Paul Streather bounced back superbly from a huge testing accident on Friday to secure a pair of top ten finishes in the Renault UK Clio Cup at Silverstone.
Streather’s meeting got off to the worst possible start in Friday testing, with an 80mph impact with the concrete wall at Copse corner writing off his Finesse Motorsport Clio.
It wasn’t only the car that was left worse for wear, with Streather suffering from severe ankle pain following the incident, which necessitated a trip to the hospital on Friday evening.
Cleared to race over the weekend by the circuit medical team though, Streather was able to compete after sourcing a replacement car from former series entrants 20Ten Racing.
Not immediately at home in his new Clio, Streather struggled to 19th on the grid for both races in qualifying, however some changes to his seating position would work wonders come the races.
A sensational pair of drives would see Streather no less than ten places in each, taking the most unlikeliest pair of top ten finishes with ninth overall in both.
Not only that, but the former Michelin Clio Cup Series front-runner also recorded the fastest racing lap of the weekend in the second encounter to cap off a remarkable weekend.
“To make ten position gains in both races, and have the fastest lap of the weekend, it’s unbelievable really after how everything started in testing. If we’d been able to qualify further up the grid, we’d have been up there near the front 100% in the races,” said Streather.
“The accident in testing, it was a freak accident – I’ve never experienced anything like it. I changed down a gear into Copse on the first lap and the engine braking locked the front wheels on a puddle…then the car sped up and I went straight into the wall. It destroyed the car.
“I thought with my ankle and the state of the car I wouldn’t be racing, but 20Ten did a great job to help out with bringing their spare car to the track and then Finesse did a fantastic job to get the car on track and really well set-up. To go from four o’clock on Friday afternoon in hospital to this is unbelievable.”
