WITH BRDC ‘RISING STAR’ STATUS
Alex MacDowall endured his toughest weekend of the 2009 ELF Renault Clio Cup at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit over the weekend, 4th/5th July, but still managed to retain second place in the driver standings and received a timely boost with the news he has been named a British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star.
The Carlisle-based teenager, who has taken two race victories and six other podium finishes so far this year, was thoroughly disappointed with the outcome on track during rounds 11 and 12 on Sunday, 5th July. Unceremoniously shunted out of proceedings in the first race while running in fourth place, the resulting damage was so severe it also ruined his chances in the second outing.
Prevented from displaying his true potential in front of a record World Series by Renault crowd attendance of 135,000 spectators, the 18-year-old ECM-backed racer at least had the consolation of being recognised by the BRDC talent scouts as a worthy candidate for prestigious Rising Star status.
Qualifying went well for Alex as he steered his Total Control Racing car to second on the grid for round 11 with a time of 2m09.485 seconds (142.9km/h) but better was to follow when his second fastest lap of 2m09.512 seconds secured his sixth pole position of the season.
Making a good start to Sunday morning’s first race, Alex took the lead from pole-sitter Philip Glew into Copse Corner but his rival tried to hit back through Stowe and the pair ran side by side towards Vale which, in turn, enabled Stefan Hodgetts to get in the mix. Contact to Alex’s car then pushed him wide and resulted in a drop into fifth place.
Slipping back two further spots on lap two, he battled back well and moved into fifth on lap five as he pressed on to reel in the top four. Catching and passing reigning ELF Renault Clio Cup Champion Ben Winrow – making a one-off return to the series this weekend – at the end of lap seven, Winrow then made contact with the rear of Alex’s car at the exit of Luffield which pitched him into a spin.
Causing major front-end damage and resulting in a bent chassis, Alex limped on around the 3.2-mile Grand Prix track but was forced to pit and then retire on lap nine – his first non-finish and first non-score of the whole 2009 championship campaign.
The TCR mechanics did a superb job to get Alex’s Clio race-ready in time for round 12 and although the team tried very hard to straighten the chassis, the damage from the race one impact he received was enough to seriously hamper his pace in the second encounter. Slipping gradually down the order throughout, he eventually finished in 18th position but at least salvaged a handful of points.
“Obviously it’s very frustrating to have such a disappointing weekend but there was nothing I could do in the first race, (Ben) Winrow hit me from behind and that ended up bending the chassis which is why we had no pace in race two”, said Alex, “The team did a great job to get the car on the grid for round 12 and at least we did manage to get a few points. The contact finished our weekend though.
“Things on track didn’t go the way we had hoped this weekend but to be recognised as a Rising Star is fantastic and a really important achievement. I’d like to thank everyone at the BRDC for placing me on the Rising Star programme. The aim now is to be back on the podium at Snetterton next month.”
There are now four weeks to wait until the next event on the ELF Renault Clio Cup calendar with rounds 13 and 14 of the season taking place at Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk on 1st/2nd August where the category will rejoin the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship race package.
During a recent official test day at Snetterton, held just over a week ago, Alex was the only driver to lap under the 1m18 second bracket with a fastest time of 1m17.912 seconds (90.19mph) placing him at the head of the timesheets by over two 10ths of a second.
Provisional 2009 ELF Renault Clio Cup Standings (after Rd12):1st Philip Glew, 349pts; 2nd Alex MacDowall, 270pts; 3rd Andrew Herron, 239pts
