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Faultless Finish for Rivett

Posted 1 year ago

On a sunny, yet bitterly cold Sunday morning, it was pole sitter Paul Rivett who took the top step of the podium and a lights to flag victory in an action packed AirAsia Renault UK Clio Cup race.

‘I had an absolutely great race,’ said the 33-year old Surrey driver.‘ Colin (Stancombe) got up this morning and polished my side of the windscreen, kicked the tyres and we went. The PER HIRE car has been absolutely great, really pleased and hopefully we can have another win this afternoon.’

The PER HIRE/Stancombe Vehicle Engineering’s three-time champion, Rivett, led into turn one with an aggressive Josh Files (Norwich) pushing hard from second, who unfortunately ran wide at Coppice re-joining in 17th position, leaving the door open for third placed man Adam Bonham (Kibworth).

Early race retirements included rally ace, Adam Gould (Bristol), Kercher sponsored Simon Belcher (Swindon) and family sponsored Mike Bushell (Tunbridge Wells), who came together with fellow rookie Aaron Williamson (Holbeach), both suffering steering arm damage.

Up front, 17-year old Bonham was putting Rivett under pressure, cutting his lead down to just 0.4sec as theyboth pulled away from the rest of the pack. Rivett responded to the challenge and eventually increased his lead to nearly 3 seconds on the final lap.

‘We qualified quite well yesterday.’ said the former Ginetta Junior driver. ‘I got a really good start getting ahead of Josh (Files), who had some bad luck with teammate Goff and had a big off. I managed to catch Paul and get fastest lap, which is obviously brilliant, I was really, really happy with that. Then I started to get some power shortage towards the end, but the team has done an excellent job to qualify second, third, fourth and fifth. Really looking forward to the next race but I’ve qualified fifth but hopefully I can get another podium.’

Meanwhile, lap one spinner Files was fighting back through the pack from 17th eventually finishing in 9th position. 

It was the battle for third place that was cause of much excitement with Team Pyro’s Jack Goff (Stokenchurch) leading a six-car battle for the final step on the podium.

Goff, under pressure from rookie leader Ant Whorton-Eales (Lichfield), who made an impressive start, finally succumbed after a brief slide losing places two places to Westbourne Motorsport’s Whorton-Eales and Scuderia Vittoria’s Luke Wright (Shaftesbury), who finished fourth.

‘Today went really well, said Ant. ‘I started tenth on the grid and finished third, which was unexpected to be honest. I would like to thank the Westbourne Motorsport team for doing such a great job this weekend and let’s hope we can continue this afternoon.’

After an on-going battle throughout the race, Total Control Racing’s Nic Hamilton (Tewin) finished 11th ahead of Scuderia Vittoria’s Vic Covey (East Lothian) crossing the line split by only a few hundredths of a second.

Elsewhere in the ELF Masters Class, it was the flying Scotsman, Finlay Crocker (West Lothian) who took home thetrophy after surviving the mid-pack action.

The former Scottish Mini Challenge competitor, ‘I got an ok start. I was just trying to keep out of trouble. I was bottled up behind Nic Hamilton and Vic Covey and the guys behind then caught up and as soon as I started defending I dropped off a few places and had a bit of contact with Jake Giddings. Fortunately both cars are back without any damage.’ 

Round 3 Results:

  1. Paul RIVETT PER HIRE/SVE Laps 14 18:19.568
  2. Adam BONHAM Team Pyro +2.979
  3. Ant WHORTON-EALES Westbourne Motorsport +8.566
  4. Luke WRIGHT Scuderia Vittoria +9.001
  5. Jack GOFF Team Pyro +9.560
  6. Kim ANDERSSON Team Pyro +9. 737
  7. James DIXON Scuderia Vittoria +10.132
  8. Josh COOK 20Ten Racing +10.311
  9. Josh FILES Team Pyro +15.611
  10. William DAVISON Westbourne Motorsport +17.319

(Source: renaultsport.co.uk)

Goff Extends Title Lead

Posted 1 year ago

Jack Goff produced a brilliant performance to win an action packed race at Donington to remain top of the AirAsia Renault UK Clio Cup drivers’ championship table.

Race winner Goff, ‘I got ahead of Paul after making a rocket start and had a good breakaway on the first few laps until the safety car came out, which got rid of my advantage. I managed to get away again at the restart and paced myself, I knew we didn’t have the pace all weekend but I made the best out of a bad situation.’

‘It was tough holding off Adam,’ continued a delighted Goff, ‘but I defended the place making sure I kept it tight and not to make any mistakes.’

Team Pyro’s Goff (Stokenchurch), who started from second, took the lead from pole sitter and round 3 winner, Paul Rivett (Banstead), into turn one after a good start off the line.

In a frantic first lap that saw several spins and drivers running wide, the safety car made its first and only appearance of the weekend for the recovery of the stricken Scuderia Vittoria’s car of Luke Wright (Shaftesbury).

On the restart a collision between Rivett and Thoroughbred Sports Car Championship racer Josh Files (Norwich) ended Files’ race due to a broken steering arm on lap five. Rivett was fortunate with minor damage, slotting in behind a charging Adam Bonham (Kibworth) and Westbourne Motorsports James Colburn (Worthing).

‘It didn’t go particularly well to be honest,’ said Rivett. ‘There was a lot of damage on the rear of the car and having to fight back from a few places down but apart from that, it was a good race. The car was a little bent after that incident meaning we didn’t have the pace that we should have had,’ said a disheartened Rivett. ‘I got a bit of wheelspin off the line at the start, but in general the PER HIRE car has been great all weekend, the Stancombe boys have been great.’

Focused on making up lost ground, Rivett rapidly closed the gap to 2008 Saxmax champion Colburn putting in a succession of fastest laps, eventually passing him to take third place.

Next in his sights was Bonham, who himself was eyeing up a pass on leader Goff refusing to let him pull away. The 17-year old consistently threatened to pass keeping Goff honest all the way to the chequered flag.

Bonham, ‘It was a good race. We had the pace to win it probably but I couldn’t manage to get past my teammate Jack. I’m a little disappointed over the weekend having not won a race but obviously chuffed to bits with two second places. I knew the whole time that if I overtook Jack, I would be leading the championship, it was big incentive tomake it, but didn’t quite manage it.’

The midfield battle was also action-a-plenty with 20Ten Racing’s Josh Cook (Bath) in 7th, position leading a constantly changing six-car train. It was Cook and Swedish driver Kim Andersson who broke from the pack to hunt down the 17-year old Ant Whorton-Eales (Lichfield) in a battle for the Rookie Cup.

With the top three rookies fighting to the end, it was Whorton-Eales who prevailed to take home the trophy in 6th overall followed by Andersson and Cook respectively, separated by only 0.054 seconds on the line.

‘We had a really good start,’ said Whorton-Eales ‘but unfortunately I dropped into the gravel on the outside of Redgate. Then we had the safety car but once we were racing again I dropped a wheel onto the grass down the back and that was it, the train pulled away.’

With very limited running time for ex-rally driver, Bristol based Adam Gould, who started at the back of the pack, made his way through the frantic field to take home a respectable 13th place.

Placing just ahead of Gould, was ex-jet-ski racer Handy Motorsport with Pyro’s Simon Belcher (Swindon) who claimed the ELF Masters Trophy and the lead in the Masters Cup.

The championship now heads to Thruxton for round three on April 28-29, where Goff will be hoping to extend his championship lead.

Round 4 Results:

  1. Jack GOFF Team Pyro Laps 16 22:21.837
  2. Adam BONHAM Team Pyro +0.215
  3. Paul RIVETT PER HIRE/SVE +0.437
  4. James COLBURN Westbourne Motorsport +0.855
  5. James DIXON Scuderia Vittoria +5.342
  6. Ant WHORTON-EALES Westbourne Motorsport +7.082
  7. Kim ANDERSSON Team Pyro +9.023
  8. Josh COOK 20Ten Racing +9.077
  9. Mike BUSHELL Mike Bushell +12.082
  10. Vic COVEY Scuderia Vittoria +12.608

(Source: renaultsport.co.uk)

Paul Rivett to defend Clio Cup 2012 championship

Posted 1 year ago

Three time Clio Cup Champion Paul Rivett has secured a drive to defend his title. Without a drive Paul has missed any pre season testing but he is expected to be on the pace for the first race of season at Brands Hatch this weekend.

Paul said, “I am delighted to be part of the AirAsia Championship and defend my title despite not taking part in the pre season testing and to have also  secured PER Hire (specialist in plant hire) as sponsor for the  season”. Team Standcombe Vehichle Engineering who helped him to clinch 3 titles will once again be running his car. Their combined winning record puts them in an ideal position to be very competitive.

Although Paul is going to be up against some tough competition including team partner Adam Gould, who is making the leap from rallying to circuit racing. So far Adam has impressed in pre season testing, definitely one to watch.

Paul recently gave Motorsport days an expert guide to racing at Brands. click here to read more.

Paul is going to keep us up-to-date on his progress this year so keep an eye open for his blog.

To support Paul this weekend, call Motorsport vision for tickets or watch LIVE on ITV4.

Paul Rivett - www.paulrivett.com

An expert guide to Brands Hatch GP by Paul Rivett, 3 times Clio Cup Championship winner

Posted 1 year ago

Firstly I’m proud to be the 2011 Clio Cup champion for Stancombe Vehicle Engineering and Lumison BlueSquare Data. If anything, this championship means more to me than any of the titles that I have won previously due to my close connections with the team and sponsors. I was very happy to win the final race and take the championship in style at Brands Hatch at the final round. I have been racing since 1990 progressing from Karting through various car championships including Ford Fiesta’s, Formula Renault, Nascar Late Model Stock Cars, and of course, Renault Clio’s where I have now taken three championship titles. When I’m not racing I’m a driver coach to any type of driver from track day novice to professional racing driver.

All good experience which I am happy to pass on to MotorsportDays.com readers starting with the Brands Hatch Grand Prix configuration (2.301 miles) of fantastic rolling track through the trees on one of the World’s most famous race tracks.

A guide around Brands Hatch GP Circuit

  • The full Grand Prix circuit start line is on the Brabham Straight, an off-camber, slightly curved stretch. The ideal line is to hug the pit wall until the start finish line and then move to the left of the circuit to prepare for the dip into the right-hander at Paddock Hill Bend. This is an extremely difficult corner to get right and not for the faint hearted, with a great sensation of compression at the bottom, you will need to be committed and confident of your exit speeds. I’m not going to suggest braking points as all cars are different but the trick is to get all braking done before making the turn.
  • The next corner is Druids hairpin, most braking points are around the bridge and then turn in at the end of the curb on the left. The apex is late and right on the end of the curb on the right. You must be patient on this corner and not get on the power to early as you will experience under steer and run wide on to the grass. Remember you will have more grip on the way in than the way out due to the gradient changes.
  • The track then curves around into the downhill off-camber Graham Hill Bend. Keep right early and start to load up the suspension by making the turn early to allow for a smoother braking before a main turn into the apex. Get on the power early and drive to the apex and onto the Cooper Straight. There is plenty of runoff room available but be careful not to run to deep and hesitate on the power compromising the straight line speed.
  • The next corner is equally as important, as it heads onto the long back straight. Surtees is a tough lefthander with several lines however I prefer to hang right until just before the curb on the right ends then turn in and start to apply the power early for a good exit speed.
  • Pilgrim’s Drop leads onto Hawthorns corner which is the start of three very fun consecutive right-handers. When you get to the exit of Hawthorns you’ll probably wish you’d gone in faster, but be careful, there’s not much room for error here.
  • Next up is Westfield, not quite as fast as Hawthorns but just as important. To faster an entry speed here will see you running wide with nowhere but the barrier to go, as the track keeps turning right.
  • Sheene curve is the most popular corner with the drivers on the Grand Prix circuit. A blind corner, where once you’ve figured out where to turn in, you can keep taking more and more speed in. On the exit bring the car back to the right ready to brake for the very easy left hander that follows.
  • Finally we have Clearways corner as we re-join the Indy Circuit. A fairly late turn in here and be prepared for the car to go light as you go over the crest. Early on the throttle will see you across the start/finish line to complete your lap at a flying pace.

Brands Hatch is a complex circuit with tiny mistakes making huge amount of lost time. Build up slowly and use sighting laps to learn braking points and getting comfortable with the car. Always remember not to exceed your personal limits.

I hope this has help you master the circuit and I look forward to seeing you on track.

Paul Rivett
http://www.paulrivett.com