Total Control Racing's James Dixon endured a frustrating weekend in the AirAsia Renault Clio Cup UK at Thruxton, picking up fourth and sixth place finishes in the weekends two races. Despite being disappointed, the results see him edge slightly closer to the top of the championship standings, now just 21 points behind Paul Rivett.
Qualifying saw the Stockbury racer finish within just 0.2 seconds of pole position, however with the field incredibly tight, the time only made him eighth fastest for the two races. Race one saw him hold eighth for the early running, before passing former BTCC racer Matt Allison at the Chicane for seventh on lap three.
Then on lap eight the race's defining moment occurred, with contact between two drivers ahead causing chaos at Noble. 21 year old Dixon negotiated the spinning cars to move into fourth, which he held to the end.
Race two saw the the ABP Heating, Weidmuller and The Art of Decorating backed driver elevated to sixth on the grid after one driver ahead was penalised and another was unable to take the start due to damage caused in the previous races accident.
A great start saw Dixon up to fifth, but a poor line through the chicane at the end of lap six saw him hit the kerbs too hard, losing momentum on the run down the start finish straight, losing two places in the progress. He fought back towards the end of the race to take sixth, the position he ended in.
Dixon reflected: “The weekend was all about qualifying, we didn't get quick enough times and we were on the back foot from there really. I am disappointed with the weekend overall, we should have been on the podium again.
“We didn't take enough points away this weekend but we have closed ever so slightly on Paul (Rivett) in the championship, though I need race wins though to close that gap down significantly. I am feeling confident for the next event at Oulton Park, the car will be good there and I think we should be able to qualify on the front row and get back to winning ways.”
