Renault UK Clio Cup championship leader Mike Bushell has got the final meeting of the 2014 season at Brands Hatch off to the perfect start by topping the timesheets in official Friday pre-event testing.
The Team Pyro racer, who holds a 28 point lead over Josh Cook heading into the finale weekend, led the way in the opening session of the day. His best time of 1m 41.148s in dry conditions put him nearly half a second clear of Ash Hand, with Cook in third.
Rainfall met the drivers for the second session, ensuring Bushell ended the day with the fastest time overall. While he finished up third in the wet conditions, 0.516s behind pace-setter Cook, Bushell ended the day pleased overall with his pace.
“I wasn’t the best in the wet, I didn’t have the best tyres on, but I’m happy with P3 in that session as I was quick enough around the fast stuff, I just struggled with traction in the slower bits,” Bushell told TCF.
“In the dry it was really good though, the car feels really, really fast, so I think either wet or dry conditions would suit us this weekend now to be honest.
“It’s been a good day and it’s a nice place to be in to start the weekend.”
Bushell heads into tomorrow’s qualifying session and the opening race knowing he could end the day as champion with a race to spare. To do so, he’ll need to either finish ahead of Cook or lose three points or less to his rival in the first race of the weekend.
While title glory is within his grasp, Bushell heads into the day with finishing P1 in both sessions the only target.
“I’d like to get another pole position, add to the tally, and I want another win,” he added.
“Regardless of whether there’s a championship at stake, I just want to win the race so that’s what I’m going to aim for, though I’m sure everyone else will be too.”
