WYLIE TO BID FOR SCIROCCO WINS IN GERMANY AND UK


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Ross Wylie will be a very busy man next weekend. Photo: www.jakobebrey.com

Following his remarkable rookie win in the APR Volkswagen Racing Cup earlier this month, Ross Wylie will face a hectic time bidding to repeat the feat next week. For not only is the Dumfries 21-year-old racing in the Rockingham rounds of the championship but he is also contesting the opening races in the Scirocco R Cup season at Hockenheim in Germany.

Ross will qualify at the German circuit on Friday, race there Saturday, and then dash back to Britain in time for Rockingham qualifying on Sunday afternoon ahead of Bank Holiday Monday’s double-header race programme. “I think it will be something like a nine-hour journey back from Germany,” said Ross, “and it’s going to be a bit of a challenge, but we’ve made a commitment and we’ll see how it goes. I guess I will be a bit tired for qualifying but I will just have to rise to the challenge.”
Wylie will have quickly to reacquaint himself with the feel of the SlideSports-prepared Scirocco which he drove to victory at Oulton Park in Easter Monday’s second round – it is a very different car to drive from the natural gas-powered Scirocco he will race in Germany.

“It’s not ideal just jumping straight into qualifying, but hopefully it shouldn’t take me too many laps to adapt. I got a good feel for the car in testing at Rockingham, both in wet and dry conditions, so I am hoping to go well. Oulton was a great start for me – I put in a lot of preparation work over the winter and I think it paid off. I need to keep working hard to try to replicate that at Rockingham.”

Wylie’s SlideSports team-mate David Fairbrother (Halifax) enjoyed a good test at Rockingham also in his Pall-Ex-backed Scirocco, says team boss Mark Jenkins: “They both went well and it was useful for both drivers that the conditions were mixed.”

Wylie heads to Rockingham sharing the championship lead with KPM Scirocco racer Martin Depper (Birmingham). Round one victor Aaron Mason (Doncaster) is four points adrift in his new Scirocco, with twice-champion Joe Fulbrook (Berkshire) another two points behind.

Fulbrook has the luxury of two cars from which to choose for Rockingham – his trusty Bora, which in its ninth season of racing earned him a podium finish at Oulton, or his new Golf GTI, now rebuilt following a crash in pre-season testing. “I am testing on Tuesday,” says Joe, “and if the Golf goes well then I will be using it, and if not I have the Bora on stand-by.” Rockingham is one of the few tracks on which Fulbrook has yet to win a race. “Although I know the circuit well and I have a good set-up for it, it’s not a circuit that has ever been kind to me.”

A field of 26 is expected at Rockingham for rounds three and four, including first appearances of the season for Paul Wyhinny (Balsall Common), driving a Golf GTI, and Andrew Smith (Sale) in his Beetle.

Also in action, and bidding to maintain their places in the championship top 12, will be Team HARD Scholarship winner David Sutton (Swinton) and his team-mate Tom Barley (Crayford); Alex Dziurzynski (Bideford) in the oldest car in the field, a Corrado; reigning champion James Walker (Normanton on Trent); and Golf GTI men Josh Caygill (Netherton),Philip Morris (Congleton), Andy Wilmot (Dartford) and Jim Cartwright (Derby).

Cartwright, who finished on the podium in round one, will be looking to bounce back to the podium after his car-bending accident in the second Oulton Park race .


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