Mike Bushell has made it four pole positions in a row in the 2014 Renault UK Clio Cup with a star performance in qualifying for Round Thirteen and Fourteen of the season at Knockhill.
In an entertaining session on a drying track in Scotland, Bushell was the only driver in the season-high sixteen car field to dip below the 57 second bracket with a fastest time of 56.998 seconds, with his second best effort of 57.239s ensuring he took away pole for both encounters.
“Double pole is great, I just need to make it count and work on my starts after Snetterton,” said the Kent driver, who made his BTCC debut at Knockhill twelve months ago.
“Yesterday was a little bit of a struggle in testing, I had to go away and think about it last night and adapt to the track. Knockhill is more flowing than Snetterton which is more technical and stop-start. I’m really pleased.”
Lap times improved dramatically late on in the session as the track came to the slick tyred drivers, with Ant Whorton-Eales emerging second fastest, 0.181 seconds shy of Bushell’s best, with his SV Racing with KX team-mate Ash Hand a close third.
Jordan Stilp produced the fourth fastest time, with three-time Clio champion Paul Rivett in fifth despite having a lap time disallowed for exceeding track limits, the top five split by 0.371 seconds.
Alex Morgan, the pace-setter in Friday testing, posted the sixth fastest time, narrowly faster than championship leader Josh Cook and James Colburn. Charlie Ladell and Lee Pattison round out the top ten, the latter frustrated after having to sit out the decisive late stages of the session when he was forced to park his car with a belt problem.
For race two’s grid, Bushell will be joined on the front row by Stilp, with SV’s Hand and Whorton-Eales on row two. Cook will start an improved fifth ahead of Rivett, Morgan, Ladell and Pattison, with Colburn eleventh behind Westbourne Motorsport team-mate Devon Modell
Clio Cup debutant Jamie Clarke had a solid first qualifying session meanwhile, putting his SV Clio twelfth on the grid for both races, with series returnee Finlay Crocker to start one place further back in both in his Pyro racer.
Full qualifying results can be found here.
