SV Racing can reflect upon a remarkable start to the 2014 Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup and Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup, having achieved some incredible feats in its maiden year as a new entity under the sole leadership of Danny Buxton.
It was announced at the start of the year that Buxton would be launching a brand new solo venture under the SV Racing banner, creating a ‘stairway of talent’ with KX Akademy-backed campaigns in the UK Clio Cup and Ginetta GT4 Supercup, as well as programmes in the Michelin Clio Cup Series and Junior Saloon Car Championship (JSCC).
Josh Cook was a latecomer to the KX Akademy programme and the Bristol racer’s intentions were clear from the outset at Brands Hatch.
The University of Bath Motorsport Engineering graduate made an instant splash in the UK Clio Cup by winning the 2012 ‘Rookie Trophy’, and set out his stall early in 2014 by achieving a podium finish at the first time of asking.
However, it was fellow KX recruit Alex Morgan who stole the headlines. The Bridgend-born racer achieved a win and countless podiums to take second overall in the 2013 standings, and an ominously dominant and controlled display that included two lights-to-flag victories in Rounds 1 and 2 demonstrated his sheer determination to land the big prize this time around.
SV Racing was on the crest of a wave as it headed to the East Midlands for Rounds 3 and 4 at the history-rich Donington Park circuit.
Cook had laid down the gauntlet to his rivals by going fastest in an officially-timed test at Thruxton and he and teammate Ant Whorton-Eales duly locked out the front row for Round 3 following a hotly-contested qualifying session.
Pole position was translated into a win for Cook, although the bulk of the action occurred in Round 4.
Nuneaton’s Ash Hand initially led the SV Racing with KX charge after qualifying third, but a race featuring several nail-biting moments and some spectacular acrobatics culminated with Cook heading an extraordinary and emotional SVR one-two-three-four.
“The one-two-three-four at Donington Park was a huge moment and justified all the hard work and sacrifices made by everybody involved with SVR and me personally,” said SV Racing Director, Danny Buxton. “It’s always difficult when you go solo after having other people to bounce ideas off of and I miss working with my friends, but it has been an exciting time too and this result made it all worthwhile. I think everybody knew how much it meant to me.”
The jubilant SVR team remained unbeaten in the UK Clio Cup and was determined to carry its dominant form south to Hampshire’s super-quick Thruxton circuit.
Two additional podiums consolidated Cook’s championship position but the spotlight was firmly on SVR’s sole Ginetta GT4 Supercup charger, David Pittard, when the former MSA British Endurance Champion and BRDC Rising Star opened his race wins account in the most commanding fashion.
Pittard had made a seamless transition from the Ginetta GT5 Challenge to the GT4 Supercup, achieving a maiden podium in Round 2 at Brands Hatch, and drove impeccably to become a two-time winner in only his third outing in the ultra-competitive single-make sportscar championship and mark himself out as a realistic title contender.
The Wettenhall-based SVR team was then quite literally able to ‘Cook up a storm’ at its home Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire.
Lichfield’s Whorton-Eales – a second-year KX Akademy scholar – moved to the fore by qualifying his KX-liveried racer on pole for Rounds 7 and 8 of the UK Clio Cup after a relatively solid start to the year, but languished down in tenth in the opening clash and then raced to a season’s best second place in race two.
Cook took another race win and Pittard a podium finish on a stormy Saturday at Oulton Park to extend their respective championship leads, while a double SVR podium in Round 8 of the UK Clio Cup for Cook and Whorton-Eales consolidated another fruitful outing in the North West.
With the top five reversed for the third Ginetta race at Croft Circuit in June, Pittard had pole position and every chance of taking a victory away from a challenging weekend.
Holding the initiative through the first sequence of corners, a deflating rear tyre compromised his charge in the latter stages. Blissfully unaware of the severity of his tyre issues, Pittard pushed on and defended with all his might against title rival Carl Breeze to achieve a remarkable race win – the third of the season – and move up to second in the Drivers’ standings.
Croft saw a reinvigorated Hand flip his fortunate with a brace of podiums after qualifying third and fourth for Rounds 9 and 10 of the UK Clio Cup.
The Nuneaton driver emerged as a consistent frontrunner during the tail end of last year, but, while his raw pace and ability is undeniable, the initial stages of 2014 were mired by frustrating on-track incidents and reliability issues.
Keen to put his troubles behind him, Hand led home an SVR two-three-four-five in Round 9 and then finished in an outstanding third position in Round 10 after languishing in last place on lap one to propel himself to ninth in the points, while a third place for Whorton-Eales in race one bolstered his championship standing.
He lies sixth overall and immediately behind teammate Morgan who has scored consistently to maintain fifth, while Cook holds the initiative with a 15-point advantage over Westbourne Motorsport’s James Colburn.
SV Racing Director, Buxton, is overwhelmed by what his team has achieved so far in 2014, saying: “The build-up to the season was difficult, yet exciting and a lot of sacrifices were made while putting in the groundwork to ensure that we would be extremely competitive. On the Clio side, there’s no doubt the work we did pre-season has paid dividends, but all four drivers have performed incredibly well and any of them could still win the title, which is a tremendous position to be in.
“There have been so many highlights, but the one-two-three-four at Donington and David Pittard’s performance at Thruxton stand out. It was a huge moment for him, as he really stamped his authority and marked himself out as a championship contender, but I feel it was the moment when SV Racing announced its arrival as a force in the Ginetta paddock. There’s a lot to be proud of and much of it is down to the incredibly hard working and talented staff I have. Now we just have to finish off the job with a final push towards the Drivers’ and Teams’ titles in both the UK Clio Cup and GT4 Supercup.”
Buxton concluded: “SV Racing’s future looks very bright, but particularly because its ‘stairway of talent’ continues to expand. The team is committed to nurturing young, talented drivers, including Tommy Ostgaard, Sam Randon Aam Hatfield and Alex Reed in the Clio Cup Series and James Dorlin and Tom Stockton in the JSCC. All are exciting prospects for the future and SVR is keen to play an instrumental role in their career development.”
The Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup and Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup resume on the Snetterton ‘300’ circuit near Thetford, Norfolk (2-3 August).
For more information on SV Racing, please visit the www.svracing.co.uk website, ‘like’ the team’s Facebook page or follow @SV_Racing on Twitter and Instagram.