A fantastic battle in the near-275-hp bio natural gas Scirocco (80 per cent less CO2 emissions) across almost the entire 26-lap race distance was fought by Johnny Herbert and Mark Blundell, which Blundell, the former team colleague of Mika Häkkinen, in the end decided in his favour. Blundell finished third. Herbert saw the chequered flag in fifth place. Ex-Formula 1 driver Martin Brundle, who had finished the season opener at Hockenheim on the podium, in third place, had to settle for seventh place this time. Derek Bell completed the field of Legends in the Scirocco R-Cup in 22nd place. An unfortunate loser of the sixth round on the 1.929-kilometre circuit was the Indian Aditya Patel, who slipped into the gravel trap shortly after the start and retired.
Thanks to the push-to-pass function which allows the drivers to use a power boost of 50 hp by pushing a button the spectators at Brands Hatch in the United Kingdom saw duels galore and remarkable overtaking manoeuvres.
Damon Hill, Anthony Hamilton and Top Gears' The Stig are guests of Volkswagen
Numerous prominent motorsport figures would not miss the pleasure of watching four former British Formula 1 racers compete against talented young drivers in the Scirocco R-Cup. In addition to Formula 1 World Champion Damon Hill, the father of McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton, Perry McCarthy (known as the former Stig in the BBC show Top Gear) and Formula 1 constructors' legend Gary Anderson were guests at the Volkswagen Hospitality at Brands Hatch. "I'm particularly impressed with the strong performance shown by Mark Blundell," said Damon Hill. "It was a wonderful race, I'm thrilled with my old friends and the young talent here in the Scirocco R-Cup."
Kris Nissen, Volkswagen Motorsport Director: "We saw a very captivating race, push-to-pass worked well at Brands Hatch too. I'm thrilled with the powerful performance demonstrated by Mark Blundell and Johnny Herbert on the track because the permanent entrants have as many as five races under their belt in this car this season. Particularly here in the UK it is obvious that the Legends in our Scirocco R-Cup have inspired a lot of pleasure and enthusiasm with the spectators, the media and in the paddock. Our Juniors Kris Heidorn and Jann-Hendrik Ubben have shown a solid performance on this difficult track."
#52 - Martin Brundle (United Kingdom)
Qualifying: 10th place - race: 7th "It was a fantastic race and great fun competing against the young talent and my old colleagues. Obviously, we all wanted to beat each other - once a racer, always a racer. But Mark did the best job this time. He was really very quick here. I fell short a little this time compared with Hockenheim, but I'm pleased nevertheless."
#6 - Mark Blundell (United Kingdom)
Qualifying: 3rd place - race: 3rd "I'm surprised that I'm the best Legend because I drove the car for the first time this weekend. Experience is very important at Brands Hatch. That also goes for my overtaking manoeuvre in Paddock Hill Bend. Passing someone on the outside there is always exciting. All in all it was a great weekend. Many thanks to Volkswagen. Well done to the young drivers who drove a very good, clean race."
#51 - Johnny Herbert (United Kingdom)
Qualifying: 6th place - race: 5th "My start was very good and then I had a nice fight with Mark. But he was simply too quick for me. The Scirocco is very good to drive as soon as you've gotten used to the car a bit. Then you can fight some splendid duels, not least thanks to the clever push-to-pass system."
#4 - Kris Heidorn (Germany)
Qualifying: 1st place - race: 1st "It's a great feeling to clinch one's first victory on this tradition-steeped track which requires a lot of courage. Finishing in front of the Legends entrants is always good - but beating four ex-Formula 1 racers on their home circuit is incredible."
#20 - Maciek Steinhof (Poland)
Qualifying: 5th place - race: 4th "I had a good start and had firmly set my sights on a podium position but I simply made too many mistakes this time. The manoeuvre by Mark Blundell, when he overtook me on the outside, was impressive. Well done."
#2 - Jann-Hendrik Ubben (Ihlow)
Qualifying: 2nd place - race: 2nd "I'm on a roll right now. I proved that in the past few races. I just wanted to grab a lot of points here. Of course it's fantastic that I managed to clinch second place. At the end I had quite a bit of understeer that's why the situation with Mark Blundell was pretty tight."