Austria’s Red Bull Ring provided another fresh challenge for Netherton driver Josh Caygill in the Volkswagen Scirocco R Cup and he produced a season’s best-equalling top 10 finish in race two.
Making his first ever appearance at the Spielberg track, the 24-year-old rookie faced the usual learning curve, but made instant steps forward and managed to improve his pace by a second between practice and the races.
Qualifying inside the top 20 for the opening race, Caygill was edged back a place early on but climbed into 18th position before the end of the first lap.
Before he had chance to try and make a clear-cut move, he had to take to the grass on lap eight to try and avoid the stricken car of Gosia Rdest.
Following a Safety Car period, the action resumed with Caygill determined to make his way towards the top 15.
Getting great drive out of the final corner into the penultimate lap, Caygill edged alongside Pascal Hoffmann but couldn’t quite make the move stick and in the end he finished in 16th position just 0.4 seconds shy of the German.
“In hindsight, I didn’t need to take to the grass, but at the time you can’t be sure of where the car is going to end up”, explained Caygill. “In the practice I had to try and learn the track, plus I hadn’t driven the car for a few weeks, so we weren’t where we wanted to be.
“The first race went pretty well though, I was happy enough with it.”
In the second race the ex-motorcycle racer sliced his way through into the top 15 and moved up into 14th place before the Safety Car was required after a car stopped on track.
After the re-start Caygill unfortunately slipped back to 16th position, but he was soon back into 14th place and remained there to the chequered flag.
Post-race officials served four drivers with penalties for yellow flag infringements – elevating Caygill into the top 10.
“The second race equals my best yet in the series, so I’m happy with that”, said Caygill.
““The Red Bull Ring is a great track and we were learning every session. The times were coming down and in the races I got the time down again – so we’re definitely getting there.”
