Former Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship driver Michael Epps is leaving Brands Hatch third in the drivers championship for the Renault UK Clio Cup.
After a solid weekend where he finished both races in the points, he and his team Matrix Motorsport were both pleased with the points haul he acquired.
Qualifying eighth for the first race and ninth for the second, Epps was slightly unhappy with his times. However, he left scope for belief that he will improve his qualifying session performance in the future.
Commenting about qualifying Mike said, “I could be happier, but I could also be a lot worse off. Qualifying sessions are where teams show off their knowledge from testing and drivers show that last little bit of magic they have in the bag.
“I definitely didn’t leave 3 tenths in the bag, but there was a red flag which definitely interrupted our second new tyre run so maybe that can be attributed to some of it, but reviewing data we can improve that part.”
During the action packed shortened first race, Epps fought his way up the field into sixth only one second behind the battling drivers of Lee Pattison and Max Coates in fourth and fifth place ahead. This was a pleasing result for both the débuting team and driver.
In the second race, a long battle with Team Pyro’s Bradley Burns saw Mike get into fourth position where he then attempted to catch a podium spot before race end. However, there weren’t enough laps and he had to accept a hard fought and well deserved fourth.
These two results place Epps third in the UK Clio Cup drivers title behind Paul Rivett and Max Coates who won the two races at the weekend. Meanwhile his team Matrix Motorsport are also third in their teams championship table.
Analysing his weekend, Mike said, “I’m happy enough with that for a weekend of first experiences. Considering we didn’t get everything out of qualifying that I feel we could have, we’ve done well to come out of the weekend in the top three.
“Matrix have put together a solid effort and we’ve definitely made some good ground to build on for the next one. Thanks again to Matrix, their sponsors and my sponsors for pulling this together.”
The Renault UK Clio Cup returns for more action at Donington Park on the 28/29 April.
