James Dorlin has completed a perfect double victory in the Michelin Clio Cup Series at Croft with a lights-to-flag success in race two this afternoon, though Brett Lidsey kept him honest throughout the twelve lap encounter.
Unlike the opening race of the weekend during which Dorlin romped clear for a thirteen second success, the championship leader has his chief rival Lidsey on his tail throughout the second encounter in North Yorkshire.
It was Lidsey who had started the race from pole position, but a great launch off the line allowed Dorlin to slide past heading into Clervaux for the first time, and from there the Westbourne Motorsport ace wouldn’t be headed.
Building an early lead of half a second, Dorlin edged that gap to close to a second as the race progressed, meaning that despite a late charge from Lidsey putting him within touching distance, a seventh victory of the season was Dorlin’s with the fastest lap to boot.
There was an interesting early battle for the final podium position behind, with the fast-starting Luke Pinder rising from seventh to fourth on the opening lap, which positioned him on the tail of current BTCC front-runner Josh Cook.
The reigning Road Series champion got ahead of Cook on the second lap, but it would be short-lived as two laps later Cook got back in front in his 20Ten Racing machine, before pulling far enough clear to complete the podium despite receiving a late five second penalty for exceeding track limits.
It wouldn’t be Pinder who would follow him home in fourth however as on lap nine he and Sam Randon came together in their battle for fourth. Whilst Pinder recovered to the circuit down in ninth, Randon’s race was over on the outskirts of Tower corner.
That promoted Tom Barley up to fourth, a result which completes his best ever Clio Series weekend after taking a maiden podium yesterday, while current Renault UK Clio Cup racer Rory Collingbourne bounced back from a race one retirement with a top five finish.
Ben Palmer, Tyler Lidsey and Ben Colburn completed the top eight ahead of Pinder, those three running in formation throughout the race, whilst Mark Vella saw a top ten finish slip from his grasp with a late problem forcing him into retirement.
In the Road Series, Jack Fabby seized the class lead from Nic Harrison on the opening lap and held it for the remainder of the race to complete a double win for the weekend, while Damian Hirst fought his way back past Sarah Franklin for the final podium position.
Full race results can be found here.
