MOST SUCCESSFUL CLIO CUP DRIVERS
“Nothing else at that level offers the value for money it provides. Because I was coming back to the championship time and time again, I think I had a big target on my car for the new racers that were coming in, and that target only got bigger the longer I stayed in the category. It was hard too, because I could only disappoint people. If I won it, people would say, ‘Well so he should.’ If I didn’t, people felt let down, so that was a tricky situation to be in. But I love the category and I just hope that it’s able to come back in some shape or form in the future.”
2 “When I started, I think I got through three bodyshells in my first year, but I finished third and then went on to win it in 2005. That was a sensational result for me and for TCR – and that’s another thing: the teams at the top level of Clios prepared a young driver well. They are all expert and, as a first stepping stone, you work with data. It’s all part of an education, and just look at the names who have come from Clios.”
3 “I loved the 182 and 197 versions of the Renault Clio Cup race cars – they were a great piece of kit. It was right on the edge and could be twitchy, but it had a proper sequential gearbox and taught you so much about car control. My first year in 2007 was really successful – I won five races – but after that I was just brought in when people needed to fill a seat, although I won four races with SVR for Danny Buxton in 2012.”
4 “I joined in 2012, and it was a baptism of fire: I wrote off two cars in my first three rounds. It was like pinball! The racing was so tough. When I won my first title in 2014, there was so much competition. I was with Pyro and the team taught me a heck of lot. Then, when I came back to the series in ’16, it was another learning process again. If I had to stop racing tomorrow, I would look back on the two Renault UK Clio
Cup trophies I have and be very, very proud.”
5 DB: “It was one heck of a series to learn in. When I did it, there was an influx of single-seater drivers like Tim Mullen, Andrew Kirkaldy and Rob Huff who were all seeing saloons as a pathway to a career.” AW-E: “I suppose you could say that the Renault Clio has taught me most of what I know about racing. I really enjoyed the older-spec car that we ran until the end of 2013, because it felt like a proper race car.”