Jordan Stilp has expressed his relief at carding his first Renault UK Clio Cup podium finish of the season in Round Three at Donington Park.
Stilp notched up third place in a close fought opening race of the weekend in Leicestershire, a result he admitted was a bit of surprise after a tougher than anticipated start to the season.
The 20Ten Racing ace was unable to match the pace of the front three at Brands Hatch two weeks ago, which he feels comes due to a lack of pre-season testing on the new tyre compound for this season.
“We’ve been struggling from the start of Brands Hatch really because we haven’t had much time on the new Dunlop tyres,” Stilp told TCF. “The set-up we had last year for these circuits that we thought would be good this year hasn’t worked, so it’s been a big learning curve for us.”
Stilp admits it’s been a game of cat and mouse in pursuit of a good set-up at Donington Park, but feels his race pace in Round Three indicates they’ve found a sweet spot to take into today’s two races, with a strong points haul the target from fifth and fourth on the grid.
“Qualifying today was really hard, we had to completely change the car for that session, and again for the race. That’s paid off though, we found something and it worked, so we’re certainly getting there now,” Stilp explained.
“We’ve still got some things to work on, but we’re progressing more and more every session and it’s fantastic to get the podium finish in that race considering where we are. I just need to get points on the board at the moment and rise towards the circuits we’re stronger at later in the year.”
