25th June 2019

 

Rounds 7 & 8 of the Volkwagen Racing Cup took place last weekend and following an extremely promising series of test sessions on Friday, driving his Maximum Motorsport prepared VW Golf, Matrix Motorsport’s Jeff Alden was all set to put his Donington Park demons to rest. However…

 

Qualifying P12 on the grid was a more than respectable start and, having made up a few places in the early stages of race one on Saturday afternoon, a top-ten finish was well and truly on the cards. But on the final corner of the final lap, a tangle with a fellow competitor resulted in a broken track-rod end and frustratingly, although Jeff could see it being waved, his car was unable to make it to the chequered flag.

 

A DNF in the first race meant a back row start for the second, which took place 24 hours later on Sunday evening. Aiming to make it to the finish this time, a more cautious start still resulted in Jeff making up places, before the emergence of a safety car on lap three slowed things down and closed up the pack.

 

Underestimating how much his tyres had cooled down, the Golf briefly lost traction following the restart and a quick trip onto the grass at the exit of the Old Hairpin meant another climb back through the field was required.

 

With three laps to go, Jeff started catching and passing cars and was reasonably pleased to have recovered the situation and cross the line in 12th place. However, officials took a different view…

 

“Overall I really enjoyed the weekend. I felt very happy with the car and I know that if I can nail a perfect lap, then the pace is there.

 

“However, a good result at Donington seems to elude me and I was disappointed to be denied a finish of any kind for different reasons: a racing incident and subsequent damage in the first and then to be scratched from the results in the second felt a little harsh. But you just have to take these things on the chin, learn from the experience and put it into practice for next time, which will be rounds 9 & 10 at Croft on 3rd & 4th August.”

 

Jeff’s 2019 campaign is supported by Matrix Motorsport, Old Cottage Beer Company, DE Data, Inspired Business Media, ACCL, HVAC FM and RPM Promotions.

 

ENDS