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Onslow-cole Crowned Champion After Brands Podium |
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Monday, 25 September 2006 |
Tom Onslow-Cole (New Malden, Surrey) is the 2006 ELF Renault Clio Cup Champion after finishing third in round 18 at Brands Hatch Indy today. Although his nearest rival Paul Rivett (Banstead, Surrey) won the race ahead of Martin Byford (Colchester, Essex), the Total Control Racing star’s lead of 69 points is insurmountable with just two rounds left.
Onslow-Cole was again cautious at the start of the race as the cars charged into Paddock Hill Bend for the first time. Mardi Gras Motorsport’s Stephen Colbert (Northampton) made the best start, passing Onslow-Cole and drawing alongside Rivett as they headed up to Druids, although the Boulevard Team Racing ace held his lead.
Colbert then held up the chasing pack as Byford and Onslow-Cole jostled for third place, ahead of JHR Racing Developments’ Michael Doyle (Gartocharn, West Dunbartonshire) and Mardi Gras’ Robert Lawson (Richmond, N Yorks). The battle for places among the top six allowed Rivett to open a 2.1s gap after just three laps.
On lap seven, Colbert suffered a mechanical failure that ended his race, a broken throttle bracket identified as the problem. Three laps later, Onslow-Cole carried better momentum than Byford through Clearways and passed the Z Speed Racing man at Paddock Hill Bend, only for Byford to regain the place on Cooper Straight.
Onslow-Cole’s next passing attempt also narrowly failed and as he lost speed through Graham Hill Bend, Doyle pounced to surge into third place at Surtees. Meanwhile, Team Pyro’s Mark Hunt (Broughton Astley, Leics) got the better of 16-year-old James Williams (Norwich) to move into ninth behind Boulevard’s Martin Johnson (Alford, Lincs).
With just four laps of the 19 left, Doyle made a bid for second place at Druids. Although he briefly got past, Byford held the inside line through Graham Hill Bend to reclaim the place, with Onslow-Cole following Byford’s line to regain third. On the same lap, Drive 4 Life with SVE’s Niki Lanik (Ashurst Wood, W Sussex) passed Williams for eighth place.
One lap later, Martin Johnson encountered a bizarre accident when his front-left wheel broke free from his car, despite the wheel nuts staying in place. The hugely experienced 43-year-old, who has competed in more Clio Cup races than any other driver, was then a passenger as his car hit the tyre wall at the bottom of Paddock Hill, Johnson fortunately escaping injury.
All the while, Rivett had been consistently edging out more of a gap with each successive lap, eventually crossing the line with a relatively large margin of 4.568s. Byford narrowly won the sprint to the line with Onslow-Cole, edging out the new Champion by just 0.173s.
Commenting on his Championship win, Onslow-Cole said: “It’s been such a long year and the pressure is on all the time – not
just when I’m racing because it’s always in my head away from the
track. It was another tough race today and it’s so difficult to pass
here. The battle with Martin was great fun, very clean as always with
him and a good race to win the title in.”
Race-winner Rivett paid tribute to the new Champion, saying: “Tom’s
done a good job all year and it’s been great racing with him. Today’s
race was about as easy as they come for me. I knew it was going well
when I looked in my mirrors at the end of the main straight and
couldn’t see anyone! It’s great to win again and hopefully we can
finish the season strongly at Silverstone.”
Second-placed Byford said: “Both of my mirrors got folded in on the
first lap so I wasn’t always sure where everyone was around me, which
made it hard to defend. I definitely had the legs on Stephen before he
retired and it was just a case of waiting for the right time to make
the pass. It was then a great fight with Tom and it’s been good to race
against him in the second half of the year.”
Drivers’ Championship standings after Round 18 - provisional
| Pos. |
Driver |
Nationality |
Team |
Points |
| 1 |
Tom Onslow-Cole |
GBR |
Total Control Racing |
480 |
| 2 |
Paul Rivett |
GBR |
Boulevard Team Racing |
411 |
| 3 |
Stephen Colbert |
GBR |
Mardi Gras Motorsport |
337 |
| 4 |
Michael Doyle |
GBR |
JHR Racing Developments |
278 |
| 5 |
Robert Lawson |
GBR |
Mardi Gras Motorsport |
248 |
| 6 |
Mark Speller |
GBR |
Total Control Racing |
242 |
| 7 |
Nick Adcock |
GBR |
Total Control Racing |
235 |
| 8 |
Martin Byford |
GBR |
Z Speed Racing |
233 |
| 9 |
Philip House |
GBR |
PH Motorsport with JHR |
230 |
| 10 |
James Williams |
GBR |
Total Control Racing |
215 |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 13 December 2006 )
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