James Colburn has set his sights on being in the thick of the Renault UK Clio Cup championship fight for the remainder of the season, after moving up to second in the standings with victory at Oulton Park.
The Westbourne Motorsport ace endured a tough start to the season, with mechanical gremlins in his new-for-2014 fourth generation Clio limiting him to just one top five finish in the first four races.
Hard work by the team and Renault has seen the problem resolved, and since then Colburn has been right in the thick of the action at the front of the field.
The win at Oulton was his second victory in three races, having also won at Thruxton, and those successes has moved him 32 points off Josh Cook’s championship lead.
Last time Colburn was in the Clio title mix in 2011, he took the fight right down to the wire and a maiden Clio win on the final weekend meant he finished up just eight points shy of champion Paul Rivett.
While determined to replicate that performance this season and remain in the title battle until the final meeting, this time around Colburn wants to emerge victorious.
“After the poor start to the season with mechanical gremlins, we’ve worked really hard to get things back together and it’s been going fantastically well,” Colburn told TCF.
“We’re second in the championship now, and the last time I was near the top I was fighting for the championship till the very end. I plan to stay here and go one step further this time around.”
Colburn’s challenge for Clio supremacy will continue in three weeks time at Croft, a circuit he secured a double podium finish at in the category in 2011 and that is one of his favourites on the BTCC calendar.
“A few years ago we were the fastest on circuit at Croft, and it’s a circuit I love,” he added. “It’s a fantastic circuit, we’re heading there on a high and we’re looking forward to seeing how it goes.”