In terms of perfect weekends in motorsport, James Dorlin in the Renault UK Clio Cup had the textbook definition of this feeling as he took pole position and both victories at Donington Park.
The Westbourne Motorsport driver made his slick tyre change at the perfect moment during Saturday’s qualifying session and proceeded to set the fastest time putting him on pole position for race one. His second fastest time – which decides the grid for race two, put him third.
Race one was the Dorlin show as he streaked away from the rest of the field to cross the line seven seconds ahead of the driver in second. Despite being overtaken by team-mate James Colburn on the first lap and having to stay behind him due to a safety-car period, Dorlin didn’t hang about at the restart and reclaimed his lead at the first corner when the opportunity immediately presented itself.
If race one was a relative walk in the park, the BRDC Rising Star had to work hard to get his victory in race two.
The latter stages of the race saw Bradley Burns hound Dorlin relentlessly in an attempt to get past. This also allowed Jack McCarthy in third position to close up to the two leaders and set up a grandstand finish to the Clio Cup weekend.
Despite a trip through the gravel on the final lap, James managed to keep his lead and therefore complete a clean sweep of the weekend. He finished three tenths of a second ahead of Burns.
After these results, James jumped up to fourth in the drivers championship and is only nine points behind leader Max Coates.
Reflecting on Donington. James said, “It’s been an amazing weekend and to come away with a perfect score is exactly what we needed.
“The performance has been there, but we haven’t quite had the luck so far this year, so to get back on track is fantastic.
“Now we need to carry this momentum forward to Thruxton.”
