Stefan Hodgetts continued his superb recent form by topping the timesheets during official Friday testing ahead of Rounds 11 and 12 of the Renault UK Clio Cup at Snetterton this weekend.
Hodgetts, who took three wins in the last five races heading into the summer break, posted the best time of the day in changeable conditions during session one, lapping in 2m 11.589s, though he was quick to play down the result with the conditions.
“I don’t think anyone can take anything from today to be honest,” said the Scuderia Vittoria driver. “In the sort of conditions we had, you’ve got championship contenders who don’t want to risk too much, so you don’t get a clear picture.”
Championship leader Josh Files wasn’t far behind, finishing up 0.017s behind on his local circuit, with his Team Pyro team-mate Alex Morgan completing the top three for the first session ahead of Lee Pattison, Ant Whorton-Eales and James Colburn.
Heavy rain and lightning in the afternoon led to a delayed start to the second session, with the very wet conditions meaning there was a dramatic drop in lap times to earlier in the day.
Despite the track drying a bit towards the end of the shortened 35-minute run, Colburn’s best time of 2m 18.389s was still almost seven seconds away from Hodgetts’ earlier best. Josh Wakefield was an impressive second fastest ahead of Josh Cook, Mike Bushell and local racer Jake Giddings.
Having a day to forget meanwhile was Paul Rivett. The Clio veteran, who currently lies second in the points, was unable to set a representative time during the day due to a broken gear linkage in his Clio.
