Paul Rivett held off a race-long charge from long-time adversary Stefan Hodgetts to take victory in Round 7 of the 2013 Renault UK Clio Cup.
Rivett started the race from pole and a strong getaway for the pole-sitter saw him lead into Old Hall for the first time, while a fantastic launch from fifth on the grid for Hodgetts saw him storm alongside team-mate Ant Whorton-Eales into the first corner.
Hodgetts took the place to slot into second behind Rivett, with front-row starter Josh Cook making up for a slow start to push Whorton-Eales down to fourth.
Whorton-Eales’ race took a turn for the worst on lap two though when he tagged the tyre stack at Knickerbrook, causing him to spin off track and out of the race. The contact left the tyres stranded in the middle of the track, with Lee Pattison and Josh Files amongst those hitting it as the field went through.
Both were able to continue, with Pattison fifth and Files seventh as the safety car emerged to allow for the retrieval of Whorton-Eales car, which came to rest on the side of the run at the bottom of Clay Hill.
At the restart, Rivett tried to force a gap from Hodgetts, but couldn’t break clear from the KX Akademy star, with Cook joining them to make it a three way battle for the lead. Despite huge pressure from behind, with Hodgetts never more than half a second behind, Rivett was able to hold on for his third win of the season with Stancombe Vehicle Engineering.
(L to R) Pattison, Cook, Rivett and Hodgetts On The Oulton Park Podium – Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Hodgetts and Cook completed the podium, both securing their second podium finishes of the season, while taking fourth after a relatively lonely race was Alex Morgan. Pattison took his battered and bruised Clio to fifth and the Masters Cup win, with James Colburn completing the top six.
Files emerged from a race-long battle with Jake Giddings to finish seventh, the Team Pyro driver regaining the place on the final lap having slipped behind Giddings on lap eight. Taking ninth was Mike Bushell, the latest KX Akademy recruit matching the pace of the race-leaders in the latter stages, while completing the top ten was Ash Hand.
Full race results can be found here: http://tsl-timing.com/toca/2013/132303cli.pdf
