Another pair of wins for CBT Golf at Snetterton / CBT Classic VW Challenge

The CBT Business Travel VW Golf was back in action at Snetterton 19th-20th September having missed the last three Classic VW Challenge Championship rounds at Donington Park, Pembrey and Brands Hatch. Driver Steve Wood still maintains a three-point lead in the championship heading into the Snetterton weekend after five race wins and a second place earlier in the season.

Since the VW Golf’s last outing, at Mallory Park back in May, the CBT-backed car has had a complete overhaul and the team decided to test at Snetterton the day before to iron out any potential problems. It was also decided to take to Snetterton the CBT Ford Mustang FR500 and the Jaguar XKR GT3. The Jaguar hadn’t turned a wheel in more than six years and Stuart was delighted to get behind the wheel again.

Other than the Jaguar having a quick spin on some dropped oil at Williams, all cars ran faultlessly during the test day. Everything was looking very positive for the weekend’s racing ahead and Steve was delighted with the handling of the CBT Golf even though he was now carrying an additional 25kg of success ballast due to his race wins at the beginning of the season. Stuart and Steve had also enlisted Simon Green Motorsport to oversee the running of the CBT Golf over the race weekend, and also the Mustang and Jaguar on the Friday. “Simon Green and his team of mechanics were a pleasure to work with and without them we couldn’t have physically got all three cars to the circuit,” said a delighted Stuart.

Heading the packed weekend of racing was round seven of the British Truck Racing Championship. So, come qualifying on Saturday morning, the Snetterton 300 track was covered in oil and rubber from these 1000bhp monsters! The CBT Classic VW Challenge was combined with the Classic Thunder and Pre-2003 Production Touring Car Championship, making qualifying somewhat busy with nearly 30 cars going for their grid position in the 15 minutes of allocated track time.

Prior to qualifying the CBT VW Golf had passed scrutineering without any issues, although on starting the car to take it for scrutineering the throttle cable had jammed on full throttle. The Simon Green Motorsport team was straight on to it and the CBT Golf was able to line up with everyone else in the assembly area for qualifying. Steve had indicated that he was going to take it gently for the first few laps just to see how slippery the track was due to the trucks and their oil. He managed just one gentle lap when, going into the very fast Riches corner, the VW Golf came to a sudden halt with a broken throttle cable. The car was stationary at the side of the track and the session was stopped as the car was considered to be in a dangerous position. The Golf was unable to get back to the team awning for Simon Green’s crew to get to work on it until after the qualifying session had ended. So Steve would have to sit out the remaining time. It was a very wise decision to move the Golf as Neil Wade in his Classic Thunder Mini hit the barrier just were the VW Golf had been parked at the side of the track!

Ken Lark, Steve’s main championship rival, set the fastest time for the VWs in his Corrado with a 2m 14s lap, good enough for ninth overall behind the very fast Classic Thunder cars. Steve hadn’t set a qualifying time so would have to start at the back of the 27-car grid – if the throttle cable could be repaired or replaced, that is… Simon Green and his team set to work as soon as the Golf was back under the team awning. After originally making a replacement throttle cable from a fire extinguisher cable, a genuine throttle cable was sourced via championship co-ordinator Ian Fowler and duly fitted. It was a relief to everyone that the CBT VW Golf would be able to take its position for the race, albeit at the back of the grid.

Race 1 Saturday Steve lined up in the assembly area right at the back for the 15-minute race. Once on track, the race would have a rolling start and all the cars stayed in close formation during the green flag lap. This was critical for Steve’s progress – he didn’t want any gaps to appear in the formation to make his job even harder. As soon as the lights had gone out on the gantry the race was on. Steve made a storming start which saw the CBT Golf pass five cars before the start/finish line. An amazing first lap saw Steve up to 14th place overall and, more importantly, second in class and chasing Ken Lark’s ninth-placed Corrado, the leading VW. By lap two Steve was up to 11th overall and was catching Ken by two seconds a lap. Next time around the CBT Golf was just three seconds behind the Corrado and up to ninth overall. By lap four, Steve had taken the class lead and was up to eighth overall. He maintained that class lead until the end of the race and took the chequered flag half a second ahead of the Corrado. A few of the Classic Thunder cars unfortunately had mechanical issues during the later part of the race and had to retire, which resulted in the CBT Golf finishing a very creditable fifth overall. Steve also set the fastest Classic VW Challenge lap time, 2m 11s. “The CBT Golf was faultless,” said a delighted Steve Wood. “The tyres started to go off towards the end of the race and I knew that Ken was coming back at me but to win from the back of the grid was an amazing achievement.”

 In-car with Steve, Snetterton Race 1

Race 2 Sunday For the Sunday race it was decided to drop the tyre pressures and make a few other minor adjustments. It would again be a 15 minute race with a rolling start, but this time the CBT Golf would start from fifth on the grid overall and first for the Classic VW Challenge. Ken Lark had decided to invest in a set of new front tyres for the Sunday race and Steve knew he had to make an early break to have a chance of beating Ken. As the lights went out Steve made another excellent start and was hanging on to the Classic Thunder cars ahead. After the end of lap 1 the CBT Golf had maintained its fifth overall and there were now two cars between the Golf and the Corrado. Steve managed to mix it with the Classic Thunders cars for the first few laps and even managed to get past Ian Froggatt’s Subaru Impreza for a lap, going around the outside at Coram. Steve was able to lap a second quicker than the Corrado and, although he was overtaken by Dale Gent’s Subaru Impreza, towards the end of the race Steve crossed the line six seconds ahead of Ken Lark for sixth overall. On his way to another class win he managed to improve his fastest lap time to 2m 10s, a new lap record for the Classic VW Challenge.

In-car with Steve, Snetterton Race 2

The final round of the Classic VW Challenge is over the weekend of 3/4 October at Thruxton. Steve has now extended his overall championship lead to 71 points, 10 points ahead of Ken Lark. Nothing is ever straightforward for Steve and Stuart, though, as on Saturday 3 October they are due to race the mighty CBT Chevrolet Camaro in the Mini Tour Britannia. Some serious thinking and some number crunching will now have to be done prior to both events. Steve and Stuart have had a second and a third place overall on Tour Britannia and would love to get the win, and Steve has never won a championship before. Might it be possible for them to achieve both?