Renault UK Clio Cup regular Rob Smith claimed a superb podium finish on his debut weekend racing in the MINI Challenge at Donington Park.
Utilising a break in the Clio Cup calendar, the 21 year old elected to join Excelr8 Motorsport for the weekend, running a Pirelli-liveried R56 MINI Cooper S in the headline JCW class in the three races.
After battling ABS problems to take eighth in race one, Smith took a hard-fought sixth place in race two and went on to secure a superb third place finish in the final encounter.
“It was a brilliant weekend,” said Smith. “It was nice to have a weekend with no pressure, the car was great and I really enjoyed the whole event. With the Clio, there’s one way of driving it which works and if you deviate from that slightly, you’re off the pace. You can adapt the MINI more to your style and that gave me more confidence, I really enjoyed the weekend.”
