Cup next year, that’s what we’ll be trying to achieve as I really think we can mount a strong challenge from the start. Huge thanks to everyone for their support this year – all of my sponsors, it wouldn’t be possible without them, the guys at Audi Sport, my manager Tim Sugden, Jordan Lee Pepper and, of course, my dad!” 

Josh’s weekend didn’t get off to the best of starts when problems with the rear anti-roll bar in practice badly impacted his pace and put the British racer on the back foot for qualifying. Despite that, he had the speed to qualify in the top six but his quickest laps didn’t go to plan and so he ended up 14th on the grid for race one.

 Actually beginning round 11 from 13th position, due to problems for Marco Bonanomi ahead of the green flag lap, Josh launched away well from the line and pushed hard but at Turn Three he had to take to the grass and then had an unfortunate excursion at Sachs Curve which resulted in a trip through the gravel

 Managing to recover back onto the circuit, he rejoined in 16th place prior to the appearance of the Safety Car at the beginning of the second tour. At the re-start on lap five, Josh’s hopes of making quick progress back up the order were hindered by the car ahead which left a large gap to the next pack of cars but he still managed to carve his way through into 13th position.

 Edged back to 14th place before the flag, after being passed by the recovering Bonanomi on the final tour, post-race Loris Hezemans was excluded after failing to observe a drive-through penalty and so Josh was elevated into 13th spot. However, officials then applied a five second penalty to Josh linked to a duel with Sebastian Landy so he was classified in 15th position in the amended results.

 Patchy fog on Sunday morning at Hockenheim resulted in a delay to the start of the final race of the season, for which Josh lined-up 11th on the grid. In the end, with visibility not improving for a while, officials elected to move the Audi race to an early afternoon time slot.

 Aiming to mount a strong challenge from the head of the sixth row, the Yorkshireman’s hopes were dashed on the first lap when he was squeezed just before the entry to Mercedes Arena – resulting in an unfortunate retirement and bitterly disappointing conclusion to the season.

“I really think we could have been on for a good finish in race two but after I was squeezed, the car went over the damp kerb and it was enough to lose the rear of the car”, explained Josh, “As I saved it, the car was sliding towards the inside wall and just at the last minute, as I was almost straight, the front-right wheel hit the wet grass and I slid into the wall – breaking the drive-shaft immediately.

“The issue with the roll bar in practice really put us on the back foot from the start, but we could have done something in the first race I think if the driver ahead of me at the re-start hadn’t left such a big gap – especially as it was only nine racing laps in total due to the Safety Car. It’s a shame how Hockenheim turned out, but there are a lot of positives to take into the winter from this season.”

Final 2015 Audi Sport TT Cup Driver Standings:  10th Josh Caygill, 103pts