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Hodgetts Wins on Clio Cup Debut at Rockingham |
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Tuesday, 24 April 2007 |
Stefan Hodgetts (Redditch) took victory in his first-ever ELF Renault Clio Cup race in round two at Rockingham on Sunday, 22nd April. The 24-year-old former British Touring Car Championship driver replaced Sean Brown (Billericay) at Momo UK after round one and immediately proved his quality by leading home Total Control Racing’s Ben Winrow (Earls Barton) and Robertshaw Racing’s Chris Dymond (Akeley). The race, scheduled for 14 laps, was reduced to nine laps due to live television coverage of the BTCC race that followed the Clio Cup race.
Winrow started the race from NGK Laser Platinum pole position after
Saturday’s Qualification Races, alongside JHR Developments’ Robert
Lawson (Richmond, N Yorks). The pole-sitter led the 36-strong field
through the banked Turn 1, with Hodgetts climbing from seventh on the
grid to lie second. Team TWC’s Barry Benham (Cheltenham) had the best
start of all, leaping from 17th on the grid to sixth.
Contact between Youth 4 Human Rights with SVE’s Niki Lanik (Ashurst
Wood), Cleland Motorsport’s Jamie Cleland (Melrose) and TCR’s Jonathan
Fildes (Co Meath) ended Fildes’ race before the banked Turn 1 and
brought out the Safety Car for one lap. Fildes, the 2003 champion who
was expected to challenge for the title again, has now failed to finish
either race after being caught up in two incidents through no fault of
his own. Lanik also retired later on lap one, while Cleland dropped
from 16th to 29th.
As the huge field swept through the right-hander at Yentwood, Team
Eurotech-John Guest Speedfit’s Andrew Jordan retired after qualifying
in sixth, while Mardi Gras Motorsport’s Chris Rice (Beverley) also
retired. Dymond stayed to the inside line through Deene hairpin to move
up to third place ahead of Lawson, Z Speed Racing’s Martin Byford
(Colchester) and Benham.
At the restart, the front three swiftly made a break from the rest of
the field and there was also a large gap between Full Speed Racing’s
Chris Panayiotou (Cheshunt) in 23rd place and EPS UK with IDL Racing
Services’ Robert Gaffney (Waltham Abbey) as drivers were caught out by
the Safety Car pulling into pit lane. Almost immediately, Hodgetts
found a way past Winrow to take the race lead, which he would hold
throughout.
PH Motorsport’s Philip House (Harrogate) and In Tune with Robertshaw
Racing’s Michael Doyle (Gartocharn) also made the most of the restart
to gain places in midfield. Then on lap four, Mardi Gras Motorsport’s
round one winner and Championship leader Ed Pead (Northampton) passed
Benham for sixth place and closed onto the back of the battle between
Lawson and Byford.
On lap six, contact between Coastal Racing’s Carl Bradley (Morecambe)
and Cleland Motorsport’s Finlay Crocker (Bathgate) saw the former
retire at Deene hairpin, while the Scot dropped to the rear of the
field. At the head of the field, Hodgetts was now leading by almost
1.5s as Lawson continued to fend off the duo of Byford and Pead in the
contest for fourth place.
In the group that formed behind Lawson, Kangaroo International/SMC
Renault/JHR’s Jim Edwards Jnr (Maidenhead) looked most likely to gain a
place as he swarmed over the rear of Glenn Eagling Motorsport’s Dan
Eagling (Norwich) in 11th and 12th places. Edwards Jnr did finally get
past Eagling on lap eight in a period that saw Benham fall four places
after being overtaken by Double Six Racing’s Andrew Bentley at Pif Paf.
In the lower positions, Team Pyro’s Chris Law (Guernsey) passed the
more experienced Jonathan Shepherd (Sandbach) of Amery Motorsport for
25th place. Edwards Jnr undid his earlier good work by out-braking
himself into Deene hairpin under pressure from Eagling on the final lap
to finish a disappointing 17th having been 10th on the penultimate lap.
Benham was also looking to make up lost ground but found himself
falling to 14th place after his encouraging opening lap.
At the head of the field, Hodgetts had continued to steadily extend his
lead over Winrow and Dymond, setting the THB Clowes Fastest Lap of 1min
31.519s (76.65mph) on lap nine. As the BTCC pit lane prepared to open
for its final race, which is shown live on ITV1, the chequered flag was
shown at the end of lap nine to give Hodgetts victory in his first
major car race since 2004.
Commenting on the win, an ecstatic Hodgetts said: “When you spend two
years not racing, a race like today makes you realise the hunger and
determination you have to be racing again and I’ll cherish this win. I
got a bit lucky at the start to make it up to second from seventh but
then I had the speed and set-up on the car to get past Ben. It’s an
awesome feeling to win on my first Clio Cup appearance!”
Second-placed Winrow said: “I had the run on the inside line at lap one
but got muscled out a little. As long as I finish on the podium
consistently I’ll have a chance of the title so this is a good result
for me. I was looking after the car to mount a challenge on the last
few laps but unfortunately they never came so we’ll never know if I
could have caught Stefan for the lead.
Commenting on his first Clio Cup podium, Chris Dymond said: “The start
was crucial for me and I went straight to the inside and tried to
follow Ben from pole position. I was able to keep pace with the front
two and knew that the three behind me were scrapping among themselves
so the podium place was safe. There wasn’t ever a chance to go for
second place but in only my second Clio Cup race, third isn’t a bad
result at all.”
The results of round two remain provisional while the Clerk of the
Course concludes the judicial proceedings. After the race, Amery
Motorsport’s David Shepherd (Sandbach) was penalised two championship
points and received a formal reprimand.
The next Clio Cup meeting is at Hampshire’s high-speed Thruxton
circuit, where 38 cars are permitted to start championship races.
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