20/08/2007

Rivett Wins On Return

Former double champion Paul Rivett (Banstead) won round nine of the 2007 ELF Renault Clio Cup on Sunday, 19th August in a sensational return to the championship at Brands Hatch Indy circuit.

The JHR Developments’ driver beat Z Speed Racing’s new championship leader Martin Byford and Total Control Racing’s pole-sitter Ben Winrow. With a drying but still damp track, all drivers went out on slick tyres. One spun on the green flag lap before six other drivers retired on lap one causing a red flag. On the green flag lap for the restart, Hodgetts spun at Graham Hill Bend causing a second red flag and the race was moved to the end of the day.

When the race began at its rescheduled time, Winrow led away from Byford and Rivett with Philip House moving up to fourth around the outside of JHR Developments’ Robert Lawson at Paddock Hill Bend. Lawson also dropped behind team-mate Jim Edwards Jnr and Jonathan Fildes on the opening tour.

Rivett, in his first race of 2007, made his move for the lead on lap four with a pair of superb overtaking moves. First he passed Byford on the inside at Druids and immediately closed onto the back of Winrow. Carrying greater speed through Clearways, Rivett took the lead as they crossed the line and was never seriously challenged.

Edwards Jnr then ran wide at Paddock Hill Bend after a tap from Fildes, somehow keeping the car going and losing only two places. Lawson took the opportunity to pass Fildes for fifth place.
On lap 10, Pierce overtook Williams at Paddock Hill Bend with slight contact between the two resulting in Williams spinning to the rear of the field. Steve Wood was unluckily caught up the incident and fell to last place.

At the halfway stage, Rivett had opened a 2.7s lead, while Winrow was still resisting Byford’s pressure in second place. With three laps to go, Winrow finally made a mistake under pressure from Byford and ran wide on the exit of Paddock Hill Bend. Byford took full advantage to pass on the inside at Druids and score three extra championship points. House then started to catch Winrow but as rain fell and drivers began to struggle on slick tyres, the red flag was deployed to halt the race one lap from its scheduled conclusion.

For Rivett is was a triumphant return to Clio Cup racing, with the 2002 and 2004 champion winning by 5.171s and earning the RFS Driver of the Day award.

Commenting after the race he said: “I came here to do a job for all the sponsors who have given me an opportunity this weekend and to win the race is the best way to thank them. The team is very professional and gave me the car to perform in and once I got past in the early part of the race there was no looking back.”

The ELF Renault Clio Cup leaves the British Touring Car Championship support package for its next race meeting, which takes place alongside World Series by Renault at Donington Park on 8th/9th September. Renault has issued more than 250,000 free tickets for the event.

Drivers’ Championship standings after Round 9 - provisional

1 Martin Byford GBR Z Speed Racing 201 pts
2 Robert Lawson GBR JHR Developments 181 pts
3 Stefan Hodgetts GBR Momo UK 176 pts
4 Ben Winrow GBR Total Control Racing 165 pts
5 Michael Doyle GBR In Tune with Robertshaw Racing 142 pts
6 Ed Pead GBR Mardi Gras Motorsport 140 pts
7 Jim Edwards Jnr GBR Kangaroo Int/SMC Renault/JHR 124 pts
8 Andrew Jordan GBR Team Eurotech-John Guest Speedfit 112 pts
9 Mark Speller GBR Full Speed Racing 106 pts
10 Philip House GBR PH Motorsport 81 pts