KX Racing with SV’s Ant Whorton-Eales surged to his maiden Renault UK Clio Cup race win after a phenomenal start to Round 14 at Rockingham Motor Speedway (14-15 September).
Another sensational getaway lifted KX Akademy’s Ant Whorton-Eales from 12th to 1st place before the field converged on the Dene Hairpin for the first time.
Whorton-Eales and his fellow KX recruit Stefan Hodgetts surged away, swiftly gapping the rest of the field by over four seconds before the Safety Car was deployed at the end of lap two.
A front-right puncture forced Hodgetts to pit at that moment and the delay proved costly for the One Call Insurance-supported racer, as he could only muster a 19th-place finish.
Lichfield’s Whorton-Eales, meanwhile, made a break for it at the restart. He was gradually reeled-in by a charging Josh Files until the leading pair ran nose-to-tail in the latter stages.
However, 19-year old Whorton-Eales was unfazed at the head of the field and put up an admirable defence of first place to finally break his race wins duck in the UK Clio Cup – Britain’s premier one-make saloon car championship.
When asked to describe his awe-inspiring start, Whorton-Eales said: “I don’t really know how I managed to get from 12th to first, to be honest. With the weather being so cold and unsettled, I knew getting heat into the tyres on the green-flag lap would be critical and that, if it did rain, it would only be a short shower. The tyre-warming clearly worked and my decision to opt for the outside line at Dene Hairpin somehow meant I came out in the lead.
“We’ve had some bad luck this year, but the team has done a fantastic job all weekend and the support from KX and One Call has been immense. We hooked it up today and we won’t look back from here. It’s a real monkey off my back!”
After completing an SV one-two-four in Round 13 on Saturday, Devon Modell once again proved his mettle in Round 14 to finish ninth.
He and his One Call Insurance-backed team-mate Finlay Crocker, who eventually crossed the line in 15th after dipping into the top ten, were embroiled in several tussles throughout the 15-lap race.
“I got up to ninth and had amazing pace in the car until I locked the brakes into the Dene Hairpin,” said Linlithgow’s Crocker. “From there, I had flat-spotted tyres, which caused me to constantly lock my brakes. The Masters Cup victory was within reach, so it’s disappointing to lose ground at the end. But I think it was technically the best race I’ve ever driven – I made the right choices every time – and that’s evident when you look at my lap times.”
Colchester’s Josh Wakefield was as high as eighth when the Safety Car intervened on lap two, but was a casualty of a collision at the restart, while Ronnie Klos was prevented from converting a stunning qualifying performance into points when he became beached in the gravel after contact at the exit of Gracelands on lap 11.
SV Director, Danny Buxton, said: “Ant (Whorton-Eales) has performed incredibly well all weekend and it was an absolutely awesome showing from him today. Once again he made a textbook start – I don’t quite know how he made up 12 places on the run to Turn 2 alone – and was under really intense pressure during the last three laps – this win should boost his confidence no end.
“I’m gutted for Stefan (Hodgetts) because we were on for a second consecutive one-two before he suffered that puncture – it looks like he nipped a kerb. Ronnie was very unfortunate too, especially after putting in such a brilliant qualifying performance. Devon (Modell) has been phenomenal all weekend, while Josh (Wakefield) got himself involved in an incident and Finlay’s pace was just four tenths off the established leaders. There have been some massive highlights and I’d say this is the best weekend of the year for SV.”
The final two races in the 2013 Renault UK Clio Cup will take place on the legendary Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit in one month’s time (13-14 October).
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