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Joint ELF Renault Clio Cup
leader Ben Winrow (Earls Barton) continued his excellent start to the season by
setting the fastest time during official free practice at Thruxton on Monday,
7th April. The Team Pyro racer set a time of 1min 25.012s (99.76mph
average) to edge out JHR Developments’ Paul Rivett (Banstead), who stands level
at the top of the drivers’ standings, by 0.232s.
Due to local council noise
restrictions at the 2.36-mile circuit, the usual custom of holding free practice
on the Friday prior to the race weekend is forbidden. This means drivers will
return to Thruxton in six weeks’ time and go straight into qualifying for round
seven.
The unpredictable April weather
did not favour the Clio Cup competitors with snow showers and bitterly cold
conditions not conducive to quick lap times. Grouped behind Rivett were Total
Control Racing’s Alex MacDowall (Carlisle), Mardi Gras Motorsport’s Gavin Pyper
(Fleckney), Y4HR Miracle Drywash Stancombe Vehicle Engineering’s Niki Lanik
(Ashurst Wood) and JD Pierce with Robertshaw Racing’s Derek Pierce (West
Kilbride), all covered by just over one-tenth of a second in a remarkable
display of competitiveness within the championship.
EPS UK with Solutions Racing’s
Robert Gaffney (Waltham Abbey) and Full Speed Racing’s Phil Glew (Tothill)
lapped within one second of Winrow’s leading time, while TCR’s Jonathan
Ridley-Holloway (Barnstaple) and Nick Adcock (Bromyard), making his return to
Clio Cup racing after a two-year absence, completed the top
10.
The second session saw the sun
make an appearance but not soon enough to provide fully dry conditions at the
2.36-mile Hampshire circuit. With the top three from session one all choosing
not to set a time, Derek Pierce moved to the top of the timesheets with a lap of
1min 25.743s (98.91mph).
Adcock bettered his earlier
best time to lie second with 1min 26.495s (98.05mph), ahead of Pyper and Glew.
Team Pyro’s Chris Rice (Beverley) climbed to fifth-fastest ahead of Lanik, who
was just 0.09s quicker than Full Speed’s Glenn Bell
(Portadown).
Double Six Racing’s Rob Boston
(Doncaster), Mardi Gras’ David Dickenson (Keatingstown) and Solutions Racing
with Dewsport’s Alex Dew (Bampton) all ended their first official day of Clio
Cup action at Thruxton in the top 10.
Commenting on setting the day’s
fastest time, Ben Winrow said: “I had a set plan for the day to prepare some
tyres for the race meeting and have just six fast laps per session. Luckily we
were able to get a good run in session one and get the job done and to finish
with P1 is all you can ask for. After that there was no point risking the car
ahead of Rockingham this weekend.
“Going straight into qualifying
at Thruxton can be difficult and certainly favours those of us with more
experience. You know there is a narrow window in which to set the time and
you’ll have an idea of how you want to run the session, but that could be
disrupted by traffic or a red flag. After today I’m confident we’ll be up there
when we come back for the races.”
Rounds three and four of the
ELF Renault Clio Cup take place at Rockingham on 12th/13th
April.
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