For Thruxton Race Return

ELF Renault Clio Cup sensation Andrew Herron departed Thruxton Circuit yesterday afternoon disappointed with the lack of running available to him during the day’s official test, but is nonetheless confident he will be a force to be reckoned with when the championship returns to the Hampshire venue in mid-October for the season finale.During the first Clio Cup track action of the day, Andrew immediately had a problem with understeer on his car and after pitting to allow the JHR Developments squad to work its magic, he then had issues with fuel-surge which again restricted his track time.Able to complete a total of just six laps in the first 40-minute session, the 19-year-old Northern Ireland racer still managed to produce a competitive lap of 1m 25.165 seconds (99.58mph) to go ninth fastest. In the afternoon session he was again limited to very few laps, this time just five, but still superbly produced a time good enough for the top eight. Shading his best from the morning by just two 100ths of a second, his afternoon lap of 1m 25.143 seconds (99.61mph) came during a session which saw the category rookie forced to cope with oil on the circuit at the chicane and then further incidents involving other competitors which brought out the red flags.All in all, the Brian Herron Contracts-backed racer didn’t have chance to string one good lap together throughout either of the two sessions so to be inside the top eight during the afternoon with such little running has left him feeling rightly buoyant.“It’s been disappointing to only complete a total of 13 laps due to the various problems today but on the positive side, to be ninth fastest in the first session with just six laps and eighth fastest in the afternoon with only seven laps shows we have good pace and can expect much more when we come back in October for the races”, said Andrew. “We had understeer straight away and after the team sorted it out the fuel-surge meant we didn’t get any true running. In the afternoon, oil was dropped at the chicane and I was the first on the scene. There were no oil flags at the time so there was nothing I could do. I made contact with the wall but thankfully got going before other cars arrived.”The Dromore ace added: “The team did a good job patching the front bumper up and sorting the tracking out but then our plan for a run on new tyres didn’t work out as there were red flags after an incident at Goodwood. It’s been frustrating to travel all the way to Thruxton for just 13 laps but we know we can be much quicker, we’re not concerned.”Maiden podium Herron’s aim for Brands HatchThe world-famous Brands Hatch Indy Circuit will welcome the ELF Renault Clio Cup for the second time this year next weekend, 18th/19th August, for round nine of the season.After making an incredibly strong debut in the Clio Cup during the season-opening race weekend at the 1.2-mile Kent venue over four months ago, Andrew is looking forward to the championship’s second visit and has high hopes of building on the superb fourth position he achieved at Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk during round eight of the campaign.“I definitely want to be on the podium at Brands”, commented Andrew, “It was the venue of my first ever competitive outing in a Clio at the start of the season and we managed to qualify fourth fastest then so I’m feeling really confident. I’m a much better driver now so I have high hopes of a strong performance.

“Qualifying will be extremely important, if I can hook it up and start on the first couple of rows I’m confident we can fight for the podium. It’s obviously difficult to pass at Brands Hatch Indy so we know we need to start well but I’ve got every confidence the car will be working perfectly and we’ll continue the progress we made at Snetterton.”Pre-event testing at Brands Hatch will take place on Friday, 17th August, with qualifying on Saturday, 18th August, expected to revert to the new-for-2007 format of two groups due to the number of entries exceeding the maximum permitted by the circuit licence.Therefore, actual qualifying is timetabled to start at 11.30 with the qualification races expected to get underway at 16.35 on the Saturday, 18th August. Round nine itself will follow at 17.10 on Sunday, 19th August, and will be screened live on digital satellite and cable subscription channel Setanta Sports 1 – please check listings for confirmation.Provisional 2007 ELF Renault Clio Cup Driver Standings (after Rd8)1st Stefan Hodgetts, 185pts; 2nd Martin Byford, 173pts; 10th Andrew Herron, 85pts