The Champions
Seven different drivers have had the honour of calling themselves Clio Cup champion during the third-generation years, and the first driver to do so was Martin Byford. Despite not winning a race, seven podium finishes in the twelve point-scoring races secured him the 2007 title.
In stark contrast to Byford’s success, the following years would see drivers utterly dominate the tin-top series. Ben Winrow took sixteen podium finishes in eighteen races en-route to the 2008 title, while his successor Phil Glew won eleven of the twenty races, including the first five on the bounce.
The most dominant of all proved to be 2010 champion Dave Newsham, the Scotsman taking an incredible twelve wins, sixteen podium finishes and fifteen pole positions in eighteen races.
Fortunately for the fans, the last three seasons have been much closer affairs, with the title-battles going down to the final meeting each year. 2011 proved to be the closest of all, with Rivett just edging an epic four-way fight to secure his third Clio Cup crown.
The championship stalwart was in the running to add to those titles in 2012 and 2013, however Jack Goff and Josh Files piped him to the respective crowns.
Their successes made it five drivers’ titles for Team Pyro during the third-gen seasons, comfortably making them the most successful team of the era with a total of 44 race victories.
While Rivett only won the title once, he will go down in the history books as the most successful driver in the car, finishing in the championship top three four times with a total of 24 race wins to his name.
Rivett has also made history as the only driver to win races in both the first and last seasons of the third-generation Clio’s spell, though his absence from the 2013 finale means it was only Byford who had the honour of racing in the first and last races.
(Photo Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography)
