Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup - Round 3
Brands Hatch, Great Britain

Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup driver Michelle Gatting continues on her steep learning curve in the series and this weekend finished eighth of the Junior Cup drivers in the third round of the series at Brands Hatch. The young Dane selected by Volkswagen Motorsport and the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission shared the track with a host of racing stars and remains determined to adapt from rear-wheel-drive single seaters to front-wheel-drive touring cars.

This weekend’s race around the 1.929 kilometre Indy Circuit at Brands Hatch brought together a host of Britain’s racing stars, including former Formula 1 World Champion Damon Hill, Mark Blundell, Perry McCarthy, Julian Bailey, Martin Donnelly and David Brabham, all fellow Grand Prix racers.

During the dry qualifying session Michelle finished 22nd on the grid: “I’m having big problems going into the corners way too fast and coming out too slow,” she said. “It’s something I work on a lot, but it’s really difficult to change my driving style from Formula Ford.”

Despite this, Michelle fought hard during the race and climbed into 16th position, eighth of the Junior Cup drivers. “I had a good start and tried to keep my ‘push to pass’ until later in the race, but the guys behind me used it a lot and started to overtake. I learned a lot however by trying different lines.”

The Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup is the world’s most eco-conscious one-make cup, in which identical sport coupés delivering up to 285 bhp powered by bio natural gas are used. The fourth round is a double-header with two races at the Red Bull Ring in Austria (2/3 June).