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Seasons Highest Crowd Witness Maiden Win For Speller |
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Monday, 11 September 2006 |
Total Control Racing’s Mark Speller (Hertford) claimed his first ELF Renault Clio Cup victory in round 16 at Donington Park, in front of 56,700 fans at the World Series by Renault meeting on Sunday, 10th September. The 22-year-old rose from fifth on the grid to take the lead on lap four and held off the challenge of team-mate and Championship leader Tom Onslow-Cole (New Malden, Surrey) to win by 3.345s.
After Onslow-Cole’s last-ditch bid for the victory failed, Z Speed Racing’s Martin Byford (Colchester) took second to go with his win on Saturday and Boulevard Team Racing’s Paul Rivett (Banstead, Surrey) took third.
The huge crowd was treated to the best race of the weekend as the UK’s premier one-make saloon-car series produced 12 laps of thrilling racing, the first four of which saw countless overtaking manoeuvres. Mardi Gras Motorsport’s Robert Lawson (Richmond, N Yorks) was the first leader, passing pole-sitter Onslow-Cole before the first corner.
Rivett made up two places on the opening lap as TCR’s Nick Adcock (Bromyard, Hereford) slipped back from fourth on the grid, but the biggest mover was Mardi Gras’ Stephen Colbert (Northampton) who climbed from 10th to fifth, while Team Pyro’s Mark Hunt (Broughton Astley, Leics) also gained five places from 13th.
Onslow-Cole made a successful bid for the lead on lap two at Fogarty Esses but Lawson fought back to reclaim the place on the run to Goddards chicane. Meanwhile, round 15 winner Martin Byford got out of shape twice on the opening lap but was able to recover to battle for third when Rivett ran wide at McLeans in an attempt to pass Onslow-Cole.
With Lawson not having the pace to pull away at the front, the leading eight cars were covered by just five seconds for the first half of the race. On lap three, Rivett passed Speller for second place at Goddards chicane. But on the following lap, Rivett clipped the kerb heavily at the Old Hairpin and slid sideways, using all his experience as a double Clio Cup Champion to correct the car and continue in third place.
At the end of lap four, Speller made the decisive move of the race, passing Lawson on the inside at Fogarty chicane. Lawson had a poor run down the start/finish straight and also lost out to Onslow-Cole, Rivett and Byford on the run to the Melbourne Hairpin.
After a thrilling opening, the race finally settled down on lap five but not for long as Lawson ran wide on lap seven allowing his team-mate Colbert to force his way through. Lawson then arrived at Fogarty Esses alongside Hunt and Adcock, with only the latter emerging from the corner as Lawson and Hunt had a brief trip to the gravel trap.
The action wasn’t limited to the leading positions as Drive 4 Life/SVE’s Niki Lanik (Ashurst Wood, W Sussex) set the fastest lap of the race and leapt four places in the space of two laps to claim seventh place. The experienced Ray MacDowall (Carlisle) followed his younger rival through the field, gaining five places in three laps to finish ninth. The unfortunate Richie Faulkner (Stepaside, Co Dublin), in just his second Clio Cup race, suffered brake failure at Melbourne Hairpin and was sent spinning backwards into the tyre barrier, although he escaped serious injury.
On the penultimate lap, Onslow-Cole ran wide at McLeans as he continued to press Speller for the lead, but still gained half a second as he carried his momentum. But on the final lap his enthusiasm got the better of both he and Speller as the pair ran wide at the Old Hairpin, with Speller recovering sooner to take a commanding lead. Onslow-Cole then made a third mistake by braking too late for Melbourne Hairpin allowing Byford and Rivett to claim the final two podium places.
Commenting on his first win, Speller said: “I’ve been on the pace for the last few rounds and it’s nice to finally
convert a good drive into a race win. I had one of my best qualifying
sessions and although I struggled with the brakes late in the race, the
three behind me were in the same situation. I like Brands Hatch and
usually race well there so hopefully I’ll be able to match this result
before the end of the season.”
Second placed Byford said: “This was a podium I really had to work for
after a relatively easier time yesterday. Once I got some clear track
ahead of me I was able to start closing down on Paul. He was having
difficulty with his tyres and struggling at the corners and I was able
to get a good run at the chicane and steal second.”
Rivett added: “The rear of the car has been tricky all weekend because
we missed testing and the slide on lap four was particularly bad,
although it probably looked good for the crowd. We were kicking up the
dust in a few places and overtaking everywhere and it was a really fun
race to be involved with. Luckily, Tom made a couple of errors on the
last lap and both myself and Martin were able to get ahead right at the
death.”
Onslow-Cole now leads the Championship by 62 points from Rivett with
four rounds left. Rounds 17 and 18 will be held at Brands Hatch Indy
circuit on 23rd/24th September.
The result of round 15 remains provisional pending investigation by the Clerk of the Course into two incidents.
Drivers’ Championship standings after Round 16 - provisional
| Pos. |
Driver |
Nationality |
Team |
Points |
| 1 |
Tom Onslow-Cole |
GBR |
Total Control Racing |
421 |
| 2 |
Paul Rivett |
GBR |
Boulevard Team Racing |
359 |
| 3 |
Stephen Colbert |
GBR |
Mardi Gras Motorsport |
309 |
| 4 |
Nick Adcock |
GBR |
Total Control Racing |
235 |
| 5 |
Michael Doyle |
GBR |
JHR Racing Developments |
234 |
| 6 |
Mark Speller |
GBR |
Total Control Racing |
231 |
| 7 |
Steven Hunter |
GBR |
JHR Racing Developments |
213 |
| 8 |
Robert Lawson |
GBR |
Mardi Gras Motorsport |
210 |
| 9 |
Philip House |
GBR |
PH Motorsport with JHR |
196 |
| 10 |
James Williams |
GBR |
Total Control Racing |
193 |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 29 December 2006 )
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