Renault UK Clio Cup

Scuderia Vittoria’s Wright Dominates At Silverstone

2 Mins read

Luke Wright and Scuderia Vittoria completely dominated the AirAsia Renault Clio Cup UK and Dutch Clio Cup head-to-head meeting during the World Series by Renault meeting at Silverstone. The teenager, competing in his first season in tin-tops, won both races around the Grand Prix circuit, beating many established Dutch racers.

Wright's weekend started well, crushing his opposition in Friday testing to lap 0.648s faster than his closest rival, before going even quicker in qualifying, taking pole position for both races, ending up 0.736s clear of the field, with every flying lap he completed being good enough for pole position.

With the pole position place at Silverstone actually being on the disadvantageous outside line at Silverstone, Wright lost the lead at the start of both races, but fought back well both times to take the wins, by 4.2s on Saturday and 2.2s on Sunday, his first two wins in Clios. The former Formula Renault BARC driver also underlined his pace with fastest lap in both races.

Wright was ecstatic to beat his opposition from the Dutch series, many of whom also race in highly-professional pan-European GT series, commenting: “It's been absolutely mega. Going into the weekend I didn't really know what to expect from the Dutch, and I found out quite a few of them had raced here at Silverstone this year already in things like GT4 and Porsche Supercup.

“In the first race the guy who took the lead off the line made some mistakes and I was able to get him into Stowe Corner. In the second I was able to hold on by going flat around the outside of Copse Corner off the start, and then got the inside line into Becketts. Then it was head down, do a few qualifying laps and keep going. The past couple of race weekends before that had gone well so it's a big boost going into the end of the season.”

Team director Danny Buxton said: “It was a fantastic effort and just shows how much Luke has matured. Luke's really listening to the advice and coaching he's been given, and he's really progressed to the point where he's driving the car fantastically well at the moment. Although I was really chuffed with his form after qualifying, I'm especially pleased that he showed the mental strength to lead both races from the front and stay calm, given his inexperience. It was a big test for him, but he drove away from them and said he kept a margin in reserve in both races.”

The superb results means Buxton, Wright and the Scuderia Vittoria team head into the final two race weekends of the UK series full of confidence, with Buxton adding: “We're all really proud of Luke, and I'm proud of the team. Every time we were out on track we were P1, and how mega is that for a team that is brand new this year? That's four wins we've had now – so this season is getting better and better, especially considering we didn't even exist eight months ago. This is exactly what you want: arrive at the circuit, park up, wash the car, have no incidents and lead throughout. It's a lot easier when you're in front!”

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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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