Lee Pattison led from the first lap to the flag for his third win of the 2017 Renault UK Clio Cup season at Rockingham, whilst second place for Mike Bushell moved him one step closer to the title.
Race one winner Max Coates initially led the way from pole position, however a slide wide at Yentwood on the opening lap would open the door for Pattison and Bushell to storm past.
Bushell had to defend from Coates over the first half of the race, with the race one winner posting the fastest lap of the race in his pursuit of second, all of which allowed Pattison to edge away.
Coates would run wide at the Deene hairpin and lost ground however, which set Bushell free and allowed him to start focusing on closing the gap to the race leader.
The Team Pyro ace closed onto his tail but could not forge an overtaking opportunity, which left Pattison to take the win, though second was more than enough for Bushell following a difficult Saturday.
Bushell’s twelfth podium finish of the years means he holds an 82 point lead atop the standings, and he can win the title next time out if he ends the Silverstone weekend with a margin of 69 points or more.
Coates’ misdemeanour would drop him back to fifth behind James Colburn and Lucas Orrock meanwhile, with those two having changed positions at Gracelands on lap five.
Orrock held fourth until a dive down the inside at Tarzan on lap seven earnt Coates the position, before he went on to pass Colburn at the same corner five laps later to snatch a podium finish.
As Colburn and Orrock completed the top five, the battles ahead had allowed Daniel Rowbottom, Jack McCarthy and Paul Rivett to close right onto their tails in the closing laps.
Rowbottom was the driver to lose out, slipping to eighth at the finish behind his adversaries, whilst Dan Zelos and Jade Edwards rounded out the top ten ahead of Aaron Thompson.
JJ Ross completed a strong debut in twelfth place ahead of Luke Reade, with fellow newcomers Bradley Burns and Zak Fulk sandwiching their team-mate Nathan Harrison behind.
Thruxton race-winner James Dorlin was a lower than anticipated eighteenth, one position ahead of Shawn Taylor who was knocked sideways in the early stages by Burns.
Full race results can be found here: http://tsl-timing.com/event/173403/session/rc2cli
