Scuderia Vittoria’s Luke Wright utterly dominated the AirAsia Renault Clio UK Cup and Dutch Clio Cup head-to-head in front of a massive crowd at the Silverstone World Series by Renault meeting.
Wiltshire teenager Wright crushed his opposition in testing on Friday to lap 0.648 seconds clear of the field. On Saturday he qualified on pole position for both races, going fastest by an enormous 0.736secs and setting a time good enough for pole on every single flying lap he completed.
He lost the lead of both races due to pole position being on the disadvantageous outside line at Silverstone, but retook first place on the opening lap in both races before romping home to victory, by 4.2secs on Saturday and by 2.2secs on Sunday. For good measure, he set fastest lap in both races, which represented his first two wins in Clios.
Team director Danny Buxton, the former Clio Cup champion who set up Scuderia Vittoria last winter with fellow racers Tom Ferrier and Piers Masarati, said: “It was a fantastic effort and just shows how much Luke has matured.
“Luke’s really listening to the advice and coaching he’s been given, and he’s really progressed to the point where he’s driving the car fantastically well at the moment.
Although I was really chuffed with his form after qualifying, I’m especially pleased that he showed the mental strength to lead both races from the front and stay calm, given his inexperience. It was a big test for him, but he drove away from them and said he kept a margin in reserve in both races.”
Wright was ecstatic to beat some serious opposition from the Dutch championship, many of whom also race in highly-professional pan-European GT series. “It’s been absolutely mega,” he said. “Going into the weekend I didn’t really know what to expect from the Dutch, and I found out quite a few of them had raced here at Silverstone this year already in things like GT4 and Porsche Supercup.
“In the first race the guy who took the lead off the line made some mistakes and I was able to get him into Stowe Corner. In the second I was able to hold on by going flat around the outside of Copse Corner off the start, and then got the inside line into Becketts. Then it was head down, do a few qualifying laps and keep going. The past couple of race weekends before that had gone well so it’s a big boost going into the end of the season.”
It all means that the team and Wright go into the final two race weekends of the 2011 Clio Cup UK with confidence buoyed. “We’re all really proud of Luke, and I’m proud of the team,” continued Buxton.
“Every time we were out on track we were P1, and how mega is that for a team that is brand new this year? That’s four wins we’ve had now – so this season is getting better and better, especially considering we didn’t even exist eight months ago. This is exactly what you want: arrive at the circuit, park up, wash the car, have no incidents and lead throughout. It’s a lot easier when you’re in front!”
The AirAsia Renault Clio Cup now moves on to Rockingham in Northamptonshire for the seventh round on the weekend of September 17/18.
