Josh Cook and Ant Whorton-Eales raced to a well-deserved double SV Racing with KX podium in Round 8 of the Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup, as mechanical gremlins ended David Pittard’s Ginetta GT4 Supercup race prematurely.
Having won yesterday’s (7 June) Round 7 in dominant style, Cook again stormed to yet another podium finish to extend his lead at the top of the drivers’ standings as teammate Ant Whorton-Eales finished ahead in second place to remain in the hunt for the title.
Lining up pole for the weekend’s second and final race, Ant Whorton-Eales got off the line well, but was overtaken on the outside at turn one by Westbourne Motorsport’s James Colburn.
Cook and Alex Morgan both bolted off the line to make up a position each and join onto the back of Whorton-Eales as the trio looked to lock out the top three positions on the podium.
Not letting Colburn out of his sights, Whorton-Eales was kept straight-and-true by Cook as the top three ran nose-to-tail and began to open a gap to the rest of the field.
Having not had any running on Friday due to Renault reliability problems, then taken out of Saturday’s race by Charlie Ladell, who was penalised by the Clerk of the Course, Ash Hand suffered more Renault reliability problems on Sunday.
Electrical issues meant the Nuneaton driver was only able to complete three laps in Sunday’s race before having to retire.
By the end of the third tour of the 2.69mile International Circuit, less than a second separated them as fourth placed Morgan was forced to drive the widest Clio on track to defend his position from three-time champion Paul Rivett.
For several laps the Welshman was able to slam the door shut on Rivett’s advances, but as they entered Cascades for the fifth time, Rivett tapped the rear of Morgan to unsettle the car and open the door for him to slip past, demoting the KX-backed driver to fifth.
The top three of Colburn, Whorton-Eales and Cook continued to lap the picturesque circuit and greeted the chequered flag at the end of the tenth tour to complete a SVR double podium.
Cook now has a lead of 32-points over second placed Colburn at the top of the drivers’ standings, as Morgan and Whorton-Eales lock out fourth and fifth respectively.
In the manufactures’ standings, SV Racing with KX also extend their lead at the top by over 100-points from second placed Team Pyro.
“The car has been awesome all weekend, and that’s why I am a little frustrated to finish third in that race,” said Cook. “The guys have been working so hard on perfecting every little detail on the car, which is unbelievable, and I wanted to reward all their hard work with a win.
“The pace was certainly in the car and to still be leading he championship not even at the halfway point is fantastic! To come away with a race win, a third and a fastest lap is great, so we’ll head to Croft and see what we can do.”
Elsewhere in the highly competitive Ginetta Supercup, David Pittard, who finished third in yesterday’s Round 10, had a race to forget as clutch gremlins struck his pink roofed GT4.
As the lights went out and the field sprinted down to Old Hall Corner, Pittard crawled away from the line and was swamped by his fellow competitors. The Herfordshire-domiciled driver pulled over at Cascades and into his first retirement of the season.
Despite his mechanical issue, the ever high-spirited Pittard refused to let his race put a downer on his weekend, “The clutch went off the line and I sat there wondering what was happening as everyone flew past me left, right and centre. I was only able to make half a lap and was loosing drive, so I pulled over and became a spectator, which was a shame because quite a few drivers were handed jump start penalties, which would have worked in my favour.
“It’s happened at a double header in the final race, as to apposed to a triple-header, so it could have been worse. We’re only 20-points behind in the championship, which is not much at all as the standings are constantly swinging, and it’s still early doors and a lot to play for.”
SV Racing Team Principal, Danny Buxton, said: “On the whole I can’t complain. A great double-pole for Ant (Whorton-Eales), a super job by championship leader Josh (Cook) and Alex (Morgan) had a few issues but overcame them in the race, which was fantastic. I feel sorry for Ash Hand, who has had very little running all weekend due to Renault car issues, so they need to up their game to help these young drivers who are suffering from reliability problems. We’ve extended the team points by a big margain, which had you told me that in pre-season I would have jumped at it, and to be leading the drivers’ championship is great news.
“David Pittard was leading the championship until the last race, as he suffered with clutch issues, but it seems to be blighting all the cars in the championship. It’s a shame it has happened, but that can be one of the drop rounds.
Buxton continued: “There are many positives to draw on as we head to Croft, but also much work to be done to make sure the Renault and Ginetta guys keep on top of their issues.”
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