Pead and Smith record solid points finishes at a soggy Donington Park

Renault Aftersales Racing drivers, Ed Pead and Árón Smith, scored more valuable points at the  sixth round of the 2007 ELF Renault Clio Cup Sunday afternoon, by finishing fourth and 16th respectively on a wet and greasy Donington track.Pead, who initially qualified tenth in yesterday’s qualifying race, was promoted to eighth after another driver was penalised for running into the back of him towards the end of the session.Smith also suffered bad luck in his qualifying race, when he was forced onto the grass at Coppice Corner by another Clio competitor recovering from a spin. He started the race from the penultimate row.Following torrential rain, conditions on race day were extremely challenging, which meant a delay to the Clio race of four hours. When the race started at 4pm, the surface had started drying but there were still rivers of water at both the Craner Curves and Starkeys Bridge.>From eighth on the grid, Pead in his Ixell, Ixtar, Rapide Bodycare, RAMB, Renaultp@rts, Motrio and Renault Trade Partner-backed car, made a superb start – leaping to third on the first lap alone.Smith also made a great start, taking several places in his Renault Insurance-backed Clio 197 and getting embroiled in a close mid-grid fight.Pead initially challenged Stefan Hodgetts for second place before dropping back. A brief grassy moment at Coppice Corner on lap eight lost him one place, but Pead maintained his fourth position until the end.Pead said: “I made a good start and managed to avoid all the incidents around me. It was very greasy out there, and very hard to see the drying line.“After my brief slide, it was pretty quiet until the end. It was a good strong result, and something we can build on.”Smith, 17, made a phenomenal 18 places during the 14 lap race, making numerous brave overtaking moves and taking advantage of several others spinning off in the treacherous conditions.The young Dubliner said: “It was more an exercise in survival and trying not to go off. I made a good start, but I had to stand on the brakes to avoid someone spinning right in front of me.“It was hard to push in such conditions, but it was good to gain so many places after the disappointment of qualifying.”Pead and Smith are now looking forward to the next round of the championship at Snetterton in a fortnight, and hopefully some better weather.Results

1 Ben Winrow (Total Control Racing)                 14 laps@ 20m 21.557s2 Robert Lawson (JHR Developments)              +5.938s3 Stefan Hodgetts (Momo UK)                         +6.459s4 Ed Pead (Renault Aftersales Racing)       +7.376s5 Jim Edwards Jr (Kangaroo Int/SMC/JHR)       +15.993s6 Dan Eagling (Eagling Motorsport)                 +19.771s7 Andrew Jordan (Team Eurotech)                   +19.846s8 Martin Byford (Z Speed Racing)                    +20.736s9 Andrew Herron (JHR Developments)             +32.340s10 Philip House (PH Motorsport)                      +32.718s16 Árón Smith (Renault Aftersales Racing) +40.177