Ant Whorton-Eales has seized the advantage in the Renault UK Clio Cup title fight with a double pole position in qualifying at Brands Hatch GP.
Whorton-Eales posted a best time of 1m 39.056s in his Maximum Motorsport fourth-generation Clio to take top spot on the timesheets, with fellow title challenger Ashley Sutton two tenths of a second behind as he took second on the grid for both races.
Championship leader Ash Hand didn’t produce the results he’d have hoped for though, taking sixth on the grid for the two races, severely reducing his chances of taking the victory he needs in race one to seal the title with a race to spare.
Paul Rivett took third on the grid for the opening race, however that proved to be his only flying lap of note after suffering an off around the GP loop that ended his session near the halfway mark, putting him P19 for race two.
A stunning debut for Paul Streather saw him put his Finesse Motorsport Clio fourth on the grid for both races, while Tom Grundy secured a seasons best third on the grid for race two and fifth for the opener, despite a late off on the run to Druids that caused a second red flag stoppage.
Grundy’s JamSport Racing team-mate Luke Kidsley capped off a great session for the team with eighth and fifth for the two races, while Jon Maybin led the Team Cooksport squad with seventh for the opener.
Dan Holland and Josh Price complete the top ten for race one ahead of Charlie Ladell, Rory Collingbourne and Alex Sedgwick, with Ladell, Sedgwick, Holland and Maybin completed the final two rows of the top ten for race two.
