Renault UK Clio Cup

Silverstone Poleman Whorton-Eales Praises Team-Mate Witts

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Ant Whorton-Eales believes having new team-mate Tom Witts on track with him was the key to him securing a double pole position in Renault UK Clio Cup qualifying at Silverstone.

Having completed the last two meetings as Maximum Motorsport’s sole Clio entrant, Whorton-Eales has been joined by series debutant Witts for the penultimate meeting of the season.

Whorton-Eales feels his addition proved to be crucial in qualifying, as they were able to work together on getting a tow that can be worth up to half a second around the National layout.

The championship contender ended up taking the poles ahead of title rivals Ashley Sutton, Paul Rivett and Ash Hand thanks to a best effort of 1m 04.286s – a new Clio qualifying record at the circuit.

“I needed Tom as my wingman this weekend, as the tow is big around here. We went out there, spent some good time getting the tyres warm so when we went on it, every lap could be flat out and we worked well together,” Whorton-Eales explained to TCF.

“I was expecting to get dropped at the end, as everyone else was finishing laps, so to come in and get told it was a double pole, I was a bit shocked. I can’t thank the team enough, Tom especially.”

Ant was full of praise for his debutant team-mate, the recently-crowned 2015 BRSCC Mk2 Production GTi Champion qualifying seventh and eleventh himself for the two races.

“I can’t believe how well Tom has driven this weekend, jumping into a Clio for the first time,” he enthused. “He’s come in, got on with the job and if he can do next season he’ll definitely be challenging at the front.”

While he’s in the prime position for tomorrow’s races, Whorton-Eales is fully expecting a tough fight to add to his three Clio wins so far this campaign.

“I don’t for one second think I’m going to be able to go out there and drive away from this pack, as with this tow they’re going to be right on me,” he concluded.

“Best case scenario is I keep the lead and second and third start battling so I can break the tow, but to be honest I’m just expecting some proper old school Clio racing tomorrow.”

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Simon is an experienced journalist and PR officer, who has worked in the national motorsport paddocks for over a decade, primarily on the BTCC support package.
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