AirAsia Clio Cup Back In Action
After the 5 week break since the last round at Thruxton, this weekend sees the AirAsia Clio Cup return to the track at Oulton Park. Rounds 7 and 8 see the series reach it’s midpoint, and a special prize is up for grabs for the Championship leader after Round 8 courtesy of title sponsor AirAsia.
The driver at the top of the standings at the end of the weekend will win a holiday for two to Kuala Lumpur. There is also a pair of flights up for grabs for a lucky fan, details can be found at the bottom of this article.
Paul Rivett currently sits favourite to win the holiday, holding a 21 point lead at the top of the standings going into the weekend. Rivett has enjoyed 5 top three finishes in the first six races and has established himself as the man to beat this season.
Lying second is TCR driver James Dixon. Last time out at Thruxton Dixon failed to finish on the podium, which is something he is keen to avoid this weekend if he is to keep up in the Championship hunt.
“I’ve been quick at Oulton Park before, so I’ll be going all out” he said. “I need to get a good result and be on the podium a least, so that’s the target.”
He will he hoping to get a helping hand from the other TCR drivers, Tom Grice, Mark Proctor and Nicolas Hamilton. Grice will go into the weekend full of confidence having achieved a podium and a fastest lap last time out at Thruxton. Hamilton is currently one of only seven drivers in the field to have scored points in each round so far, so will be looking to extend that run at Oulton Park. For Proctor it is a return to the circuit where he suffered an accident in a Ginetta race in 2009 that caused him to call a brief end to racing before returning to action this season.
The only driver other than Dixon and Rivett to have won a race this season is Team Pyro’s Aron Smith who currently lies third in the standings. His double win at Thruxton pulled him firmly into to title hunt, leaving him just six points adrift of James Dixon.
“I’m really looking forward to Oulton Park and hope I can carry over my performance from Thruxton” he said. “It’s not a fast as Thruxton, but it’s another real drivers track because the barriers are so close which makes it feel as fast as Thruxton. I’ve got good momentum now so I hope I can carry it on to Oulton, I’ll be going flat out all the way!”
Smith is one of six cars run by Team Pyro, and two of his teammates will also be looking for strong performances this weekend. Jack Goff will be looking to build on his second podium of the season last time out, and has his sights set on only one thing; the top step of the podium. He has enjoyed some success in the five week break by racing a Lotus Elise, which you will be able to read about very soon at BTCCCrazy.
Another Pyro driver Josh Files goes into Oulton Park coming off the back of a strong showing at the series’ official test day at Snetterton a couple of weeks ago.
Jake Packun heads into his home round sitting fourth in the standings, and has enjoyed podiums at both Brands Hatch and Donington Park; “Oulton Park’s my local circuit and I do my Get On Track Developments work there, so I’m hoping for plenty of support and also some good success. It’s a great track.”
Elsewhere in the standings Lee Pattison is one of two drivers on the grid who finished on the podium at Oulton Park last season, and will be hoping to repeat.
“I should be quick at Oulton and it’s a circuit I really enjoy” he said. “Let’s see what happens.”
The Scuderia Vittoria team will be hoping for a massive change in fortunes after neither driver completed a race at Thruxton. Both of their drivers are sitting outside the top 10 in the overall standings, so former BTCC racer Matt Allison and his teammate Luke Wright will be looking to get their campaign back on track and start moving up the order.
The first race of the weekend is due to start at 16:30 on Saturday 4th June, with the second race on the following day at 15:10 shown live on itv4.
For your chance to win a pair of flights to Kuala Lumpur simply look for the car which has an AirAsia flight destination on it’s windscreen banner instead of the usual AirAsia branding. Email your answers to airasiaclio@sro.co.uk for your chance to win.
Photo credit: Richard Devine
Richard Devine
