2014 champion Mike Bushell was back on the top of the Renault UK Clio Cup timesheets today as he set the pace in free practice ahead of the opening rounds of the 2016 season at Brands Hatch.
The former BTCC racer lapped the Kent venue’s Indy circuit in 52.354s to lead the way in an incredibly competitive day of running which saw 21 cars split by less than a second.
Bushell just piped Ant Whorton-Eales to the top spot, with just five hundredths of a second splitting them in the second session of the day, with Paul Rivett third overall just over a tenth behind.
Behind the experienced trio, Josh Price put in an impressive performance to finish up fourth fastest ahead of team-mate David Dickenson, who made it three Team Pyro cars in the top five.
Returning to the scene of his stunning Clio Cup debut six months ago, Paul Streather completed the top six on the day, four tenths of a second shy of Bushell’s best effort.
Ollie Pidgley was the top Ciceley Motorsport runner in seventh overall, with his team-mate Dan Zelos in ninth, sandwiched between Daniel Rowbottom and Luke Kidsley.
Behind Senna Proctor and Anton Spires, Lee Pattison led the Masters Cup runners in thirteenth as Max Coates and Charlie Ladell rounded out the top fifteen.
Full testing times can be found here.
