Renault UK Clio Cup grid reaches two year high at Silverstone

AS HAND, WHORTON-EALES, SUTTON TITLE RACE HITS CRITICAL POINT

The biggest field of Renault UK Clio Cup cars in almost two years will line up on the grid at Silverstone this weekend (Sat 26/Sun 27 Sept) as the world-famous Northamptonshire circuit hosts the championship’s crucial penultimate two rounds of the season in which Ash Hand (Nuneaton) could clinch the title.

 Some 20 cars are entered for the two rounds which both take place on Sunday in between the day’s three headlining Dunlop British Touring Car races – the event is being screened live on ITV4 and expected to attract a mammoth trackside crowd.

 The entry includes six drivers who are making their Renault UK Clio Cup debuts as well as a first-ever appearance in the championship by leading European team Rangoni Corse which is bringing two of its cars over from Italy as it assesses a possible full-time campaign in 2016.

 Will Fewkes, Renaultsport’s UK Motorsport Championship Manager, commented: “This is of course fantastic news for the championship and all of our teams, drivers, sponsors and partners. Every team is now, at minimum, a two-car entry which adds credibility and stability for each of them as a business model. It is perhaps not so obvious to some the effort and determination that goes on behind the scenes but now it seems some of that hard work is beginning to pay off.

“Nobody can deny the great level of competition that the Renault UK Clio Cup has produced so far in 2015 – the fight at the front has been one of the most exciting we can recall – but we never stop pushing. Everyone at Renaultsport wants to see the Clio Cup at its brilliance best and we hope this is a genuine sign of where things are heading…

 “The sight of 20 Renault UK Clio Cup cars – in a championship famed for its close action and on a Silverstone circuit that invites some very exciting slipstreaming tactics – is going to make a terrific spectacle for the TV viewers and trackside audience this weekend.”

Hand, meanwhile, will provisionally become the 2015 Renault UK Clio Cup Champion if his championship lead – currently 31 points when the all-important ‘two dropped scores’ rule is applied – increases to 68 during Sunday’s two races.

 Ending Hand’s winning streak in Rockingham’s two races last time out with a victory apiece, however, were his closest challengers, Maximum Motorsport’s Ant Whorton-Eales (Lichfield) and his own BMR Restart-backed Pyro team-mate Ashley Sutton (Bishops Stortford). Both will very definitely have plans to take a title battle that has caught the imagination of the BTCC’s crowds all the way to the season finale at Brands Hatch (Sat 10/Sun 11 Oct).

 WDE Motorsport’s Paul Rivett (Epsom), fourth overall, still has a slim chance of a fourth Clio Cup title should the top three falter. His cause could be aided at Silverstone by team-mates Charlie Ladell (Ipswich), Rory Green (Hildenborough) – a best-ever fifth at Rockingham – and the returning Dan Holland (Dagenham) as WDE expands for the first time in its history to a four-car line-up.

 Rockingham also saw Rory Collingbourne (Newport, South Wales) and George Jackson (Bedford) both achieve career-bests of fourth and they are joined at Silverstone by debutant Alex Sedgwick (Leamington Spa). Not 17 until December, he becomes the season’s youngest driver to date…

Like Cooksport, 20Ten Racing is three-strong at Silverstone with newcomers Sam Watkins (Swansea) and Tom Butler (Derby) adding to its number alongside Graham Field (Southwell).

 There are first appearances, too, from Production GTi racing champion Tom Witts (Rugby) with the Maximum team plus fellow Briton and former Superkart ace Ben Davis (Ledbury) and Italy’s Michele Puccetti (Florence), both with Rangoni Corse.

 Looking to build on strong debuts at Rockingham will be Pyro’s Josh Price (Redbourn) and, lining up for the local Northampton-based JamSport Racing team and from the town himself, Luke Kidsley. JamSport’s regular driver Tom Grundy (Jumeirah, Dubai), due some good luck, is potential podium material. Elsewhere watch for Pyro’s Mark Howard (Oakham) who looks to be safe in the Masters Cup class for older drivers but who can still expect a hard time from regular ‘foe’ Field.


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