BOND ON A MISSION TO FIGHT COATES AND YOUNG
Renault UK Clio Cup VW Cup champion lands maiden pole at Oulton Park but misses out on win
The Renault UK Clio Cup season had been all about two drivers before Oulton Park. But a stunning pole position and strong race pace suggests the spectre of Jamie Bond could haunt runaway title contenders Max Coates and Jack Young.
Reigning Volkswagen Racing Cup champion Bond missed the opening round of the campaign and it has taken him a couple of events to get on the pace of the frontrunners among this year’s tiny entry.
But there was no denying his speed in Cheshire and he grabbed pole by just
0.012 seconds from points leader Young with Coates a further 0.054s back.
“It’s never easy coming into a championship, especially as we only got the car a few days before Donington Park,” explained Bond. “I’m over the moon with pole – I keep hearing Max and Jack’s names and wanted to give them something to think about.”
However that qualifying performance was quickly undone in the first race, when Bond got slightly out of shape at Druids on lap two of 12 and Young pounced, while Coates also got ahead into Old Hall.
While Young – fresh from his impressive dominant double win in the Clio Cup Open races that supported the French Grand Prix the previous weekend – escaped clear, Bond was harrying Team Hard team-mate Coates.
And with three laps to go, Coates locked up into Island Bend and Bond seized the opportunity to grab second.
“One mistake is all it takes in a one-make championship and he cracked,” said race winner Young.
But it was Young’s turn to make a mistake in race two. The polesitter was under intense pressure from Coates into Old
Hall on the first lap and ran slightly wide. That sent him spinning across the track and hard into the barriers on the inside.
His race was over.
“We used the same set-up as yesterday when it was much warmer,” he said. “On the out lap I knew it was too loose and there was nothing I could do.”
Young banged his knee in the impact but escaped injury. However, the same could not be said for his points advantage as Coates grabbed the title lead with a victory. But he had Bond and the ever-improving Ben Colburn in close attendance to the flag.
Coates admitted: “It was very helpful in the championship but it was not the way I want to win a race.”
As for Bond, he’s reduced his deficit to the leaders from 72 to 61 points as he attempts a very tough assignment to hunt Coates and Young down.