Salisbury’s Ollie Pidgley is ready and raring to commence his maiden season in the Renault UK Clio Cup on the world-famous Brands Hatch Indy circuit this coming weekend (1-3 April).
Pidgley launched his campaign at the championship’s official Media Day on Wednesday 23 March following a long winter of conditioning, which encompassed several days of track testing, countless hours in the simulator and an arduous health and fitness regime to ensure he’s at his best come the first race of the season.
No stone has been left unturned, although the MAC Tools factory driver and brand ambassador is certain there’s more to come from himself, his Ciceley Motorsport team and his Clio Cup racecar going into Brands Hatch’s curtain-raiser.
“I’m really looking forward to my first year in the Renault UK Clio Cup and it’s particularly exciting to be part of the British Touring Car Championship package, as that’s where I want to be,” said Pidgley. “You never really know what your rivals are doing in testing, as it’s easy to make yourself look faster or sandbag, if you’re feeling confident. It’s only in qualifying at Brands Hatch that all the smoke and mirrors will stop, so we have to take everything we’ve done until now with a pinch of salt. Having said that, we know we’ve been running fine and getting faster. On a personal level, I’m feeling good.
“The unknown adds an extra level of excitement and anticipation to the season-opener, but knowing there’s still a lot of scope for improvements is also exciting. We haven’t even hinted at our true potential yet and there is loads more to come, with me and Ciceley Motorsport constantly learning. I do like Brands Hatch, because it’s where I’ve had the most quality track time and it was the scene of my first ever race in a Clio and my maiden podium result. It helps to have positive feelings about a circuit.”
Pidgley concluded: “Renault, meanwhile, puts on really good show and is so welcoming to drivers, teams and sponsors. The UK Clio Cup is renowned as the most effective feeder series to the BTCC, but racing with Ciceley Motorsport and Adam Morgan with backing from MAC Tools should provide me with a good stairway into touring cars. It’s exciting to think that MAC Tools could be wrapped on a touring car one day!”
Renault UK Clio Cup qualifying is scheduled for 12.05 on Saturday (2 April), with the first of two races later that afternoon at 16.25 and the second encounter the following day at 13.25 (Sunday 3 April).