07/05/07

Croft round 4 June 3rd - 4th 2007

Condensed from RenaultSport

Qualifying
Group 1 Robert Lawson 3rd.
Group 2 Andrew Herron 6th Jim Edwards Jnr 7th, Richard Cannon 20th

With yet another capacity grid of 36 cars at the 2.13-mile North Yorkshire venue, Hodgetts led from pole position and held off the challenge of Fildes and Z Speed Racing’s Martin Byford to lead into the first corner, Clervaux, on lap one. Action in midfield and the concertina effect led to 3 cars failing to complete the first lap.

Hodgetts set about building a lead over Fildes as Byford led Ed Pead, Edwards Jnr and Michael Doyle in the chasing pack.

Robert Lawson was sixth at his home circuit ahead of Doyle and Full Speed’s Mark Speller. Together with Edwards Jnr, the trio ran nose to tail for the first half of the race before 2000 Clio Cup champion Edwards Jnr was able to pass Pead for fourth place on lap seven with a neat move at the hairpin. Pead lost a further place on the following lap as Doyle followed Edwards Jnr’s lead to pass at the hairpin. Pead tried to fight back at Tower Bend but succeeded only in tapping Doyle sideways and causing his own retirement, promoting Robert Lawson to fifth.

Towards the rear of the field, series debutant Richard Cannon (Chesterfield) marked his first outing for JHR with a creditable 23rd place finish. Having never raced cars competitively, the 39-year-old lost out to Alan Taylor and Barry Benham in the early stages but held off Alex MacDowall comfortably and was challenging Benham to the chequered flag.

On lap nine, Edwards Jnr completed his rise to the final podium spot with an opportunistic pass as Byford slid at the Complex. Just outside the top 10, Ben Winrow passed JHR Developments’ Andrew Herron and led him across the line with the duo almost touching, just 0.095s apart.

On the penultimate lap, Lawson tried desperately to pass Byford for fourth place but the Z Speed Racing man was able to defend the place to the chequered flag.

Third-placed Edwards Jnr, making his return to Clio Cup racing this season after a part-season in 2004, said: “It’s fantastic! I’ve wanted to win for a long time and I’ve been out of racing for a couple of years. To get on the podium in this championship is a great achievement because there are so many drivers that are so closely matched.”

Drivers’ Championship standings after Round 4 - provisional

1 Stefan Hodgetts GBR Momo UK 100 pts
2 Martin Byford GBR Z Speed Racing 94 pts
3 Robert Lawson GBR JHR Developments 85 pts
4 Mark Speller GBR Full Speed Racing 72 pts
5 Ben Winrow GBR Total Control Racing 70 pts
6 Jim Edwards Jnr GBR Kangaroo Int/SMC Renault/JHR 60 pts
7 Ed Pead GBR Mardi Gras Motorsport 59 pts
8 Michael Doyle GBR In Tune with Robertshaw Racing 54 pts
9 Chris Dymond GBR Robertshaw Racing 48 pts
10 Andrew Jordan GBR Team Eurotech-John Guest Speedfit 46 pts
13 Andrew Herron GBR JHR Developments 34 pts
24 Steve Wood GBR JHR Developments 6 pts

2007 ELF Renault Clio Cup - Provisional Entrants Points Table Pos

1 Jamie Hunter Racing Developments 159pts
2 Total Control Racing 111pts
3 Momo UK 102pts
4 Mardi Gras Racing 97pts