RENAULT UK CLIO CUP
The five hours and 37 minutes between the first and second Renault UK Clio Cup races at Donington Park were vital to Paul Rivett sealing an unprecedented fourth title.
He had suffered a hefty rear impact into the Craner Curves’s barrier in the opener and many in the paddock thought that would be Rivett’s weekend over. But not his WDE Motorsport mechanics, who set about hurriedly patching the car up to get him back out. They did and Rivett was able to guide his hobbled Clio to fourth.
“It was an amazing job,” he recalls. “That was a car that was effectively written off and they did a great job, not just to get it back out but for me to finish fourth too. That was crucial and I had a feeling at the time that it was going to be crucial.”
It was crucial because this was a season that had it all. Three evenly-matched drivers fighting for the title, tyre troubles that threatened to cancel the Thruxton races, cars impounded to be stripped down by series officials, a team boss getting banned from the paddock, and then courtroom drama with the destination of the crown changing a month after the season finished. More than one driver noted you “could write a book about this season” and that is not an exaggeration.
But in a few hundred words, rather than pages, Rivett had the initial advantage before Westbourne driver James Dorlin went on a brilliant run of five consecutive wins from Donington onwards. That run ended in spectacular fashion at Croft as the 19-year-old could only muster a sixth place.
This moved Pyro’s Max Coates into the lead until a contentious Silverstone weekend. A hit from behind by Rivett’s WDE teammate Lee Pattison in the opening race left Coates stranded in the Becketts gravel. Then Rivett was controversially excluded from third in race two after contact with Coates at Woodcote. Rivett was adamant he was not at fault – and appealed the stewards’s decision to the National Court.
In the meantime, a win in the Brands Hatch finale meant Dorlin was provisionally champion by just five points from Coates with Rivett two further back. But that was not the end of the drama as the court ruled in Rivett’s favour, handing him the spoils.
“It’s only my second season in the Clio Cup and I’ve had more wins [six] than anyone else,” says a level-headed Dorlin.
But he highlights a mistake at Snetterton that dropped him from first to eighth as costly to his title push.
“I knew little things like that would come back to haunt me,” he adds.
Coates was also disappointed, but says: “It won’t define me, it won’t define James and I’m sure we will both go on to achieve far greater things in the sport.
“I was on to win it until I was taken out in the first [Silverstone] race – there’s nothing I could do about that.”