James Dorlin has stolen a maiden win in the Renault UK Clio Cup by just 67 thousandths of a second following an epic drag race to the line with championship leader Mike Bushell.
Bushell had looked on course to complete a perfect Thruxton double in his Team Pyro Clio, but Dorlin had other ideas as the duo headed into the chicane for the final time.
Slight contact with the rear of Bushell’s car unsettled the leader briefly, but Dorlin would get a better run out of the corner and just edged his nose in front as the duo took the chequered flag.
Continuing a current trend in the series, Dorlin was initially handed a 0.5 second penalty for the contact to give Bushell the victory, but a successful appeal ensured Dorlin the victory.
That marked the reigning Michelin Clio Cup Series champion’s first series win and podium in only his sixth Clio Cup race, while Bushell’s second was enough to extend his title lead to 35 points.
That advantage lies over Paul Rivett, who continued his championship challenge by completing the podium ahead of his WDE Motorsport team-mates Lee Pattison and Dan Zelos.
Zelos, who had started on the front row of the grid but lost ground with a poor start, would post the fastest lap of the race and with it a new series lap record for the Thruxton circuit.
James Colburn and Daniel Rowbottom pressured Zelos in the closing stages as they completed the top seven, the former completing a strong weekend after finishing second in race one.
It took two attempts to complete the race meanwhile, with the initial effort red flagged following a multi-car incident at the first corner that claimed Max Coates, Sam Osborne, Brett Lidsey and Lucas Orrock.
Full race results can be found here: http://tsl-timing.com/file/?f=TOCA/2017/171803cli.pdf
The championship standings after the meeting are here: http://tsl-timing.com/file/?f=TOCA/2017/171803ptscli.pdf
