Anton Spires is confident of battling to a pair of strong results in today’s Renault UK Clio Cup races after securing a pair of seventh place grid starts in qualifying at Thruxton.
The PP Motorsport driver showed impressive pace at the high-speed Hampshire circuit, lapping just three tenths of a second shy of the top three during the thirty minute session.
After a mixed start to his maiden Clio Cup season so far, Spires is eager to convert his qualifying pace into an improvement on his best race finish of ninth from Donington Park last time out.
“I think we can get some strong results from these positions. If you look ahead of us, there’s some quick guys, but also maybe some people out of position slightly,” Spires told TCF.
“The target has got to be to keep it clean on the first lap, use the tow to keep with the front guys and see where we can come out.
“We have had the pace there so far this season, but just been a bit unfortunate at times so haven’t always shown it.
“We need to get a clean weekend under our belts now, keeping out of troubles and getting a couple of good results to reflect the pace that we have and reward this positive qualifying session.”
For Spires, this weekend marks his first race outing at Thruxton for six years – having been a race-winner on his last visit in the short-lived Young Guns single-seater championship.
“It’s a circuit I’ve always enjoyed, I just haven’t had the chance to race here much. The high speeds doesn’t deter me, I really enjoy the speed and the flow of the circuit,” he added.
“It’s my first time racing here in a while though, and first time in a front-wheel drive car, so it’s going to be interesting and I just need to learn as much as I can.”