SV Racing’s Josh Cook extended his championship lead with a fourth race win of the 2014 Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup season at Norfolk’s Snetterton circuit on Saturday (2 August).
Just over one tenth separated UK Clio Cup points leader Cook, Ant Whorton-Eales and Ash Hand in second, third and fourth places respectively during FP1 on Friday, and Alex Morgan was a short way behind in sixth.
The pace stabilised during the afternoon’s free practice session and SV Racing with KX locked out the first two positions on the timesheets, Lichfield’s Whorton-Eales leading Cook and a very competitive field on a 2m08.201s.
Hard work and a fine attention to detail from the consummately professional SV Racing team during the protracted mid-season break told, as its drivers were overtly satisfied with their base Snetterton setups, derived from the lessons learned at circuits previously raced on in 2014.
Cook was less than happy about being second to his teammate in free practice and duly righted the situation in Saturday morning’s UK Clio Cup qualifying session.
However, despite leading the SV Racing charge, the 23-year old from Bristol was displeased with his second position and being unable to get the better of Team Pyro’s Mike Bushell in the fight for pole position.
Using a fresh set of Dunlop slicks, Bridgend’s Alex Morgan and Whorton-Eales qualified fourth and fifth respectively, while Nuneaton’s Ash Hand would start from 12th having been penalised for an indiscretion at Croft.
Of the front-row starters, Cook had the better getaway and led pole-man Bushell through the Montreal hairpin and Palmers, where fellow KX recruit Morgan received debilitating damage in a collision that saw him fall to the outskirts of the top ten.
Whorton-Eales surged from fifth to second on lap one to round out an SVR one-two, but it was Hand who starred; with stunning pace, he climbed eight places in six laps and was on course for a podium finish, when a punt from Charlie Ladell left him with terminal damage.
Battle raged on between the top three, Cook with Whorton-Eales in tow until Jordan Stilp relieved them both of the lead with a surprise overtake on the climb between Agostini to Oggies on lap seven.
Stilp’s moment of glory was short-lived, as a friendly nudge allowed Cook to slip back past and canter to his fourth race win of the season, while contact sent Whorton-Eales sliding down to an eventual sixth-place finish.
“The race was action-packed throughout and I had to get off the line cleanly and get ahead of (Mike) Bushell, who definitely marked himself out as the one to beat by being quick all weekend,” said Cook. “I managed to get away, keep out of all the carnage behind me – there was a bit of rubbing at one point – but it was a fun race and fair by everybody I battled with. It’s great to come out on top once again and it was a relief to re-take the lead after losing it to (Jordan) Stilp at one point. It was nip-and-tuck, but Stilp got a run up the inside and there was some contact, but I gave him room and it was all fair. I’m delighted to bring this victory home for all the SV Racing boys, who have worked flat out to put my car back together after Croft and I hope we can do the same again tomorrow.”
Letchworth Garden City’s David Pittard was fairly confident straight out of the blocks at his home circuit on Friday, maintaining tradition by recording spectacular sector times that needed knitting together to go to the top of the GT4 Supercup times.
A damaged differential on Pittard’s Ginetta G55 kept SVR occupied on Friday evening, although the Hertfordshire racer was ready and raring to go for the critical qualifying session the following morning.
As in free practice, points leader Charlie Robertson had an unbridgeable half a second advantage over his rivals, although Pittard gradually picked up the pace and was thrilled to end the 20-minute session as the best of the rest, qualifying his KX-liveried G55 on the front row of the grid in P2.
A strong start from Robertson saw him lead the field through Riches corner for the first time, while Pittard was demoted to third by Tom Oliphant and immediately had his hands full with Carl Breeze hot on his heels.
Pittard and Breeze were split by less than one tenth of a second at the completion of lap one, but the gap fluctuated as the KX Akademy recruit worked hard to negate a significant lack of straight-line speed and keep his United Autosports rival behind him.
That was until lap five when Breeze used his speed advantage to drive past Pittard on the run to Riches; short of making contact, Pittard did everything possible to defend and had no option but to relinquish the final podium spot when Breeze took to the pit lane exit.
The second and final Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup race is scheduled to begin at 11.10, while Rounds 17 and 18 of the Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup will take place at 9.50 and 16.05 respectively.
For more information on SV Racing, please visit the www.svracing.co.uk website, ‘like’ the team’s Facebook page or follow @SV_Racing on Twitter and Instagram.