Jamie Hunter Racing in the UK Clio Cup

Podiums for Lawson, Hunter and Herron

Seat race 1

As the leading cars charged into Sear Corner for the first time of Round11, disaster struck. Robert Lawson (Bardon/JHR), the current leader, ended up stranded on the grass with a broken steering rack, while behind him both Daniel Welch (Marriott/Welch Motorsport) and Jonathan Adam (Total Control Racing) came off the track with a resulting drop in places.

Andrew Herron (Brian Herron Plant/JHR) finished the race in 7th from 4th on the grid after an early set back, but was consistently quick as he tried to pull back positions. All the JHR cars will be eager to make up for the disappointment in the first of three races, and should Lawson’s car be fixed in time, he’ll be looking for a win.

Seat race 2

Robert Lawson (Bardon/JHR), Jonathan Adam (Total Control Racing) and Carl Breeze (Blue Chip/Welch Motorsport) had a much better start to Round 12 at Snetterton compared to the earlier race. Breeze was off the line superbly, forcing Adam to rethink his blocking of Lawson’s charge on the outside to keep the King’s Lynn local at bay on the inside. Heading through Sear Corner, Adam had the pair of them trying to pass him on both sides, but held on to hit Revett Straight still in front.

James Appleby (Hardinge Machine Tools/JHR) sneaked past Gumbley, the young driver holding out for the 7th.

But there was no catching Adam who recorded his third win of the season, just ahead of Lawson who still remains as the Championship leader.

Fastest lap: Robert Lawson (Bardon/JHR)…1:13.856

Robert Lawson: “Oulton Park is quite a challenging circuit to be fair and it’s not too long a break between meetings which is good. We’ll be getting the car back into the workshop for a proper inspection after the repairs from the first race incident at Snetterton just to make sure it’s perfect. The aim of going to Oulton Park is to win.”

Clio Race 1

12/07/2008

From pole position, Winrow immediately came under threat from the fast-starting Steven Hunter (Dronfield) of JHR Developments. The pole-sitter held his lead and was soon being chased by EPS UK with Robertshaw Racing’s Robert Gaffney (Waltham Abbey) as he came up from third on the grid with Glew tucked in behind.

As the top three edged clear, Glew made a bid for second place and took the position on lap three. Lap six saw Allison pass Hunter for fourth place before a brief rain shower caused several drivers to slide off the track at the Esses, where oil had been dropped by the preceding race. Just outside the top 10, Osborne and MacDowall both slid and collided as they rejoined the circuit, causing both to retire.

One of the beneficiaries was JHR’s Paul Rivett (Banstead), who moved up to eighth behind Árón Smith by keeping a smooth line through the chicane. The restart came on lap 12 and Glew immediately passed Gaffney for second as Rivett lost two places to P9 Raceshop/Range Storage’s Lee Pattison (Liversedge) and Bradley. .

Lap 14 saw Gaffney edged out of the podium places by Allison at the Bomb Hole and although he tried to hit back, the teenager couldn’t re-pass the former race-winner. Hunter took advantage to close the gap, forcing Gaffney to defend his fourth place. Meanwhile, Glew had closed the gap on Winrow with the gap at less than half a second starting the final tour of the 1.95-mile circuit.

With the top five running nose-to-tail there was no margin for error and all five drivers lapped within two-tenths of a second of each other, negating any chance of overtaking. Winrow set the fastest lap of the race, a new lap record, at 1min 18.213s (89.84mph) on the final lap to secure the victory, with Glew just holding off Allison through Russell Chicane for the last time.

Clio race 2

The race began in familiar fashion with Winrow leading away from his 13th pole position of the season, although Robertshaw Racing’s Matt Allison (Norwich) was right on his rear bumper. However, Allison was adjudged to have made a false start and incurred a Drive Through Penalty that dropped him to 18th and left Gaffney in second and Steven Hunter in third.

A tap with JHR’s Paul Rivett (Banstead) relegating the double former champion to 11th and leaving both with slightly damaged steering.

Rivett regained one place to 10th at the Esses after contact slightly damaged his steering.
With Hunter keeping the pressure on Gaffney, when Allison served his Drive Through it left Winrow with a 2.2s lead at the end of lap three. Allison was attempting to make up his lost ground but contact with JHR’s Derek Pierce (West Kilbride) at Russell Chicane saw him fall back to 22nd. On lap six, Rivett’s already damaged steering finally gave out as he rode the kerbs at the Esses, leaving him stranded in the middle of the track and necessitating the Safety Car to enable recovery of his stricken car.

Racing resumed on lap 10 and Hunter redoubled his efforts to take second place from Gaffney, but the 18-year-old held firm and also kept Winrow within reach.

Third-placed Steven Hunter said: “I hadn’t planned to race this weekend but Mark Hazell couldn’t make it so I stepped in and really enjoyed it again. I tried to make up places early on in the race but with the Safety Car coming out the real race was at the end not the beginning so I struggled a bit and couldn’t quite get to the front. Great fun as ever though and I’m happy to be on the podium.”

Rounds 15 and 16 of the 2008 ELF Renault Clio Cup take place at Cheshire’s Oulton Park circuit on 26th/27th July.

2008 ELF Renault Clio Cup provisional drivers’ standings (incl. dropped scores) – round 14

1 Ben Winrow           GBR   Team Pyro                                            378 pts
2 Paul Rivett              GBR   JHR Developments                              291 pts
3 Phil Glew               GBR   Full Speed Racing                                267 pts
4 Carl Bradley           GBR   Coastal Racing                                     182 pts
5 Robert Gaffney       GBR   EPS UK with Robertshaw Racing        177 pts
6 Alex MacDowall    GBR   Total Control Racing                           167 pts
7 Mike Robinson       GBR   Total Control Racing                            155 pts
8 Gavin Pyper            GBR Mardi Gras Motorsport                        154 pts
9 Árón Smith              IRL    Mardi Gras Motorsport                        150 pts
10 Niki Lanik            AUT   Y4HR Miracle Drywash with SVE       139 pts