Alex Morgan and Josh Cook achieved a sensational one-three finish in SV Racing’s first Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup race as a brand new entity, while David Pittard had a solid maiden outing in the Ginetta GT4 Supercup on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit (Saturday 29 March).
Morgan set the pace in the opening UK Clio Cup free practice session of the weekend at Brands Hatch, recording a 52.614s to gap the chasing pack by more than three tenths of a second.
Cook and Ant Whorton-Eales ended the 45-minute session in third and fourth places respectively, with Ash Hand in eighth and just six tenths adrift of his pace-setting teammate, Morgan.
Free practice two was held in dry conditions, which allowed drivers to clock up several laps of Brands Hatch’s 1.22mile Indy configuration and extract a great deal of pace from their cars.
The times tumbled rapidly as the session progressed and a lap of 52.550s saw Bristol’s Cook top the times with the tiniest of margins over fellow KX Akademy recruit, Morgan.
Hand and Whorton-Eales exchanged positions slightly further down the order for the most part, but it was Nuneaton’s Hand who had the upper hand at the chequered flag in eighth place
Spring had sprung and temperatures soared for UK Clio Cup qualifying on Saturday morning. Cook was the first to record a representative time – a 52.858s – but was eventually bumped down to sixth place as Morgan locked horns with Team Pyro’s Mike Bushell and multiple Clio Cup Champion Paul Rivett in the fight for pole position.
Whorton-Eales concluded the morning as the second best SVR qualifier in fifth, while Hand recorded the seventh fastest time to finish on par with his fellow KX Akademy recruits.
Morgan and Bushell were split by the slenderest of margins midway through qualifying, but the Welsh SVR contender would extend that to four hundredths of a second with a best time of 52.546s and also record the second best time of the session to secure pole position for both Rounds 1 and 2 of the 2014 UK Clio Cup season in Kent.
Pole-man Morgan held the initiative over Mike Bushell as the 13-car field dipped down Paddock Hill Bend for the first time in the first UK Clio Cup clash of 2014, while Cook used a superb launch to propel himself from sixth to third place on the opening lap.
Morgan had Rob Smith for company during the early stages of the 20-lap race and, although the gap between the leading pair ebbed and flowed, Morgan had the measure of the Team Pyro racer and proceeded to edge out a significant advantage of over four seconds to open his and SV Racing’s race wins account in style.
“It’s overwhelming and the team couldn’t have achieved any more,” said Morgan. “We were quickest in practice, got a double pole and then win the first race is just a brilliant way to begin my career with SVR and the KX Akademy. Once I got passed the nerves of the start and broke the tow from Smith I knew I could just ease away and control the race. My times reflected that and two or three laps from the end I was pretty relaxed. It takes a lot to put a smile on Danny’s (Buxton) face so it’s great to achieve that!”
Cook, meanwhile, had his hands full for the duration. Team Pyro’s Mike Bushell applied unrelenting pressure for the final podium position and, despite several strong passing attempts, KX Akademy’s Cook put up an impeccable defence to keep his rival at bay.
“I was delighted to go from sixth to third, although I was clobbered at the start and that bent the axle,” said Cook. “I knew Bushell would be quick so I had to back him up whenever I could and make sure I covered myself, but it was a really fair race and it’s nice to get the podium straight out of the blocks. I’m concentrating on accumulating the points this season.”
Whorton-Eales made amends for a stalled start by clawing his way back up to tenth place, just behind SVR teammate Hand in ninth.
In the Ginetta GT4 Supercup, David Pittard recorded a 48.367s to go third fastest in free practice one, which was blighted by mixed weather conditions following an earlier snow flurry.
The Hertfordshire-based driver was able to make an impression on the timesheets in Friday’s second practice session when, with five minutes on the clock, he suffered an unfortunate engine failure.
Pittard spent most of Saturday morning’s 20-minute qualifying session bedding in his newly-installed engine after the hardworking SVR mechanics toiled late into the night, but eventually clocked the seventh fastest time.
Although he was unable to get off the grid well and tumbled to the outskirts of the top ten, Pittard found his feet and carved his way through the field to become embroiled in a fraught three-way tussle with Ginetta Junior graduate Harry Woodhead and Tom Oliphant for fifth position.
The battle raged for several laps as the trio chopped-and-changed positions up until the chequered flag.
Despite having only tested in the car on two previous occassions, the KX Akademy-backed driver produced a stunning drive to bring the car home in a highly respectable seventh place.
SV Racing Director, Danny Buxton, said: “This result has really put a smile on my face and made me feel quite emotional – I never get emotional! It has been an exciting, yet rocky ride over the winter and to win the first race of the season as a brand new entity is an amazing feeling. A lot of hard work has gone into this and it’s quite humbling. Alex (Morgan) did a phenomenal job, Josh’s (Cook) defensive display could be the drive of his season and David (Pittard) has had a fabulous start considering this is only his third day in the car. You can’t ask more than that. Podiums are coming for him, that’s for sure!”
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