Danny Buxton, team principal of newly crowned 2014 Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup Team Trophy champions SV Racing with KX, has spoken of his elation and amazement at winning the prestigious crown for the first time on the penultimate weekend of the season.
At Rockingham in Northamptonshire Sunday, 7th September, the Cheshire squad – which was inaugurated in 2011 as Scuderia Vittoria – sealed its maiden title in the popular Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship feeder series with two rounds to spare.
Buxton, himself a former Renault UK Clio Cup drivers’ champion back in 2001, says he is immensely proud of each and every member of the SV Racing with KX set-up and the team title victory has made the squad hungry to try and successfully defend the championship in 2015.
“For me, this is really big – it’s amazing”, said the elated team principal, “[Team] Pyro have had the title for something like seven years so it’s fantastic to be the team to break that stranglehold. I have to say thank you to Tom [Ferrier] and Piers [Maserati] who did a lot of work behind the scenes in the early days and a huge thank you to the new lads we brought in at the start of this year – without them it wouldn’t have been possible.
“I have to thank the KX Akademy as well, it’s been fantastic working with them this year and being on the judging panel meant I was able to get the pick of the drivers really. Each one of our drivers has contributed to this success hugely, when one or two may have had a difficult race then others have stepped up and delivered the results – it’s been a real team effort.”
Boasting the largest driver line-up of any team in the championship this year, regularly four cars and occasionally five, has meant SV Racing with KX has had an impressive presence on the grid. However, that has by no means made the task of winning the entrant’s crown any easier with only the two highest placed cars from each outfit scoring in the races.
“It’s an important point to make”, comments Buxton, “People say it’s not surprising we’ve won as we had four or five cars. Yes, that increases your chances, but you still only score with two cars every race and that’s the same for every team.
“This result is even more special to pull off this year as Pyro have more experience with the latest Clio from the team’s European campaign last season. That meant we had to get up to speed quickly to try and challenge and there was a lot of hard work over the pre-season. The lift this has given everyone is huge and it motivates them for the close season and then the pre-season for 2015.”
With two rounds still remaining, which will take place at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit in Kent over the weekend 11th/12th October, SV Racing with KX is still in the frame to add the overall Renault UK Clio Cup drivers’ title and Graduate Cup crown to its 2014 haul.
While Team Pyro’s Mike Bushell (Tunbridge Wells) is in the box seat and heading the championship after two wins at Rockingham over the weekend, long-time points leader Josh Cook (Bath) can still secure the overall crown and the Graduate Cup title for SV Racing with KX – while team-mate Ant Whorton-Eales (Lichfield) is also in with a chance of the latter.
Alongside Cook and Whorton-Eales, fellow KX Akademy racers Alex Morgan (Reading) and Ash Hand (Nuneaton) have played a major role in the team success with Jamie Clarke (Formby) and, this past weekend, Simon Horrobin (Snodland) also competing as part of the line-up in 2014.
“Winning the championship has made us all more determined to do it all over again next year, try and defend the title”, adds Buxton, “We’ve still got Brands Hatch to go, of course, so we’ll see what happens there. The drivers’ championship is looking tough now after Rockingham but anything can still happen.”
The Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup is additionally supported by ELF, Performance Friction, WP Racing and official tyre supplier Dunlop.
