Simon Belcher will take a healthy 15-point Masters Cup class lead into the sixth race meeting of the Renault UK Clio Cup season at Snetterton 300 Circuit in East Anglia next weekend, 3rd/4th August, as the category resumes following a lengthy mid-year break.With a total of eight class podiums to his credit so far in his second season of racing in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship feeder series, a tally which includes two wins, the 2012 Masters Cup title winner has been in great form of late.Although qualifying has been something of an Achilles Heel this year, the Handy Motorsport with Pyro driver has been very strong in race conditions. During the most recent events at Oulton Park in Cheshire and Croft in North Yorkshire back in June, Belcher continued the impressive momentum from Thruxton where he attained his two class victories.With only six rounds remaining in the 2013 season, including the upcoming Snetterton races, the Wiltshire 39-year-old is confident of continuing his consistency and knows two more Masters Cup podiums a week from now will do the power of good for his title defence.Im looking forward to being back in the car after such a long break since Croft, were focused on picking up where we left off and trying to extend our Masters lead as much as possible, commented the KRCHER and No Fear Energy-supported driver, We had a good run at Snetterton last year, one class win and second in the other race, so a repeat of that would be ideal.Since the last round we havent done any testing at all, its been a case of having a break from the track over the last five weeks and recharging the batteries a bit. You always want to be in the car as much as you can but sometimes its as beneficial to take a bit of time away.In terms of the outright Renault UK Clio Cup championship picture, Belcher goes into rounds 11 and 12 with a best overall result so far of 13th positionwhich he has achieved on three occasions so far this year. In the driver standings, he is just 12 points shy of the top 15.While incredibly hungry to break into the overall top 10 in the two Snetterton races, which is more than achievable if qualifying goes according to plan, Belchers main focus remains on the Masters Cup and fighting for his second championship trophy in as many years.Were determined to get into that top 10 before the end of the season, we know weve got the race pace to do it and the guys at Handy Motorsport always give me a great car, he added, I cant let that cloud our focus though, the main goal is to retain the Masters title. Were on course to achieve that, we just need to keep racking up the podiums.Pre-event testing at Snetterton 300 Circuit will take place next Friday, 2nd August, with Renault UK Clio Cup qualifying and the first race of the weekend following on Saturday, 3rd August, at 11.20 and 16.40 respectively. Round 12 is timetabled to begin at 11.10 on Sunday, 4th Augustplease check listings for details of as-live television coverage on ITV4 and ITV4HD.

Provisional 2013 Renault UK Clio Cup Masters Cup Standings (after Rd10):1st Simon Belcher, 251ptsProvisional 2013 Renault UK Clio Cup Driver Standings (after Rd10):17th Simon Belcher, 55pts