Paul Rivett stormed to an unchallenged lights to flag victory in Round 11 of the 2013 Renault UK Clio Cup at Snetterton to close the gap at the top of the championship standings to just one point.
Championship leader and local hero Josh Files started the race from pole position after dominating the days earlier qualifying session, however it was Rivett who made the best start to take the lead into the first corner.
A swift first lap from Rivett drew him almost two seconds clear of Files, and that would prove to be a lead that was never relinquished. Rivett controlled the remainder of the race to take a faultless fourth win of the season and his third consecutive Clio victory at the Norfolk venue.
Files meanwhile had a relatively lonely race, with the front two having quickly pulled away from the pack behind. This allowed the Team Pyro racer to focus on securing the fastest lap of the race, which he did, with the bonus point keeping him on top in the championship.
As the front two stormed away, all eyes were on an intensense battle for the final podium position. Ant Whorton-Eales held the place for the majority of the race after moving up from sixth on the opening lap, however an unfortunate coming together with team-mate Mike Bushell on the penultimate lap cost them both a podium chance.
Contact between the two sent them both wide and through the gravel, elevating Josh Cook into third for his fourth podium of the campaign. Less than a second behind was Alex Morgan, followed by fellow Team Pyro racer Ash Hand, who secured his best result of the season in fifth.
Devon Modell rounded out the top six for his second top six finish of the season, just ahead of his recovering team-mates Whorton-Eales and Bushell, the latter being given a penalty of three championship points and a grid drop for tomorrow’s race for his part in the incident.
James Colburn and James Nutbrown completed the top ten, while securing the Masters Cup win in twelfth overall was Lee Pattison. The race’s most notable retiree meanwhile was Stefan Hodgetts, his run of consecutive top two finishes coming to an end with steering failure.
Full race results can be found here: http://tsl-timing.com/toca/2013/133103cli.pdf
