The dust might barely have settled upon his ‘phenomenal’ maiden campaign of car racing competition in the fiercely-contested Renault UK Clio Cup, but talented young Nuneaton ace Ash Hand has already been touted as a title protagonist next year – by the man who lifted the laurels in 2009.
After graduating into cars off the back of a trophy-strewn karting career, Hand maintained his burgeoning momentum over the course of 2013, tallying two top five and 13 top ten finishes from 16 starts behind the wheel of his Team Pyro-prepared, Sigma and QTS-backed Clio Renaultsport 200. Not only that, but he frequently qualified right up at the sharp end of the 27-strong grid in the single-make, ITV4-televised British Touring Car Championship support series.
That earned the rapid Maple Park hotshot a superb ninth spot in the final standings and the coveted accolade of best-placed rookie to-boot, and as he looks back over a season during which he outpaced and outperformed a good many high-calibre rivals with considerably more experience under their belts, he acknowledges that he can be justifiably proud of what he has accomplished.
“When we got to the first round, I’ll admit I was a bit shocked at just how tough it was,” he candidly confessed. “The level of competition was a lot higher than I had been expecting – and lapping just 20th-quickest out of 23 drivers in practice was quite a wake-up call!
“I instantly realised I would have to dig deeper and work harder – and that’s what I set out to do. You need a lot of seat time and knowledge to properly understand both the car and the championship, and to progress from where we began in round one to be consistently threatening the leaders come season’s end was enormously encouraging, particularly as some of them were in their third or fourth year in the series.”
Indeed, having only just scraped into the top ten in the Brands Hatch curtain-raiser, Hand took a quantum leap forward over the subsequent outings as he knuckled down and concentrated on hauling himself up to his far more customary position – amongst the front-runners. A feisty breakthrough podium finish at Rockingham in September was deserved reward for a stellar and determined effort – but the 19-year-old is swift to point out that it was not achieved alone.
“Rockingham was a massive boost and quite a milestone,” he affirmed, “and having had to fight my way up the grid from where we had started the season made it even more satisfying. I learned a great deal as the year went on – most importantly that it’s not so much about knowing the circuit, but about knowing the car, which was the opposite to what I had been used to in karting. Once I got my head around that and figured out how to really extract the best from the Clio and how hard I could push it, I began to move forward.
“The boys at Pyro all did a brilliant job throughout, and I’ve been along to the team workshop several times since the season finished to keep tabs on progress and developments ahead of next year.
“Although I’m really happy with my first season in cars, there is still more for me to focus on personally over the winter – especially in terms of my qualifying, because you leave yourself with a lot to do when you start further down the order and that can make a huge difference to your final result. If I can improve in that area, then there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be battling for victories right from the outset next year. I’m really excited about it – and ready for the challenge!”
Those sentiments are corroborated by Hand’s mentor, former Renault UK Clio Cup Champion and BTCC racer Phil Glew and Pyro team manager Mark Hunt, both of whom are quick to praise the Warwickshire teenager’s raw pace and racecraft, outstanding overtaking prowess and commendable work ethic.
“Ash’s progression in 2013 has been phenomenal,” underlined Glew. “I really can’t emphasise that enough. Very few people achieve a podium finish in their first year! Having never raced a car before, what was most impressive was the way he adapted to the Clio and the series so tremendously quickly. By just the third meeting at Thruxton, he was already in the top five – and by the end of the season, he was on the rostrum.
“I honestly can’t think of many young drivers who have worked as hard as Ash to shine so brightly and come away with the results he has done. He has a composed approach and simply gets on with the job, and he didn’t make many mistakes.
“I am 100 per cent confident that Ash has a very good chance of winning the championship next year. In fact, as long as he continues his rate of progress and puts everything he has learned and all the experience he has gained this year into practice, I would stake money on it. He unquestionably has an extremely promising future ahead of him.”
“Ash was a revelation towards the end of the season,” echoed Hunt. “He overtook more cars than anybody else out there and was a consistently strong points-scorer. He takes his racing very seriously and is improving and maturing all the time. He will be a title contender in 2014.”
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