Motorsport News – July 17, 2019

Thefifth-generationClio

TworacesinGinettaGT4Supercupyieldedtwofourthplaces

Ruletweakopensupgridtonewmachines

ScottishMotorRacingClubwelcomesbackFormulaLibre

FormulaLibrewillmakea

returntotheScottishMotor

RacingClubsceneforthe

firsttimeinnearly 30 years

inSeptemberwhenit joins

theregularchampionship

billatKnockhill.

A qualifyingsessionand

two12-lapracesareplanned

forthosewishingtocompete,

withentriesat£275.

Thecategorywas

particularlyprevalentwhen

theSMRCvisitedtheIngliston

circuitontheoutskirtsof

Edinburgh,whichwas

lastusedin1991.

Theclub’sbusiness

developmentmanagerRory

Bryantsaidhewasexcited

abouttheprospectofLibre

returningtoScotland.

“We’redelightedtobe

offeringmoresingle-seater

driverstheopportunity

tocomeoutandracewith

usinSeptember,”hesaid.

“I’msuretherearemany

whowoulddearlylovetohave

thespectacleofmulti-marque

single-seaterracingbackin

Scotland;wefeelrunningthis

eventinSeptemberis thebest

waytotestdemand– themore

supportit gets,themorelikely

wearegoingtobeableto

reviveit in2020.”

Bryantsaystheclubhas

alreadyreceiveda numberof

enquiriesfromcompetitors

seekingtorun“suitable

single-seaters”atthecircuit.

A widerrangeofcarsareset

totacklethisweekend’sEquipe

ThreeHourClassicRelayrace

atDoningtonParkafterthe

regulationsweretweakedfor

thisyear.

Theunderthree-litreengine

capacitylimitwasremovedfor

thehandicapcontestthisweekend

anda large30-teamentryfeatures

a diverserangeofcars.

“Westartedit originallythree

yearsagotobeforcarseligible

forEquipeGTS,solessthanthree

litres,”explainedco-organiser

JohnPearson.“Withthat[series]

wedon’tallowsports-racers–

GinettaG4s,LotusElans– because

they’rejusttoofast.Wekept

everybodyonthesamelap.Now

we’veopenedit [therelayrace]

toanyFIApre-’66carasit’snot

a sprintrace.

“We’vegotJaguarE-typestoa

Mini,andanAustinA40,sothere’s

a goodvarietyofcars.

“We’vegot 30 teamsandover 100

carstakingpart.It justgetsbigger

everyyearandis greatfun.”

TheregularEquipe40-minute

pitstopraceontheSundayhas

alsogota 42-carentry.

Jonesplansfull-time 2020 campaignafter‘fun’OultonParkouting

BritishGT4runner-upDeclan

Jonesis targetinga full-time

returntoracingnextseason

aftermakinga GinettaGT

SupercupoutingatOultonPark

attheendoflastmonth.

Jones,24,whowassecondin

the 2013 GT4standings,last

racedregularlybackin 2017

whenhefinishedfourthinthe

Supercuppoints.Hismain

focusthisseasonhasbeenteam

managementashehasrunLee

FrostandLuckyKherainthe

SupercupundertheDeclan

JonesRacingbanner.

Jonesfinishedfourthinboth

Oultoncontests,missingout

ona podiuminthesecond

racetoReeceSomerfield.

“Itwasgoodfun,”saidJones.

“Theresultswerequite

respectableconsideringI had

beenoutforsolong.Reecehad

thewidestcaronthetrackso

I couldn’tgetpasthim!

“Toengineerthecartobeup

atthefrontis a goodsuccess

forDJR.It showswecango

andmixwiththebigboys.

“It’sa one-offatthispoint.I

wouldliketodosomethingnext

yearwhetherinSupercupor

insomethingelse.[Sponsor]

PeakyBlinderlagerlovedthe

weekendandthecoverage.”

Jonesadmittedtheswitch

fromdrivingtoteammanager

hasbeen“difficult”,saying

it’sbeena “learningyear”.

“Mydadranquitea

successfulhistoricteamfor

manyyears,KelvinJones

Racing,”headded.“Togo

outanddoit onmyown–

yes,mydad’stherefora

phonecallbuthe’snothere

[allthetime]– it’shard.”

ByStephenLickorish

Thenewfifth-generation
RenaultClioCupcarcould
beintroducedintotheUK
afterall,withRenaultSport
Racingevaluatingwhether
to runa significantly-revised
Cliochampionshipnextyear.
It wasrevealedinDecember
thatthecurrentcategorywas
goingtobeaxedattheendofthe
2019 season,withRenaultUK
decidingit nolongerfittedwith
itsmarketingstrategy.
Followingtheannouncement,
theserieshasstruggledwith
smallgridsthisyearasjustnine
driverstookpartinthemost
recentroundatOultonPark.
RenaultSportinsistedit
wasstilllookingathowthe
manufacturercouldfeature
inUKmotorsportinthefuture
andnowplansfora revised
seriesarebeingdiscussed.
Aswellasthenewcar,changes
fortheproposedseriesinclude

THORBURN SEALS GOLD STAR TITLE ON NICKY GRIST STAGES PAGE 24

Photos:JakobEbrey

Clioshavebeen

popularinthepast

Renault Sport Racing is evaluating whether the UK Clio championship should continue

NEW RENAULT CLIO COULD STILL

BE RACED IN THE UK IN 2020

Allforcharity
Castle Combe Formula Ford
champion Josh Fisher came
out on top at the circuit’s
annual karting event, which
raises money for the Teenage
Cancer Trust. Fisher started
from pole in the final and
managed to beat Hot Hatch
driver Josh Harvey and Saloon
champion Jason Cooper
at the event earlier this
month. Organised by
reigning Castle Combe
FF1600 champion Luke
Cooper and commentator
Ian Sowman, this year’s event
raised more than £1400.

Back to Knockhill
Superkarts will return to Knockhill
next weekend for the first time
since October 2008. Paul Platt
was victorious on that occasion
with three wins in the F
Open class, and will return to
the venue again to defend his
British Superkart title in the F
National class. Gareth James
leads the championship with
Platt 64 points in arrears. In
the Division 1 twin cylinder
category, Jason Dredge has
been re-instated into the results
from Bishopscourt in April
following an appeal and heads
Carl Kinsey and Andy Bird.

RACING NEWS

IN BRIEF

will work more closely together.

“Each championship will have

its own base and they would all

have one or two meetings with

other championships,” added

Ait Said. “It makes strong budget

sense – whenever you do things

together, you share the cost of

the tracks.”

If a Clio Cup series does go

ahead next year – with Ait Said

admitting Brexit uncertainty

makes for a “scary” and “special”

UK situation – it would be targeted

at a different type of driver.

“A few years back the Clio Cup

UK became the necessary step for

drivers wanting to have a career

in the BTCC,” he said. “This was a

limiting factor for the UK Clio Cup

• it was way too professional. The
  championships that have the big

grid numbers, the bulk of their

grids are not the top professional

drivers. The bulk of their grid is

made up of drivers who are here

to have a good weekend and this

who we want to target. This

makes it sustainable.”

Ait Said states there are a

number of options of where the

series could run next year after

moving away from the “fantastic”

TOCA platform. He says one of

these options is to work with SRO

• which Renault Sport has
  existing partnerships with – and
  join the British GT package.
  The fifth-generation Clio Cup
  car was launched last month.One
  of its major features is that kits
  can be bought with the 1.3-litre
  turbocharged car to convert it
  between race, rally and rallycross.

fewer rounds, two races at

European circuits and a

switch away from the British

Touring Car Championship’s

support package.

Renault Sport Racing

sporting manager Tarik Ait Said

explained that the plans are still a

“work in progress” and interest

levels are being assessed – with a

decision on whether to go ahead

with the category being taken by

the end of September at the latest.

“It would be a Clio Cup

championship but in a different

format to what it is right now,”

he told MN. “We would reduce

from eight or nine meetings that

there’s been until now to perhaps

about seven. We would also assess

the possibility to do races outside

of the country.

“The FIA now allows national

series to go to other countries two

times, not one, so this makes

many new options that we

couldn’t consider until now.

We’ve organised Clio Cup Open

races at Paul Ricard and

Hockenheim and what we saw

from all those races was that, if

it’s an interesting track, all the

British drivers are responding

positively. They want to go to

famous tracks.”

It’s planned that Clio Cup

championships across the world

12 JULY 17 2019 motorsport-news.co.uk Advertising enquiries: 0203 405 8110