Paul Rivett Took Top Spot Around The Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit - Photo Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Paul Rivett seized the initiative in the 2011 AirAsia Renault Clio Cup UK championship battle by taking a double pole position during qualifying for the final rounds of the season at Brands Hatch.
The final qualifying session of 2011 was by far the most important of the season, with four drivers heading into the weekend split by just four points at the top of the championship standings. As the session drew to a close, Rivett and title rival James Colburn traded provisional pole between them for the opening race, with double champion Rivett coming out on top by 0.160s to take pole.
Championship leader Aron Smith was struggling towards the lower end of the top ten throughout the session, but with a couple of minutes left on the clock, the Team Pyro driver put a couple of quick laps on the board and took third on the grid. Unable to do the same was the final championship contender James Dixon, who ended up a disappointing ninth on his home circuit.
Fourth on the grid for the opener will be Scuderia Vittoria's Luke Wright, ahead of Jake Packun. Team Pyro trio Jack Goff, Josh Files and Adam Bonham are next up ahead of Dixon, with Rob Boston completing the top ten. Ant Whorton-Eales, who starred last time out at Rockingham, will start eleventh, ahead of Ash Miller, the fastest of the drivers making his debut in the series at Brands.
Enjoying his most competitive performance of the season so far was Nicolas Hamilton in thirteenth, ahead of another debutant, Chris Smith. David Dickenson, Simon Belcher, Andy Gorton, Mark Proctor and Darren Wilson completed the nineteen runners.
The driver's second best times form the grid for the final race of the season, with Stancombe Vehicle Engineering's Rivett once again on top. This time Wright joins him on the front row, ending up just 0.046s off pole. Smith will once again line up third, ahead of Packun and Goff, with Westbourne Motorsport's Colburn dropping to sixth.
Bonham and Dixon will line up on row four, ahead of Files and Whorton-Eales, while Total Control Racing's Hamilton will line up an even better eleventh. JHR Development's Boston and Scuderia Vittoria's Miller are next up, ahead of Dickenson, Chris Smith, Gorton, Belcher, Proctor and Wilson.
The session saw a number of times being deleted due to cars exceeding the track's limits, with numerous cars affected.
