Scuderia Vittoria hopes to be more than just steady at “The Rock” when the Renault UK Clio Cup takes on the Corby-based circuit’s International Super Sportscar configuration for Rounds 13 and 14 of the 2013 season (14-15 September).
The KX Akademy-supported Stefan Hodgetts swept to another podium finish at Snetterton five weeks ago after a tumultuous start to the weekend for the London-based Scuderia Vittoria outfit.
Fifth in the Drivers’ standings with 136 points still on offer to any one driver, the Redditch-domiciled racer still has an outside chance of clinching this year’s UK Clio Cup crown and will be ready to pounce should one of the chief title protagonists slip up at Rockingham.
Market Harborough’s Ronnie Klos, on the other hand, has been in the wars of late. The One Call Insurance-backed driver showed a great deal of promise in free practice at Snetterton, but was unfortunate to rack up a pair of DNFs in incident-packed races.
Klos, aged 45, subsequently heads to his local circuit of Rockingham with heightened drive and determination to translate his raw pace into solid results, the main objective being Masters Cup glory.
“I absolutely adore Rockingham because, not only is it my home circuit, but my previous excursions have been pretty positive,” said Klos. “I qualified really well last year and our pace in the dry was phenomenal, although the rain that fell later caused huge problems for me.
“It’s a treacherous track at the best of times – the concrete walls are always ready to punish you for even the slightest mistake – but we were completely unprepared for the wet weather in 2012 and I had zero visibility. We’re expecting mixed conditions again this weekend but we’ll be one step ahead this time around and I’m going to push hard for Masters Cup wins.”
The second half of the UK Clio Cup season has been something of a turning point for Scuderia Vittoria’s second KX recruit, Ant Whorton-Eales.
The 18-year old from Lichfield broke his podium finishes duck at Croft Circuit in June and was on course for his second visit to the winners’ rostrum in as many weekends at Snetterton until a bruising collision relegated him to seventh place.
Rookie team-mates Devon Modell and Josh Wakefield continue to show a great deal of maturity and guile in their maiden Clio Cup seasons. Modell of Maidstone, Kent finished Round 11 at Snetterton as the lead Scuderia Vittoria driver in sixth place, while Essex resident Wakefield stayed clear of trouble to threaten for top ten results.
Much like Klos, the One Call Insurance-backed Finlay Crocker will be vying for Masters Cup glory at “The Rock” following a frustrating outing in Norfolk. While the Scottish racer has shown a great deal of promise in recent rounds, poor luck has stood in his way.
Scuderia Vittoria Director, Danny Buxton, said: “After the highs of Oulton Park and Croft, Snetterton was somewhat disappointing. The podium Stefan (Hodgetts) achieved was a massive relief, as it looked as though we’d have to write off the weekend completely until then. Ant (Whorton-Eales) was denied his second podium due to incidents. We lost some crucial championship points that weekend for various reasons, which has blunted our charge as we close in on the season finale.”
“However, we had a productive day of testing at Snetterton a few weeks ago and hope to put into practice the lessons we learnt there. Of course, this will be the home race for Ronnie (Klos) and I know he’s longing for a couple of solid finishes. As always, I hope a stellar weekend in Northamptonshire will be the start of an unrelenting charge towards the top of the championship. We need to start eating into Team Pyro’s advantage now if we are to stand a chance of winning the Teams’ Trophy come the end of the season.”
Renault UK Clio Cup qualifying will begin at 10.50 on Saturday (14 September), while Round 13 is scheduled for 16.20 later that same day. Round 13, meanwhile, will get under way at 14.42 on Sunday (15 September) and will be broadcast live and in high definition on ITV4 and ITV4 HD.
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