SV Racing showed a great turn of speed in the Michelin Clio Cup Series and Junior Saloon Car Championship on the Snetterton ‘300’ circuit (30-31 August) and the latest addition to the team’s stable, Horsham’s Alex Reed, marked himself out as a bright prospect for the future.
Reed, 16, made an impact on his Clio Cup Series baptism and left Norfolk with a full and comprehensive impression of what racing in the super-competitive one-make championship involves.
The Horsham-based young gun qualified seventh and tenth for Rounds 9 and 10 respectively and stood his ground in both races to lap within six tenths of the series’ most experienced drivers and achieved a best eighth place finish, despite becoming embroiled in typically robust on-track battles.
His battle scarred Clio racer told the story of a frenetic Clio Cup Series debut. He was the victim of a heavy first-lap collision that forced him into the pits to be patched up, which denied him a second consecutive top ten finish on the Snetterton ‘300’ circuit.
However, the A-Level student is encouraged by his showing and is looking forward to a full Clio Cup Series campaign in 2015, before hopefully rising up through SV Racing’s ‘stairway of talent’ into the UK Clio Cup and beyond.
Meanwhile, other commitments prevented Ant Whorton-Eales from attending Snetterton and partaking in free practice on Friday, although the KX Akademy recruit had little trouble reacquainting himself with the older third generation Clio racer and recorded the fifth and sixth fastest times in qualifying for Rounds 9 and 10 of the Clio Cup Series at Snetterton.
Stellar drives saw the Lichfield resident challenge for victory in both races on Sunday (31 August), although driver error resigned him to fourth in the first encounter and, in a cruel twist of fate, a puncture brought his race two charge to a premature conclusion, taking him out of second position two laps from the end.
Nevertheless, Whorton-Eales was satisfied with his weekend’s racing, having entered the event to stay sharp as he bids for the 2014 Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup title.
“The setup that SV Racing gave me was spot on and I definitely had the pace from the outset of the weekend at Snetterton, setting the fastest lap in race two before suffering bad luck,” said Whorton-Eales. “However, I’m not there to win the title and, ultimately, it was just a bit of fun and about staying in shape ahead of Rockingham’s round of the UK Clio Cup, where I am gunning for the championship. In that sense, it was very positive and did me a lot of good. What it also did is remind me how much I love the old Clio Cup car. It’s a proper racer that you can throw around a lot more than the latest model.”
James Dorlin returned to the top step of the podium in the latest round of the JSCC at Norfolk’s Snetterton ‘300’ circuit, crucially maintaining his points advantage as the season reaches its nail-biting conclusion.
The JSCC yet again produced action-packed racing and title contender Dorlin] inherited a win when Alex Day was disqualified for a technical infringement.
Victory bolstered his championship standing over chief threat Ben Colburn and, while he was only able to muster a sixth-place result in race two, Dorlin goes into Croft Circuit’s season finale (20-21 September) satisfied with his points cushion.
“It was a bit of a relief to be back on the top step of the podium but, while I wasn’t the quickest, I had good pace and consistency all weekend and that’s all I really need at this stage of the season,” said Dorlin. “I wasn’t too happy with sixth, but I still bagged good points and I’m all set for Croft, with a strong 16-point advantage over Ben Colburn. I have to keep my head down and ensure I don’t get a DNF. It’s just a case of reaching the finish.”
Stockton qualified fourth for the first of two JSCC races in Norfolk and held his own while in pursuit of Dorlin during the first few tours of the 2.99mile Snetterton circuit, when a collision with Ben Mills caused debilitating damage and placed him on the backfoot for the rest of the weekend.
His straight-line speed and handling compromised, the Nantwich-based youngster was forced to fight a rear-guard action in both races. Having ended race one in the barriers, race two was also about damage limitation for Stockton, who took his still hobbled WIX Filters-liveried Citroen Saxo to 11th.
Stockton said: “There are some positives to take from Snetterton because, on the one hand, my pace was strong and I got a lot of decent television coverage while involved in on-track battles, but then I was out of position and achieved my worst results of the season. The driving standards were awful and tried my best to stand my ground with the damage I sustained when t-boned by Ben Mills. I think I showed spirit, but then the frustration got to me and I made a bad call, turning into a rival and ending up in the barriers.”
SV Racing Director, Danny Buxton, said: “What happened to Ant (Whorton-Eales) was a real shame, as he drove superbly and was undoubtedly in the running for the race wins. However, it was mission accomplished for the team. Ant was unable to test on Friday when everybody else did, but went straight into qualifying and set the fifth and sixth-fastest times. His pace was good throughout, surging from sixth to second place and catching the leader by setting the fastest lap in race two, when a puncture ended his charge with two laps to go.
“Alex (Reed), meanwhile, was a star on his Clio Cup Series debut and demonstrated that he has all the attributes necessary to succeed in motorsport. If we continue giving him a fast car, we will have a great relationship and I’m sure we can take him all the way from junior racing to Clio Cup titles and into touring cars. He’s a very bright prospect.”
Buxton continued: “James (Dorlin) deserved to win the first race. He didn’t have the pace of the leaders, but drove really well and brought the car home in both races. Sixth is also a strong finish considering his championship position and gives him a comfortable margin going to Croft.
“Tom (Stockton) ran really well inside top five early on and showed great speed in Friday’s test sessions, but didn’t quite fulfil his potential in what were incident-packed races. That will come with experience and we will continue to work together to develop his racecraft, because I’m sure he’s on the cusp of being a consistent top-four finisher.”
For more information on SV Racing, please visit the www.svracing.co.ukwebsite, ‘like’ the team’s Facebook page or follow @SV_Racing on Twitter and Instagram.