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| Race Report & News Update |
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Michelin Clio Cup Series
Croft 11 & 12th July 2015
Rounds 6 & 7
The 2014 season finished at Croft and the event was a rather odd experience for the team with both races seeing only two cars in the road series finish. Race one saw John sustain early steering damage due to a dive up the inside of Sunny In by Harrison. John continued to limp the car round to gain some more championship points and was given second place when Jake Honour was taken out by two cars running in the race class.
This year the team headed to North Yorkshire looking for a hard fought podium finish. In the Friday test John was pushing the limits and ran wide at Sunny corner. As was the case with the Donington test day last year the wet grass was like sheet ice and the car ended up in the tyre wall. Damage was sustained was almost identical too with the front end taking the brunt of the impact with further damage to the passenger side with the wing mirror snapping off the smashing the side window.
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| Mark from MWT Automotive set about stripping the car whilst Anton's manager, Keith, started to see what we would buy and borrow to get the car back out for qualifying on Saturday. In a bizarre incident at the start of qualifying road series competitor Sarah Franklin came into contact with a race series car that was weaving to warm it's tyres on the out lap meaning the session was red flagged just after it started. John secured P5 on the grid for race one and P4 for race two. |
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| As race one started series leader Pinder lead from pole followed by team mate Jake Honour. With two corners completed John was dealing with Lidsey and Harrison but ran wide through the chicane and made contact with the tyre wall sustaining damage to the passenger side but managed to keep the car going. Just ahead Jake Honour lost the back end of the car at Sunny and whilst trying to regain control made contact with his team mate Pinder. With both cars ending up nose first in the tyre wall after two extremely heavy impacts the safety car was deployed. Seeing the chaos and realising what difference this could make to the championship standings John was determined keep the Clio running but could feel there was serious damage. As you have to complete 75% race distance to score points he took the safety car as an opportunity to pit, unfortunately in the rush he was caught for exceeding pit lane speed limits and was summoned to the clerk of the course after the race. As the car came to a stop Mark was joined by the mechanics from Westbourne Motorsport who despite still running two cars in the race wanted to see if they could help. The news was not good however and a snapped wishbone forced retirement. |
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| As the Clio returned to the truck Mark set about stripping the car whilst the rest of the team started trying to track down parts required that we were not carrying as spares. On further inspection it turned out the subframe was also damaged beyond repair and with no parts available on circuit or close enough to be collected and fitted within the two hours we had before the next race the car was loaded onto the trailer. Talking to Jake Honour he also told us that both his and Pinder's cars also required subframes and they were also sitting out the next race. |
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| The team have made the repairs to the Clio and we will be back out at Brands Hatch for rounds 8 & 9. |
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| Crowd Funding Project |
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| The team launched their innovative new shareholder scheme at Croft to secure funding for a Clio to compete in the race class. Initial interest has been good as has early press coverage. PP Motorsport driver coach Anton Spires will campaign the car in the 2016 Michelin Clio Cup Series aiming to add Race Class Champion to his 2014 Road Series Champion title but it is hoped that funding will be secured in time for the car to be used in the final rounds of the 2015 season.
The scheme allows individuals and businesses to buy a share in the Renaultsport Clio Cup 200 race car and gain a number of benefits including race day hospitality and advertising space on the vehicle. The investment is also risk free as damage and depreciation is being covered by the team and once the vehicle is sold the full share price will be returned to the investors. |
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Brands Hatch Preview
The next two rounds of Michelin Clio Cup Series take place this weekend at Brands Hatch on the famous indy circuit. Last year saw John in an intense lights to flag battle with Jess Hawkins, now racing MSA Formula Ford, with a 0.2 second gap between them at the finish after 15 laps. The team returned to Brands Hatch in November for Total Kit Car Live with John giving passenger rides in return for donations to the team's chosen charity, Kids Strut. For the kit car owners attending the torrential rain was not welcome, nor was it for the kit car manufacturers who had their exotic designs being lapped by a Clio but for the team it allowed us to get some valuable wet running and gave John some good time behind the wheel in the challenging conditions. The team is going to be at the circuit on Thursday taking part in the track day organized by OpenTrack, the new owners of our much loved Peugeot 106 GTi, and then only running for the afternoon in the Friday test session. |
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Radio Interview |
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John was invited to BBC Radio Lincolnshire for an interview with Melvyn Prior on his daily breakfast show Melvyn In The Morning. (Interview starts at 2:06:00) Click To Listen On BBC Website |
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