Michelin Clio Cup Series front-runner Luke Herbert has given his backing to the move to turn the series into a fully-fledged championship in 2014.
Herbert has won five of the six races in the series so far this season with his family-run team, beating a grid that includes former Renault UK Clio Cup drivers and established Clio Cup teams.
The series organisers are planning to expand to a 12 round calendar next season, with it hoped that the introduction of the new fourth-generation Clio into the Renault UK Clio Cup will see an influx of the current third-generation machines into the series.
Herbert entered the series after being unable to raise the budget required for the Renault UK Clio Cup, and the 2012 Ma5da MX5 Cup champion is hoping to graduate to the main series next season.
The 23 year old admits that if those plans don’t come off though, that a return to the Clio Cup Series and a possible expansion of his team would be on the next best option.
“The plan of us doing Clio Series this year was to learn the front-wheel drive and then graduate into the main Renault UK Clio Cup next year,” explained Herbert. “If we’re not able to raise the budget for that, we definitely want to stay in the Clio Series and go for the championship. We’re also looking at buying another car to expand the team
“Becoming a championship gives it more appeal and with so many cars coming out of the TOCA series at the end of the year, I reckon we’ll easily see 20 to 25 cars on the Clio Series grid. There are plenty of club racers out there who will want to do it, it’s better than anything else out there at this level – a great series and a great car.”
