SV dominated the Michelin Clio Cup Series with Protyre ‘Autumn Cup’ event at Rockingham Motor Speedway on Saturday (16 November), with Maidstone’s Devon Modell and Liverpool’s Jamie Clarke sharing the spoils.
Modell, who made a big impression during his maiden season in the flagship Renault UK Clio Cup, proved to be the one to beat from the outset of the weekend, utterly dominating free practice and qualifying, lapping Rockingham’s 1.94mile International Super Sportscar circuit a full six tenths quicker than the rest of the field.
The 23-year old from Kent was in a class of one during the opening 20-minute Clio Cup encounter, recording the fastest lap – 1m30.539s – and winning by an unprecedented margin of over seven seconds, but was prevented from taking a clean sweep of wins when clutch issues led to his retirement while leading the final 45-minute ‘enduro’.
“On Friday I recorded my best ever lap time at Rockingham, then put it on pole position in qualifying and walked the first race, so I can’t complain,” said Modell. “The second race was a lot tougher. I had to work really hard during the first five laps to defend against my team-mate Tommy Ostgaard as my car wasn’t quite right – we had set it up so it would get better as the race went on.
“Having achieved a career-best fourth place finish at Rockingham in the UK Clio Cup, I went into the weekend with confidence. My pace in Friday testing compounding that confidence and I expected to set the pace in qualifying and the races. Unfortunately my clutch started to develop problems with about ten minutes to go in race two and I was forced to retire.”
Clarke, whose background lies in the Legends Car Championship, was a surprise victor during the elongated 45-minute Autumn Cup enduro after battling his way up from eighth on the grid.
The Liverpool-domiciled Scotsman snatched the initiative three laps from the finish when team-mate Tommy Ostgaard – who inherited the lead from Modell – hit a patch of oil at Deene.
Ostgaard, from Norway is a six-time race winner in the Roadcar division of the Michelin-backed Clio Cup Series and duly stepped up to the plate at Rockingham, battling hard with Westbourne Motorsport’s Charles Ladell and team-mate Modell to achieve third and second place results.
Former single seater hotshot Alex Walker, meanwhile, acquitted himself well during Rockingham’s Autumn Cup event. The Oldham-based driver featured highly in both races but could only muster a best eighth place finish in race one, before an altercation in the second encounter resulted in a non-finish.
Andrew Wright gave a good account of himself away from the start line, surging up to the sharp end on the run to Deene before locking horns with Graham Field in both races.
The Londoner constantly traded places with Field in race one and emerged from the fray in seventh position and was on course for another solid finish in race two until an over-ambitious move resulted in terminal front-end damage to his car.
Michele Faissola, meanwhile, entered the weekend off the back of an unfortunate testing crash at Silverstone. Despite a tentative start to Friday’s practice sessions, the Italian took significant strides forwards in terms of pace to finish ninth in the races with a brace of Novice Class victories.
SV Director, Danny Buxton, said: “The Michelin Clio Cup with Protyre Autumn Cup event was brilliant for the team and Devon (Modell) was unbelievable all weekend. His pace was phenomenal and I would go so far as to say that, even if the most experienced Clio Cup drivers like Stefan Hodetts, Paul Rivett and Josh Files were there, he would be won those races. He was so consistent and I think he’ll take a lot of confidence through to next season.
“Jamie (Clarke) definitely has a lot of talent and had a seamless transition to front-wheel-drive Clios. He’s an ideal candidate for the 2014 UK Clio Cup, but a lack of time is his only hurdle. I hope his weekend at Rockingham will inspire him to make it work, because it would be a pleasure to have him on-board.”
Buxton added: “Andrew Wright’s starts were absolutely sensational and I think I need him to return in 2014 to show the other drivers how you get a Clio Cup car off the line! Alex Walker gave a good account of himself too, showing great pace during testing on Friday. Car problems hampered his progress and he was on for a solid finish in race two before an altercation led to his retirement, which is disappointing.
“Michele (Faissola) returned after a somewhat troubled test at Silverstone where we were involved in a crash feeling pretty relaxed. He started the weekend well off the pace but came on leaps and bounds to be within two seconds of the leaders. He did exactly what was expected of him in a perfect world, taking it nice and easy and achieving two class victories.”
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