DONINGTON PARK REPORT
The Renault Clio Cup UK convened for it’s second meeting of the season at Donington Park over the third weekend of April for another three hotly contested rounds. The 1.97 mile circuit provides drivers with nerve-wracking tests including the infamous Craner Curves and the difficult last corner , christened the Foggy Esses.
Rory entered the weekend after a consistent performance in his first race of the championship at Brands Hatch a fortnight prior, and once again demonstrated his pace in qualifying, putting the #13 Clio in 11th place on the grid for the opening race of the weekend with a fastest lap time of 1:17.912, just 1.2 seconds from pole position against more experienced competitors. His second fastest time, a 1:18.050, ensured he would start the second race from 10th position, putting Rory and the team in an optimistic mood ahead of Rounds 3 and 4 on Sunday.
But first, the re-scheduled first round of the championship took place as planned, with Rory lining up in 14th place amidst fierce competition. Unfazed, Rory was able to once again make his way through a closely-packed field to finish in 9th, the Team Cooksport driver re-iterating his intent to win the Rookie Cup this campaign. Whilst championship contenders such as Ash Hand fell by the wayside, a series of accomplished overtakes from Collingbourne gave him another solid finishing position, as well as a fastest race lap time just 1.1 seconds off the championship contenders at the front.
After initially losing a position on the opening lap, Rory was able to reclaim the position, with Field falling to the rear of the pack. A lap later, Collingbourne was able to relieve Grundy of 13th position before a retirement from Team Cooksport team-mate Paul Knapp elevated the Welsh driver to 12th after just a handful of laps. Next up on Rory’s hit-list was experienced campaigner Paul Rivett, the latter falling behind as 11th place was taken on lap 6. By the end of the penultimate lap Rory had risen four places to sit at the bottom end of the top 10. But, on the last lap, Rory was able to pass his namesake Rory Green to claim 9th position and take home another solid result in his 1.6 litre Renault Clio.
Sunday brought the crowds to Leicestershire and Rory lined up in the 11th place he secured during qualifying on Saturday. After a good first lap, the Newport-based racer had risen as far as 9th in the running order, despite an incident with Freddie Hunt that left the latter on the list of retirements. Rory subsequently fell back to 12th during the second lap of the race, but undettered he began to make a comeback. Dispensing of Team Cooksport team-mate Paul Knapp he moved up to 11th with six laps left to run, before a penalty for Ben Seyfried for passing under yellow flags elevated Collingbourne and his team-mate into 10th and 11th positions respectively after the race.
In the final racing action of the weekend, Collingbourne went three cars abreast into turn one as his competitors took to the gravel in some places, whilst behind there was yet more misfortune for Freddie Hunt. After a blistering first lap, Rory moved up three positions from 10th to 7th, before dicing with Holland and Laddell on lap three sent Collingbourne back two places to 9th. Rory then drove consistently to maintain this position until lap 11, when Smith in the #39 Clio was able to take advantage and relegate him to 10th. However, a mammoth effort and some luck on the penultimate lap of the race meant Rory was able to regain the two positions lost earlier and cross the line in 8th position, which was later elevated to 7th following action by the stewards on fellow competitor, Brett Smith, giving Collingbourne his best finish of the season to date.
The three action-packed races at the Leicestershire circuit meant that Rory left the second meeting of the season sitting 9th in the championship standings on 49 points with an 11 point deficit to team-mate Charles Laddell in front. The next round at Thruxton on the 9th-10th May would prove a unique and, possibly, the most difficult challenge to the Clio Cup field around the UK’s fastest circuit. The only way to find out is to get down to the circuits this season and cheer Rory Collingbourne on, or join millions of viewers on ITV4’s live coverage.
