2016 CHAMPION: PHIL HOUSE

Phil House secured the championship title at Brands Hatch in thrilling form as the 2016 title came down the final race of the season.

Qualifying set the tone for the weekend, the 16-car grid took to the track for the final qualifying of 2016 but it was all eyes on Phil House, Tom Witts, Bobby Thompson and Kenan Dole as the 4 potential candidates for the Brands Hatch title showdown.

House dominated the session before a last lap dash from Jamie Bond stole him the top spot by only 0.003s.

Witts, Thompson and Dole all found themselves struggling throughout only being able to set the 6th, 9th and 12th fastest times respectively.

Darelle Wilson was on impressive form in the only diesel powered Scirocco, setting a 52.771 and only 0.201 away from pole but with 9 competitors separated by less than 0.7s it was the most competitive qualifying to date setting the tone for the day ahead.

As the lights went out on Race 1, Jamie Bond made a poor start demoting him to 4th before heading into a spin at the top of Paddock Hill entering the gravel backwards before contact between a 4 abreast Taylor, Dole, Thompson and Hollamby resulted in the red flags being deployed.

With Bond now lining back up on pole for the restart and with the race distance greatly reduced to just 10-minuites it was all eyes on the title contenders but the drama wasn’t over yet, Dole’s MK5 Golf appeared to have an issue on the starting grid, and the marshals were deployed to push the car away from the grid, ending his title hopes whilst Toby Davis was also pushed from the grid as the cars set away on their green flag lap.

As the lights went out, it was Wilson who made a fantastic start and was in the lead heading into Paddock Hill, but it wasn’t long before Bond reclaimed the lead at Graham Hill. Wilson then ran wide at Clearways sending the white Scirocco into the gravel demoting him to the back of the pack.

Kieran Gordon faced a new challenge this weekend with a new team and a new car but soon found himself side-by-side with Simon Rudd and competing for a podium spot. As the pair battled, this allowed for Witts to close the gap making it a 3-way fight for 3rd place.

As the chequered flag was deployed, it was Bond who took the top spot finished over 4 seconds ahead of House with Rudd completing the podium.

Witts, Gordon, Smith, Wilson, Ivens, Hawkins, and Wallace rounded out the top 10.

With the championship title now down to just two contenders, Witts lined up on the reverse grid in 2nd behind JWB Motorsport’s Kieran Gordon with House sitting behind him on the grid in 4th.

Witts made a great start but House wasn’t far behind, but it wasn’t long before Witts passed Gordon for the race lead allow House to play catch up. House, however, found himself struggling and under serious pressure from Wilson.

Wilson made a superb overtake on House, squeezing his Scirocco in behind Gordon at Paddock Hill demoting House down the rankings. House’ misery wasn’t over yet; Toby Davis was approaching fast and as the pair emerged from Surtees Davis made a move and made it stick pushing House further down the leader board.

With Witts now dominating the race lead, it was now about damage limitation for House and as the chequered flag was readied it was Witts who crossed the line first with Wilson and Rudd completing the podium.

Gordon, Davis, House, Dole, Hawkins, Smith and Taylor completed the top 10.

With the championship lead now dramatically closed to only 18 points the championship was to be decided in the final race of the season.

Nerves surrounded the pit lane, but it was House who kept his cool going in the final race of the season.

For the 2nd time this weekend it was Bond who started on Pole and made a superb getaway from the line with House and Witts following in his foot steps.

House just had to finish ahead of Witts to secure the title, but his fellow competitors weren't going to make it easy. Rudd was trying everything to block and defend from the ever pressing House, but Rudd ran wide allowing House to claim 3rd.

With Wilson running wide at Clearways and entering the gravel, Witts was promoted to 4th but faced Rudd up ahead. Witts was looking left and right and as the pair entered Druid Witts made a move around the outside, a move that is very rarely pulled off to promote him to 3rd.

But the drama of the weekend was far from over. Bond lost power all of a sudden allowing House made the easy move for the race lead with this also allowed for Witts to pass Bond who retired from the race.

House was pulling a slight lead over Witts, but its was drama further down the field as Kenan Dole who was now chasing for 3rd in the championship found himself being passed by Gordon around the outside at Paddock Hill before finding himself in a 4-way mid-pack battle with David, Rudd and Gordon.

With Rudd missing a gear on the way into Paddock, Davis, Gordon and Dole all made a move up the inside demoting Rudd to 6th.

With the chequered flag deployed, House pulled along side the pit wall with his foot off the accelerator to cross the line and claim the 2016 Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup Championship, with Witts crossing the line to claim 2nd in the championship.

2016 was one of the closest fought seasons to date with the championship title being decided by only 24 points and coming down to the last race of season.

Phil House, the 2016 Champion said “Amazing, it's been a long time coming, 10 years since the last one. What a great thing to have Tom up there with us as well, we’ve had great battles all year, and we haven’t touched once all year, and I have to say fair play to Tom for pushing me all the way to the end. That was a hard race; it probably didn’t look hard on the TV but I had no clutch, so I set off and had to stay in 4th all the way around.

I think I'll return next year to defend my title, I enjoy it so much, I enjoy the brand, the Championship the people so ill probably be back.”