West Yorkshire racer Josh Caygill produced a determined, battling performance during the final round of the Volkswagen Scirocco R Cup season at Hockenheim in Germany on Saturday, 18th October, to conclude the category’s last ever race in 16th position.

Set to be replaced next year on the DTM support package by a brand new category, the Audi Sport TT Cup, the grand finale of the Scirocco R Cup didn’t quite pan out how the 24-year-old British racer wanted but he still delivered an attacking performance from a lower than expected grid position.

Ending his maiden year of competition in Europe just two points shy of the top 16 in the final driver standings, Caygill rued having his two fastest laps disallowed in qualifying – after being adjudged to have exceeded track limits – which cost him the chance of trying to challenge for the series top 15.

“It’s been a big learning year”, said the Netherton-based driver, “Each time out we’ve been learning something new, but having to get used to new tracks has meant it’s been hard to gather momentum against second year drivers. We need to have a sit down now and think about next year, the Audi TT championship looks fantastic – the new car looks unbelievable – so that’s definitely an option.”

Some two months since the previous R Cup event at the Nurburgring, during which time Caygill concluded his second season in the UK-based Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup eighth overall, the Briton returned to Europe hoping to end the year on a high. Having to settle for 19th position on the grid, though, he faced a tough challenge in the sole race of the weekend.

Making a clean start and running well in the mid-pack, Caygill stayed out of trouble and smartly gained three places on the opening lap to climb into 16th position. Setting his sights on closing down the 1.5 second gap to the cars ahead, Caygill was unfortunately edged back to 17th place on lap two.

Determined to recover the lost ground as quickly as possible, he piled on the pressure to aristocrat racer Albert von Thurn und Taxis but in the thick of the battle Caygill had to take avoiding action, when the German got out of shape after slight contact, and the Briton ended up with a trackside marker wedged under his bumper.

Recovering down in 18th place, Caygill refused to be beaten and after getting back on terms with von Thurn und Taxis he pressured and then passed for 17th position into the Turn Seven right-hander on lap eight. He then grabbed 16th place on the final tour.

“Having both of my best laps disallowed for track limits in qualifying wasn’t the best start”, reflected the former motorcycle racer, “It’s a shame I was involved in the battle with von Thurn und Taxis for so long, if I’d managed to get past a couple of laps sooner then I’d have been well placed to latch on to the next group ahead. By the time I got through, they were too far up the road unfortunately.

“We struggled a bit all weekend really, but it’s still been an enjoyable year and a lot of fun racing in both championships [Scirocco R Cup and VW Racing Cup]. The hard work starts now for next year, there’s a lot to consider for 2015.”

Visit www.joshcaygill.com for all the latest news and follow him on Twitter @Joshracer14

Final 2014 Volkswagen Scirocco R Cup Driver Standings:

17th Josh Caygill, 89pts