Paul Rivett produced one of the drives of the day in the Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup to rise from ninth on the grid to second in the live-televised second race at Thruxton yesterday (4th May).
Starting well from a lowly grid position, a by-product of him not “hammering the kerbs hard enough at the chicane” during qualifying, Rivett was up to fifth at the end of the opening lap, before gaining another place two laps later.
Running there through the middle of the race, the 35 year old benefitted from an incident ahead to move into second on lap ten. In the final two laps, he closed onto the bumper of leader James Colburn and nearly snatched the lead at the final chicane.
“I nearly pipped James [Colburn] to the post on the last lap there, I lined him up for what I thought would be the perfect run, but I didn’t quite make it round,” Rivett told TCF. “He locked up and we had no choice but to go straight through the chicane. It was a great race and I’m really pleased to get second.
While Rivett admits “it wasn’t quite the weekend we’d hoped for” after a first race non-finish due to an electrical problem, the three-time Clio champion expressed his joy at racing the new fourth-generation Clio Cup cars.
“I’ve had a really, really fun couple of races,” he added. “I’m really enjoying racing in these new cars, they provide such great racing for us as drivers, and for the crowd to watch. This championship is just going to get stronger and stronger, and I can’t wait to get to Oulton Park now.”
