Stefan Hodgetts (Redditch) continued his excellent recent form during official Renault UK Clio Cup testing at a storm-hit Snetterton 300 Circuit, Friday, 2nd August, to edge out series leader Josh Files (Norwich) at the top of the timing screens by just 0.017 seconds.
Hodgetts, who goes into rounds 11 and 12 of the season at the Norfolk track this weekend equal fourth in the championship with three wins from the last five races and an unbroken run of five straight top two finishes, posted the best time of the day in changeable conditions during session onelapping in 2m11.589 seconds (81.22mph).I dont think anyone can take anything from today to be honest, said the pace-setting KX Racing with Scuderia Vittoria driver, In the sort of conditions we had, youve got championship contenders who dont want to risk too much, so you dont get a clear picture.Its nice to be fastest, better than struggling, but the times from today are unrealistic of how itll be tomorrow. Josh [Files] and Paul [Rivett] will be up at the front, as will we hopefully. Itll be the same as usual Im sure.Local hero Files, who resides in nearby Poringland, was a full 0.6 seconds quicker than Team Pyro stable-mate Alex Morgan (Reading) and the best of the Graduate Cup runners. JHR Developments Lee Pattison (Liversedge) lapped fourth fastest, only 0.1 seconds shy of Morgan and the quickest of the Masters Cup class contenders.
Ant Whorton-Eales (Lichfield), who achieved his first podium of 2013 last time out at Croft, made it two KX Racing cars in the top five ahead of Westbourne Motorsports James Colburn (Worthing) and Total Control Racings Rob Smith (Telford).
Scuderia Vittorias Josh Wakefield (Colchester), Finesse Motorsports Jake Giddings (Wisbech) and the latters new team-mate Aaron Williamson (Spalding), who is now running under the Finesse Motorsport with AWR banner, rounded out the top 10.Heavy rain and lightningwhich resulted in localised power failureshit the track between the days two Clio Cup outings, meaning a delayed start to the afternoon run. When the competitors did venture out onto the track, for a shortened 35-minute session, the circuit was very wet and the lead pace at the beginning was almost 15 seconds outside the best from the morning.Times tumbled dramatically during the closing minutes as the track began to dry more and more with Colburn ending the afternoon outing quickest with a time of 2m18.389 seconds (77.23mph), still almost seven seconds away from Hodgetts session one best.Erstwhile championship leader Paul Rivett (Banstead), who goes into the weekend just three points behind Files, was prevented from setting a representative time due to a broken gear linkage on his Names.co.uk/Stancombe Vehicle Engineering-run Clio.It was a bit of a waste of a day for us really, but well be on it tomorrowand its supposed to be dry, said the three-time champion, We won both races at Snetterton last year, and qualified at the front, so we know we should be strong.
Renault UK Clio Cup action resumes tomorrow, Saturday, 3rd August, with qualifying taking place at 11.20 and round 11 following at 16.40. On Sunday, 4th August, round 12 is timetabled to commence at 11.10please check listings for details of as-live coverage of Sundays encounter on ITV4 and ITV4 HD.Renault UK Clio Cup is sponsored by www.buyoils.co.uk with support from ELF, NGK Spark Plugs, WP Racing and official tyre supplier Dunlop.Provisional 2013 Renault UK Clio Cup Driver Standings (after Rd10):1st Josh Files, 235pts; 2nd Paul Rivett, 232pts; 3rd Alex Morgan, 215ptsProvisional 2013 Renault UK Clio Cup WP Racing Clio Cup Team Trophy Standings (after Rd10):1st Team Pyro, 452pts; 2nd Scuderia Vittoria, 371pts; 3rd JHR Developments, 335ptsProvisional 2013 Renault UK Clio Cup Graduate Cup Standings (after Rd10):1st Josh Files, 273pts; 2nd James Colburn, 248pts; 3rd Josh Cook, 215ptsProvisional 2013 Renault UK Clio Cup Masters Cup Standings (after Rd10):1st Simon Belcher, 251pts; 2nd Graham Field, 236pts; 3rd Finlay Crocker, 195pts
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