Victor Cullen is a relative novice but has progressed well in the last number of seasons. As well as running at the front of the Bill Griffin Motors Stryker series and the Alloy Wheel Centre Fiesta ST Championship with LOH Motorsport, he has been double driving with his hugely experienced father Michael in various UK historic series’ at the wheel of their immaculate Jordan Racing Team tended Lotus Cortina.
For the recent Masters Pre ’66 Touring Car race at Brands Hatch, the Cullen duo decided to drive separately, and solo! Michael took his Appendix K Mini Cooper S, while Victor was entrusted with the Lotus Cortina for the well supported race on the full Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit. With testing, as ever, unavailable on the Grand Prix Loop, Victor had used his Simulator to familarise himself with the high speed sections out the back, and qualifying showed that it had been time well spent!
While the big engined monsters took up the front of the grid, with BTCC star Sam Torduff grabbing pole in his Ford Falcon Sprint. First of the Lotus Cortina dominated THC class runners were Tim Abbott and Darren Burke, and they would line up sixth overall, fractionally ahead of the experienced Roy Alderslade. Cullen Jnr was third and had plenty to be optomostic about, having lapped just a few tenths off the class leaders, despite minimal knowledge of the high speed Grand Prix loop. right behind him though, were his JRT team mates Paddy and Julian Shovelin. Included in the almost 30 car grid, were the famous Nick Swift in a super fast Cooper S and of course Michael Cullen in his JRT version, both he and Victor’s cars carrying retro “Des Cullen Cars” rear window stickers!
In the race itself, Victor was on it immediately, slicing past Alderslade to chase down class leader Darren Burke, the pair soon finding themselves in a five way battle for third place overall! When the Abbott Burke car faltered, the young Irish driver was through to take a strong class lead and a series of strong laps saw him establish himself well ahead, with a few bigger class cars between him and his experienced class challengers. At the end of the 32 lap race, with over an hour gone, Victor crossed the line in fifth place overall and taking an impressive class win to boot. Second in class was Alderslade, some five seconds adrift, with the Shovelin pair completing the class podium. As for Michael, he had been embroiled in a hectic battle for second in the THD class but was hit with a pitlane penalty, before retiring with an engine issue late on.
Victor Cullen: “I’m just delighted to have my first English win under my belt and to win it at Brands makes it so special. It was a hard race with all faster cars around us, but we kept clean and once I got the lead we managed to just to get my head down and pull away from the rest of the pack. I must give a huge thanks to the Jordan racing squad who gave me the best car I could ask for and to Masters Historic Racing for running the incredible event. It was really memorable race for me and my family, throughly ecstatic”
Victor and Michael return to Mondello Park this weekend for the second Infinite Energy ICCR meeting of the year. They will compete in both the Bill Griffin Motors Irish Stryker class, and the Alloy Repair Centre Fiesta ST Championship, with the LOH Motorsport team.
Categories