Dan Zelos has described his Thruxton weekend as a “new start to my season,” which he duly kicked off with a strong performance in qualifying for Rounds Five and Six of the Renault UK Clio Cup.
A troubled start to his Clio career has seen Zelos involved in big accidents on the opening lap of race one at both Brands Hatch and Donington Park, the latter seeing him dramatically roll onto his roof.
The Ginetta Junior graduate has shown glimpses of his true pace though and he’s told TCF he’s pleased to have showcased it again with sixth and fifth on the grid for the two Thruxton races.
“It’s been a couple of disappointing weekends so far, having gone into the season quite positive. Therefore it was really important for me to try and turn up here and try to get a good result,” he said.
“The team have been brilliant and sorted the problem we had with the clutch at Donington, which has put us back onto the sort of pace we showed at Brands.
“I’m really pleased with the qualifying result, it’s a big confidence boost for me after feeling quite low following the difficult start.”
With the troubles in the four races so far leaving him dead last in the championship, Zelos says the target for race day is to secure some solid points hauls to help edge him up the standings.
“Clawing back some points in the Graduate Cup is a big target for us,” concluded the Ciceley Motorsport ace.
“Some of the other rookies haven’t had the best of qualifying sessions, so hopefully we have the chance to gain some ground with a pair of solid results.
“I don’t know what it is about the track, but I love Thruxton, with an out-of-the-blue first race win in Ginetta Juniors in 2014 and some podiums last season too.
“I’m itching to get back out there again tomorrow and hopefully we can get some more good results around here.”
