The VWDRC would like to offer its biggest congratulations to every single person who has been a part of the 2009 Championship.

2009 AGM,Which took place on Sunday 6th December in Northampton, is where we officially crowned our champions and commended our runners-up. Our Thanks go to Brett Hawksbee for presenting this years awards

Well done to James Hodson (VW PRO) and Lucy Matthews (VW SPORTSMAN)for their victories

and Rich Merriman (VW PRO) and Russ Weir (VW SPORTSMAN) for their excellent runner-up performances.

It was a winning weekend for Lucy Matthews who also netted Rookie Of
The Year, and Wagenmeister Driver Of The Year.

The RNJ Motorsport Car Of The Year! went to Rich Merriman.

The Becky Sutton memorial award for services to the club, a huge well done and thank you to Abi, Second year in a row!

We also elected our 2010 committee, which will consist of Danny Allen, Chris Bray, Tom Herbert, Ian Huggan, Polly Naylor, Luke Stevenson, Abi Tether, and Russ Weir.

Full details on the 2009 AGM will follow to members shortly.

Some fantastic weather and some fantastic racing on the first day of the Spring Speed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. VW Sportsman has completed 4 qualifying rounds, and it’s as close as ever with 0.03 seconds separating the top 5 cars.

Martin Ayton posted a time of 14.761 on a 14.74 dial in to end the day number 1 qualifier, followed closely by Holly Baldwin and Polly Naylor. Luke Stevenson and Chris Bray make up the top 5.

Following some trouble at Big Bang with the Panic Attack Buggy, Dennis Cox’s was determined not to miss the weekends racing and decided to enter his daily… a Sharan Auto… Good on you Dennis. MPVTastic

Fingers Crossed for more of the same……

The Volksworld Show, which took place last weekend at Sandown Racecourse, is renowned for its displays of outstanding ‘Air-Cooled’ Volkswagens, attracting vehicles and visitors from all across Europe. It is considered THE show to debut your Beetle, Bus, Ghia etc..

Phil Norman VW PRO 32 from Brickfield Autos is no exception. In just a few short months since the car was last seen on the drag strip, Phil has managed to give the car a 2" roof chop, some lightening work, install a new cage, cover the pick-up area and give the whole car a new custom paint job - purple with candy flames.

Not just a pretty face, the car will be back out on track in less than two weeks at the Easter Thunderball event at Santa Pod, where Phil, who was the runner up in the Pro Championship last year will be trying to go one better this year, and prize the title from James Hodson’s grasp.

This Sunday (29th March) sees the VWDRC at Santa pod for the GTi Spring Festival. NAS Events have kindly invited the club to put on a display of racecars in the show. The weekend will also present the opportunity to get out on track and put in a few test passes which will be invaluable preparation with Easter Thunderball, the first round of the championship just a few short weeks away!

GTi Spring Festival will also give a chance for some of this year’s rookie racers to get together with some of the more established VWDRCers to make sure they are ready for the season ahead. Among the rookies will be Michael Outhwaite in his Mk1 Jetta GL and Alex Hill and Stuart Hodgson in their respective Beetles to name but a few.

For More information on GTi Spring festival check out the website http://www.vwaction.com
Look forward to seeing you there

Well, it's the start of another fantastic season of enthusiast events!

The 9th March saw “Ultimate Dubs 2009” at the Telford International Centre. It was a fantastic event, with some of the finest watercooled VW’s from the UK and Europe on show.
The VWDRC had a 5 car stand in one of the show halls. On display were Luke Stevenson’s space framed 20vT Mk2 Golf, Dan Smith’s Mk 1 Golf 16v, James Hodson’s 10 Second VW PRO Championship winning Mk 2 Golf 20vT, Abi Tether with her Mk3 Golf VR6 Highline and Jacob Bailey debuting his new car, an R32 powered Mk2 Jetta Coupe (a rare sight in this country).

The club were received well by the visiting public, and the magazines took an interest too, with three members being offered features on their cars, and the club also being offered a feature. We will keep you updated with any news!

Associate member Darren Walsh was on hand with his camera and managed to get a good selection of the cars on show, which are available here: Retro-Motoring Photo Stream

STILL Can't find a 16...

Went to Open Sports nationals looking for the ever elusive 16, and came away without one, but got as close as we've been yet on the track.

Managed to run a 17.02 on my first run out in qualifying on Saturday, which was nice, except we'd dialled a 17.5! haha!

Y Then, as these things happen, the harder we pushed, the further away we got., but I also managed to cut some 0.0n lights which was a good feeling.

Then came VW Action and the USB Vs. BWA shootout, we'd taken some extra measures (including a splash of some 'Cool Blue') to get us closer to the 16s, but in the end, the headwind proved to be our undoing, only managing fairly consistent 17.2's, although I managed a PB 60' time of 2.18s

So onward to the National Finals, lets pray for good weather (and a slight tailwind).