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CROFT REPORT

CROFT REPORT

As the 2015 Renault Clio Cup UK marked the halfway stage at Croft circuit in Yorkshire, Rory Collingbourne and the Team Cooksport made the journey up north hopeful of building on what has been a consistent debut season so far. Problems during the second race at Oulton Park gave Rory his lowest finish of the season so far in 15th, but the Newport ace arrived in the North-East keen to put his quest for the Graduate Cup firmly back on track.

Qualifying around the 2.12 mile circuit on Saturday brought Rory another good starting position from 10th, his fastest lap time of the session being a 1:33.480, just 1.1 seconds off pole position. Considering the gap at Oulton Park was 1.5 seconds, this shows Rory is getting ever closer to breaking into the first few rows of the grid. His second fastest time, a 1:33.907, meant he would start both races from the same position. With several previous victims lining the rows in front, there was every reason for Rory to be optimistic about his chances heading into the ninth round of the championship, the official halfway point.

Race one brought another solid points finish for Rory as he crossed the line in 9th position, finishing ahead of established championship contenders such as Jordan Stilp. Problems for the latter on the first lap ensured he dropped to the rear of the field, elevating Collingbourne into 9th, who then set about claiming 8th from Thomas Grundy in front. However, the race passed with surprisingly little drama in one of the most action-packed championships on the ToCA package. Only the battle with Ant Whorton-Eales and Brett Smith for 6th place was worthy of note as Rory crossed the line in 9th to continue his record of top ten finishes this season. Although he was unable to find a way past Grundy, he did manage to close the gap to seven tenths of a second at the checkered flag and was looking forward to another consistent performance in the second race of the weekend.

Everyone at Team Cooksport could be forgiven for disliking the second race of the weekend after Rory suffered another disappointing result in a similar vein to Oulton Park. Rory made his best start of the season from 10th and utilised his blistering pace to move up to 6th position as the cars made their way round Clervaux corner, whilst further back his namesake Rory Green ended his race in the barrier at the very first corner. Latching onto the back of the leading group, Collingbourne looked to have found some serious pace in the car, but the deployment of the safety car prevented him from capitalising on any mistakes from the cars fighting in front. At the restart, Rory was just 1.8 seconds behind the race leader, Ash Hand, but then disaster struck. Heading into the final hairpin on the third lap, Rory was turned round by Brett Smith and fell to the very rear of the field. Some would say karma then struck, as Smith was forced to make a trip to the pit lane on the following lap, whilst a problem for Jordan Stilp allowed Rory to reclaim two lost positions and run in 14th as the cars approached half distance. Whilst the leaders produced some of the closest racing of the season, Collingbourne had caught up to the back of the field by lap 9, and duly passed Paul Donkin to claim 13th on the following lap. That would be as good as it got for the Welsh racer as he took the checkered flag after what was a decent recovery drive. It was a case of what could have been, however, as Collingbourne’s potential highest finishing position of the year became his second lowest, through no fault of his own on a frustrating afternoon in Yorkshire.

Rory’s consistent finish in the first race paid dividends, however, as he remains in 8th position in the overall standings heading into the summer break. In the all-important Graduate Cup classification, his fourth place remains intact ahead of former Fiesta competitor George Jackson. The season reached the halfway stage with Rory scoring an average of 15 points per race, an impressive tally for any rookie entering one of the UK’s most competitive championships. As we take an extended break until Knockhill towards the end of August, Rory will no doubt be looking forward to the second half of the season keen to break into the top six and, perhaps, score a maiden podium finish in the championship. With the world-famous Silverstone, a second visit to Brands Hatch and infamous venues such as Knockhill and Rockingham still to come, why not come and support Rory trackside? Or, alternatively, you can monitor his progress live on ITV4. Newport’s racing star has had a solid start to 2015; can he recover the lost ground in the Graduate Cup before the final checkered flag falls at Brands Hatch in October? Watch this space.

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