Memorable wins in Rds 8&9 enable privateer Streather to close points gapSeason-best second place for 16-year-old rookie James Dorlin in race twoFirst Road Series win of 2015 for Jake Honour after titanic three-way battle
Brands Hatch Indy Circuit provided two superb Michelin Clio Cup Race Series encounters over the weekend, 25th/26th July, with privateer driver Paul Streather (Hinckley) scorching to victories in rounds eight and nine of the season – helping him move to within just three points of championship leader Luke Herbert (Chichester) at the top of the table.
Requiring a determined fightback in the dry opening race on Saturday afternoon, after slipping back from pole position at the start, Streather raced brilliantly to claim his third victory of the year and in the rain-lashed second contest on Sunday morning he rocketed into a lead he never relinquished.
While a non-finish in round nine, after contact at Druids, badly impacted Herbert’s advantage at the top of the standings, under the ‘drop score’ ruling – where each competitor has to subtract their lowest result of the year from final totals – the Westbourne Motorsport driver has a 17 point lead.
Sunday’s encounter for the Michelin Clio Cup Road Series was undoubtedly the best race of the campaign so far. Jake Honour (Devizes), who has endured a torrid season up to now, secured his first win of the year after a fantastic battle with Jade Developments team-mate Luke Pinder (Shipley) and 20Ten Racing’s Tyler Lidsey (Dartford).
Pinder, thanks to a win in round eight and third place in round nine, has moved back to the top of the Road Series championship with a slim four point lead over CGHimports.com driver Nic Harrison (Burton-on-Trent).
Dominant wet-weather drive from Streather seals fourth win of 2015 Having qualified on pole position for both of the weekend’s races at the 1.2-mile Indy Circuit, Leicestershire-based privateer Streather certainly began the fourth race meeting of the season in perfect style and a faultless wet-weather drive in round nine on Sunday delivered a superb win.
Leading away from the line and controlling the action from the front, Streather’s hopes of pulling away from the pack were pegged back on lap three when the Safety Car was deployed after Race Series returnee Andy Wilkins (Harpenden) ran off the circuit into the gravel at Druids.
At the resumption on lap six, Streather made a good re-start and his advantage over the chasing back was boosted at the exit of Druids when a tangle involving Herbert, 20Ten Racing’s Brett Lidsey (Gravesend) and Westbourne’s Sam Randon (Ashbourne) led to chaos. With points leader Herbert forced out with damage, Lidsey and Randon did recover but both retired a couple of laps later.
Streather eventually won by five seconds from the increasingly impressive James Dorlin, the reigning Junior Saloon Car Champion achieving his best Clio Cup Series result yet with an excellent second place after a very well-judged drive from 10th on the grid.
Dorlin made the most of the lap six incident to climb into the top three and seized second place from Finesse Motorsport’s Andy Jordan (Bridgnorth) on lap 11. Jordan, who had fuel pump issues in race one of the weekend, suffered similar difficulties in round nine but he did manage to cling on to third despite major pressure late-on from Team Pyro’s star debutant Darren Johnson (Kidderminster).
Finesse racer Pete Bennett (Norwich) secured fifth place ahead of team-mate, and Sport Class winner, Adam Hatfield (Cranworth). Brands Hatch local Tom Barley (Crayford), meanwhile, saw a potential top five result slip from his grasp when his race ended in the Druids gravel on lap seven.
In the Road Series, Jade Developments racer Honour overturned a luckless season to date with a tremendous and very hard-fought victory over Tyler Lidsey and points leader Pinder. Easily the best contest of the season so far, any one of those three could have claimed the win and anyone in the top five had a chance of the podium.
After numerous lead changes and position switches at the front, the decisive pass came at Paddock Hill Bend on the penultimate tour when Honour got ahead of Pinder and Lidsey followed him through into second place. In the tight battle over fourth, Harrison held off Paint Perfect Motorsport’s John Creasey (Lincoln) with Westbourne’s Sarah Franklin (Kettering) taking sixth.
Paul Streather – Race Series: “It was completely different [in race two], the track was very, very wet but the car was brilliant at the start. As the race went on, there was almost a dry-ish line starting to appear so it was a waiting game from then on and important to try and keep the gap. I knew I needed to get out front at the start, have a clear screen and push on from there. I’m over the moon with two wins this weekend.”
James Dorlin – Race Series:“I’m really happy, qualifying didn’t go to plan and we ended up in the wall but that gave me the determination to make a better job of the races. I quite like the wet so the conditions suited me down to the ground. After qualifying we were all really downhearted but it’s turned out much better than we expected.”
Jake Honour – Road Series:“It’s great to win and the racing was fair, me and Luke [Pinder] had a really good race – I thought I had the win, then Luke gained the lead back, but I saw a bit of a gap and went for it into Paddock Hill Bend. I’m really pleased, it’s my first win in over a year and it’s given us a major boost.”
Tyler Lidsey – Road Series:“My first race in the wet was always going to be interesting but, to be fair, I really enjoyed it. Being local I wanted to do well – I struggled in qualifying on Saturday and the first race, but managed to pull it all together for this one. Everything was really close, brilliant result.”
Streather emerges on top after battling drive in Rd8 Round eight on Saturday had to be red flagged shortly after the start when a mid-pack tangle out of Druids resulted in a heavy impact with the barriers for the luckless Randon who, thankfully, emerged uninjured. His car sustained extensive damage but the Westbourne mechanics worked wonders, and long into the night, to ensure he would be back on the grid on Sunday.
At the second time of asking, Herbert – who had produced a stunning getaway to lead at the initial start – repeated the feat with another exceptional launch to slingshot from fourth on the grid into the lead on the daunting outside line into Paddock Hill Bend.
Streather was initially edged back to fourth, with Jordan and Brett Lidsey ahead, but Jordan fell out of contention and the race itself on lap three due to fuel pump problems. After a Safety Car period on lap six, necessary to retrieve Wilkins’ car after an excursion at Surtees, the order was Herbert, Streather and Lidsey but Herbert’s hopes of victory faded on lap 12.
With a mis-fire developing, he was unable to keep Streather at bay and the latter made his move to shoot past with Lidsey following him through to demote Herbert to third. The Race Series points leader just managed to see off team-mate Dorlin at the finish on lap 19 with Barley only a couple of tenths further behind in fifth, after an excellent season-best drive, while Hatfield took sixth.
Round eight in the Road Series provided Pinder with the opportunity to move back to the top of the category standings with a clear winning margin over Creasey and Harrison, the points leader going into the Brands weekend, helping him net his sixth win of the year.
From pole position, Pinder won by almost five seconds with second place for Creasey marking his best result of the season ahead of Harrison and Honour. Along with fifth placed finisher Tyler Lidsey, Honour incurred a five second penalty for a track limits infringement but the added time didn’t impact either driver’s position.
Brett Lidsey – Race Series:“Second is great, I’ve got the sponsors here and to get P2 at my home circuit is special. When Luke [Herbert] and Paul [Streather] had a little battle through Surtees, I managed to pick my way through to take second at Paddock. We’re getting closer to first!”
Luke Pinder – Road Series:“It was a bit messy at Croft, everyone has worked really, really hard since then and there have been a lot of sleepless nights to get the car back on the grid this weekend – but the win makes that all worthwhile.”
John Creasey – Road Series:“That was my first time in all of the situations we had – first Safety Car, first red flag in a race, so it was all new to me. I didn’t get a good start the first time around, dropped to P4, but at the re-start we got P2 and managed to hold it from there.”
Rounds 10 and 11 of the Michelin Clio Cup Race Series and Road Series, the penultimate event of the 2015 season, will take place on Saturday, 15th August, at Oulton Park in Cheshire.
Along with headline sponsors Michelin and Protyre, the Clio Cup Series is additionally supported by Ferodo and Safety Devices with further support for the Road Series from Monster Sport Europe.
Provisional 2015 Michelin Clio Cup Race Series Driver Standings (after Rd9): 1st Luke Herbert, 221pts; 2nd Paul Streather, 218pts; =3rd Brett Lidsey & Andy Jordan, 178pts; 5th Sam Randon, 159pts; 6th Adam Hatfield, 139pts
Provisional 2015 Michelin Clio Cup Road Series Driver Standings (after Rd9): 1st Luke Pinder, 229pts; 2nd Nic Harrison, 225pts; 3rd Tyler Lidsey, 213pts; 4th Jake Honour, 186pts; 5th Sarah Franklin, 174pts; 6th John Creasey, 135pts
