Ashley Sutton says a return to the top step of the Renault UK Clio Cup podium at Croft last weekend has filled him with confidence heading into the second half of the 2015 season.
The Team Pyro ace had got his maiden Clio campaign off to a sensational start with four second place finishes and a victory at Donington Park within the first six meetings.
A penalty at Donington for exceeding track limits had cost him a 100% podium record though, and that plus a retirement due to damage last time out at Oulton Park had lost him ground in the championship battles.
The former single-seater racer hit back in style at Croft though. From second on the grid in race one, he stormed into a lead he wouldn’t relinquish, going on to win by the largest margin of the season so far, 8.786 seconds.
He followed that up with another second place finish in the second encounter to cap off his biggest points haul of the season so far, which further cements his third place in the championship standings.
“To come back with that win was fantastic, especially with the size it was, over eight seconds, that’s brilliant and showed that we can pick ourselves up and come back fighting,” Sutton told TCF.
“It’s been a very up and down season so far. We started the season on a high at Brands Hatch with a real, real good weekend, and then it was fantastic to win at Donington Park. We had the penalty there though which wasn’t great, then picked up the DNF at Oulton.
“It felt like it had started to go downhill, but I feel like we’ve picked ourselves back up now and that this weekend is a turning point in our season. It’s picked my confidence up loads and we can use that to our advantage in the second half of the season.”
