Rookie ELF Renault Clio Cup sensation Andrew Herron is delighted to confirm
his participation in the upcoming 2007 Winter Championship after agreeing a late
deal to continue with the crack JHR Developments squad for the annual four round
series.
The 19-year-old Brian Herron Contracts backed racer, who made his saloon
car  debut in the regular Clio Cup season with JHR at the start of the year,
enters the winter series with a genuine opportunity to challenge for title
success having achieved his first ever Clio Cup podium at Thruxton during the
penultimate race of the main 2007 campaign.
Residing in Dromore, Co. Down, the Northern Ireland youngster is rapidly
gaining a superb reputation as an incredibly naturally gifted racer,
particularly considering his lack of experience in cars and relatively limited
karting career, and he is aiming to not only achieve his first ever Clio Cup
victory but to also mount a sustained winter title bid.
“It’s good to be doing the winter series with JHR, we know we’ll have a car
capable of challenging at the front straight away and I feel confident about our
chances”, said Andrew, “It won’t be easy, there are going to be some very
experienced and quick drivers out there, but it will all be good competition and
will help me improve.
“I’m confident we can challenge for the podium straight away but ideally I
want to lead a race and go on to get my first win in cars. If everything goes
well, hopefully we’ll be in a position to fight for the championship too but
it’s going to be tough.”
During his maiden season of saloon car action, Andrew scored points in 10
of the 12 races contested and along with his first ever Clio Cup podium he also
achieved a fourth place finish at Snetterton and four other top 10 results.
Ending the campaign a superb ninth overall in the championship, out of an
incredible 50 registered competitors, the JHR ace certainly has the ability to
enjoy some outstanding results during the four round winter series which begins
at Donington Park National Circuit this coming Saturday, 3rd November, with
testing on Thursday, 1st November.
Culminating at Croft in North Yorkshire the following Saturday, 10th
November, the winter series is set to offer some excellent race action and
Andrew has high hopes he can excel at both tracks having shown good pace at each
venue during the regular season.
Andrew added: “If we can run at the front, that’s the sort of experience I
need before next year. It’s totally different leading races than fighting in the
pack. With (Niki) Lanik, (Alex) MacDowall, (Aron) Smith and (Harry) Vaulkhard
out there we’re going to have to work hard to achieve the results we want. I’m
really looking forward to it though!”
The Northern Ireland ace will join his fellow Winter Championship
competitors for official pre-event testing at Donington Park National Circuit
this Thursday, 1st November, ahead of the race meeting itself on Saturday, 3rd
November. Qualifying is scheduled for 09.00 with round one expected to get
underway at 11.00 and round two set to follow at 14.05.
|
