AirAsia Renault UK Clio Cup front-runner James Dixon is aiming to reignite his bid for the 2012 title during the second half of the season having rejoined former team Total Control Racing just prior to last weekend’s races, rounds seven and eight, at Oulton Park in Cheshire.Stockbury-based James, who ended his association with the Scuderia Vittoria squad after the preceding event at Thruxton, instantly felt at home driving the TCR car across the Oulton Park weekend and departed the 2.23-mile track on Sunday, 10th June, fourth in the championship with eight races remaining.Delivering his best qualifying performance of the season so far with fifth on the grid for both races, despite requiring another couple of laps to make the most of the drying line in the damp session, James went on to finish seventh and sixth in the two encounters.Now heading into a lengthy nine-week summer break, the AirAsia Renault UK Clio Cup will resume in mid August at Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk where the 22-year-old is confident of challenging for his first podium of 2012 and putting the spark back into his championship bid.“I’m absolutely delighted to be back with TCR”, said James, “The car was perfect all weekend, as I knew it would be, and if we’d had a couple more laps in qualifying we would have been on the first or second row of the grid for both races. We scored some good points though this weekend and we all know there’s much more to come when the second half of the season starts.

“We wanted to be with Lee [Brookes – TCR team principal] and the team from the start of the year in all honesty. Now we’re back onboard, hopefully we’ll be in the hunt for the championship during the second half of the season.”During the previous two years in Renault Clio racing with TCR, the Weidmuller and Candy Carriers supported driver amassed a total of six race victories, six other podium finishes, seven pole positions and three fastest race laps. Last year, James went into the final event of the season second in the standings but just missed out on the title during the last race.The championship is still wide open with any of the top five drivers in close contention so there is certainly all to play for during the next eight rounds at Snetterton, Rockingham, Silverstone and Brands Hatch.The fifth race meeting of the AirAsia Renault UK Clio Cup will take place at Snetterton’s 300 Circuit across the weekend 11th/12th August.

Provisional 2012 AirAsia Renault UK Clio Cup Driver Standings (after Rd8):1st Jack Goff, 211pts; 4th James Dixon, 150pts