It was a tale of ups-and-downs for Devon Modell in an incident-filled Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup weekend at Croft Circuit (28-29 June).
While conditions were indifferent during Friday morning’s opening free practice session, with rain threatening but never fully materialising, Maidstone’s Modell was able to explore the limits of both car and track to record the seventh fastest time – 1m34.831s – despite not knowing how the new generation Clio would handle the North Yorkshire circuit.
During Saturday’s 30-minute qualifying session, tyre wear was prominent. Drivers had a very narrow window in which to make an impact on the pointy end of the leaderboard and Modell, 23, lapped the 2.25mile venue two seconds quicker than his previous personal best from free practice to qualify seventh for Rounds 9 and 10 on Sunday (29 June).
An overnight downpour washed away any rubber laid down the previous day, reducing grip levels for the start of Round 9 on Sunday afternoon. Nevertheless, Modell was able to negotiate the opening few corners without incurring damage, as teammate James Colburn and three-time Champion Paul Rivett came together at the Clervaux right-hander.
At the close of the second tour, Modell maintained seventh position and was closing in on the tail-end of championship contender, Mike Bushell, who himself was trying to find a way past SV Racing with KX’s Alex Morgan.
Shadowing Bushell’s every move, Modell moved to within half a second of the dicing pair as they entered the Complex for the sixth time. Modell eyed a move up the inside of Bushell, but was given no leeway and slotted back into position while heading down the start-finish straight.
Morgan, Bushell and Modell all pushed each other to the limit and quickly latched onto the back of KX Akademy duo Ant Whorton-Eales and Josh Cook in third and fourth places respectively.
Having run nose-to-tail with Bushell for much of the 12-lap contest, it was at the final Hairpin that Modell pulled off a bold move up the inside of Bushell to claim sixth position and 18-points to aid his championship bid.
It was a contrasting story in the weekend’s second race, after a spin at the opening corner demoted the Maidstone driver to the very back of the field.
Seeking to reclaim lost ground, Modell was quick to rise up the leaderboard and, at the close of the fifth lap, had climbed to tenth position after passing previous race rival, Bushell, at the tight final Hairpin.
However, unexpected contact brought about a broken steering rack and a premature end to his race, but not before snatching the fastest lap – 1m34.550s.
“I came here on Friday trying to get over some massive gremlins after my big crash last year, but the day’s free practice sessions went smoothly, which set us up for a strong qualifying on Saturday,” said Modell. “We hooked up a good first lap, but when I pitted for new tyres, I hit a bump that unbalanced the car and sent me into the barrier, which ruined my session. Having had a look at the times other drivers were setting on fresh tyres, we could have easily qualified on the second row, which would have been our best showing of the year.”
Modell continued: “I had a good first race, but was unfortunately docked a position for what the stewards deemed unfair passing. In the second race, I got off the line well but, as we approached the first corner, I hit the kerb while following (Alex) Morgan and had to bail out on the throttle or I would have hit him. I recovered quite well and achieved the fastest lap in my class, which was quite nice, but unfortunately my race came to an early end when contact resulted in a broken steering rack.”
Next on Devon Modell’s agenda is Rounds 7 and 8 of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship at Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps with TF Sport (11-12 July).
For more information on Devon Modell and his racing activities, please follow @Devon_Modell on Twitter.