SV Racing continued its winning ways in both the Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup and the Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup at Brands Hatch on Sunday (30 March).
Alex Morgan took a second consecutive race win and Ant Whorton-Eales a Graduate Cup victory in the UK Clio Cup, while David Pittard performed superbly to open his podium finishes account in his maiden GT4 Supercup outing.
Morgan once again led the field away from pole position in Round 2 of the UK Clio Cup on Sunday (30 March), when battle was resumed between the KX Akademy recruit and his Round 1 foe, Mike Bushell.
Josh Cook and Whorton-Eales both made clean starts and ran fifth and sixth until the latter spotted a faint passing opportunity at Clearways.
The Lichfield racer stuck his nose up the inside of his SVR stable-mate and the pair exchanged paint as they ran side-by-side before Whorton-Eales, holding the inside line for Paddock Hill Bend, snatched fifth position.
Running around the outside of Turn 1, Cook was left vulnerable to the opportunistic James Colburn and Devon Modell and emerged from the shuffle in eighth place, while the fourth member of SVR’s ‘Class of 2014’, Ash Hand, ran just outside of the top ten.
There was nothing to choose between the leading trio – Morgan, Bushell and Paul Rivett – for the entirety of the 20-lap race and it would only be a matter of time before Rob Smith and the charging Whorton-Eales joined the party to make it a quintet.
Morgan was given no respite and took an uncompromisingly defensive line to maintain the initiative to the flag and take a clean sweep of pole positions and race wins from the opening weekend of the 2014 UK Clio Cup season.
“That was a lot harder than yesterday’s race. It looked like I might start pulling a gap, but both Bushell and Rivett got a great tow on me along the straights,” said Morgan. “Before I knew it, I was in defensive mode and that remained the same throughout. I couldn’t give Bushell any space because he was all over me and I think we’re set for a good season of close racing. It has been a fantastic weekend and I couldn’t have hoped for any more.”
Whorton-Eales employed some very exotic lines as he made his way up the order and snatched fourth place with a gutsy move around the outside of Smith at Druids, sealing the Graduate Cup victory.
“I had an unfortunate start yesterday so I just lit up the fronts and made sure I got away well today,” said Whorton-Eales. “I kept clawing away a few tenths at a time to catch the top four and we had a great fight, but I couldn’t take too many chances after coming from so far back. It’s a bit of a shocker to get the Graduate Cup win too! We’ve had good pace all weekend so it was a shame that I was unable to unlock the speed on new slicks in qualifying.”
In Round 2 of the GT4 Supercup, a sensational start from Pittard saw him surge from seventh to third on the short rise to Paddock Hill Bend, as an collision involving Carl Breeze, Jamie Orton and Harry Woodhead left all three cars beached in the gravel.
The Safety Car was deployed while Brands Hatch’s hardworking marshals moved the wreckages out of harm’s way, bunching up the field and forcing KX Akademy’s Pittard to fight a rear-guard action against a charging Tom Oliphant at the restart.
Pittard crucially had pace where it mattered to fend off the ever-lengthening train of cars forming behind him, but then found an extra gear to build an advantage over the chasing pack and bridge the gap to second-placed Andrew Watson.
The pace only got hotter, but the SVR contender possessed incredible speed and consistency to record the fastest lap – a 48.692s – and draw up to the rear of Watson’s G55.
With the bit between his teeth, Pittard applied unrelenting pressure but ran out of time to have a realistic shot at passing, particularly with Oliphant shadowing his every move.
Pittard started the third and final GT4 Supercup encounter from fourth on the grid and, despite initially gaining ground, fell to fifth in the latter half of the opening lap, which is where he finished after some fraught action.
“To finish on the podium in Round 2 was excellent,” said Pittard. “I made a conscious effort to get off the line well and I was able to sneak down the inside and into third place as cars tangled at Paddock Hill Bend. After the early Safety Car intervention, I simply looked after the tyres, which I’m still acclimatising to. I got to within a second of Andrew Watson but was unable to get any closer. However, I’m so pleased to have brought the car home safely in third place. It’s still early days in the season and I want to keep my feet on the ground.”
SV Racing Director, Danny Buxton, was speechless, but said: “What a fantastic drive from David (Pittard)! Considering we only took delivery of the car last week and he has completed just 60 laps in it, it’s a phenomenal achievement. He shot off the line and was up to third, he kept a clear head and brought the car home with a handful of points and some silverware. It honestly couldn’t happen to a nicer guy and I’m overwhelmed.
“In addition to this, Alex (Morgan) and Ant (Whorton-Eales) drove impeccably once again to both scale the UK Clio Cup podium. The race was far more eventful and nerve-racking than the first one! Alex didn’t have it all his own way this time, but he defended remarkably well and brought home another win. He’s a class act! Ant had fantastic pace and his driving was superb too. I’m in awe of it all, to be honest. I do wish Ash’s (Hand) weekend hadn’t been hampered by car gremlins as he has a great deal of potential and I think it’s only a matter of time before we see Josh (Cook) standings atop the podium. But what a mega weekend! Bring on the next one!”
The Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup and Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup continue at the historic Donington Park circuit on the Derbyshire/Leicestershire border in three weeks’ time (19-20 April).
For more information on SV Racing, please visit the new www.svracing.co.uk website, ‘like’ the team’s Facebook page or follow @SV_Racing on Twitter.