Knockhill Report
A new livery and a new circuit to master, but it was the same old story on track for Rory Collingbourne as he continued his quest for Graduate Cup success in 2015 with another brace of solid performances in the sixth meeting of the Renault Clio Cup UK at the notoriously challenging 1.27 mile Knockhill circuit in Fife.
The striking new colours for the #13 car were unveiled in the run up to the weekend and received a favourable response from the Welsh ace’s fanbase, a move which Collingbourne explained was motivated by a need to give his proud sponsors, among them Newport Auctions, The Storage Group, Calma Goal and Add Energy, maximum coverage on one of the biggest stages in British motorsport.
“We made the decision to change livery ahead of Knockhill so our sponsors stand out from the rest of the field on TV” he commented “with so many people watching the TV coverage it’s important we get this right, and I think with this livery change we have.”
As mentioned, last weekend saw Rory make the journey north of the Scottish border to tackle the undulating Knockhill circuit for the first time in his fledgeling motorsport career. The heavy braking, changes in gradient and high speed corners make this venue a challenge for some of the biggest names in British motorsport, and it has already made an impression on Collingbourne.
“It’s my first time here, but learning the track has been great. Obviously, being ill on the Friday hasn’t helped at all but I think we’ve found a handle on it now and hopefully we can get some good results.”
After completing 51 laps across the two free practice sessions on Friday, Rory set a best lap time of 57.996, just five seconds off the lap times being achieved by the sharp end of the BTCC grid. When putting that into the context of the differences between the cars in the two series, it was clear that Rory was in a good place heading into the first competitive sessions of the weekend on Saturday, and his first competitive sessions at Knockhill.
In Qualifying on Saturday morning Rory ensured he would start both races from 10th position, with his best lap time of 57.929, a minor improvement on his best time from the day before. His second fastest time of 57.958 also secured him a starting spot in the heart of the midfield, demonstrating the consistent pace Rory had dialled into around the 1.27 mile circuit. With just over a second separating the Newport racer from the championship contenders on the front row, there was everything to play for heading into the first race later that afternoon. Despite this, Rory still had some frustrations when looking back on his qualifying effort.
“Qualifying wasn’t the best, I didn’t really manage to put a good lap in. Really, we should have been in 6th but we’ll just have to try and make up the lost ground in the race later.”
Rory started the first of the weekends two 20 laps from the fifth row and had an excellent first lap, disposing of Thomas Grundy and Dan Holland in front to claim 8th place on his first tour of the circuit. Chasing down Jack Mitchell in front, Rory was left frustrated and unable to pass despite hanging on to the back of his fellow rookie. This was then compounded later on as Rory received a time penalty from the race stewards for exceeding track limits in his pursuit of Mitchell, and subsequently he was relegated to 10th in the final race classification.
“The race was good” summed up Rory “We started out really well and gained two places on the first lap but during the race I was pushing hard and got a five second penalty which moved me down to 10th.”
“We’ve made a set up change and the race made the car feel a lot better. We had a good battle with Jack Mitchell for a couple of laps but I couldn’t quite get past. I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow now as I know what I’m doing, so fingers crossed we should get a good result.”
In front of a capacity crowd trackside, Rory took to the grid for the televised race on Sunday keen to make progress from a starting position of 10th, courtesy of his second fastest lap in qualifying. Rory made a good start and avoided drama ahead as contact was made at the front heading into the Seat curves. Closing up on his old Fiesta competitor George Jackson, Rory ended the opening lap of the race just a thousandth of a second behind the man in 9th, and duly relieved him of the position on the next tour of the circuit. He then set about closing the seventh tenths of a second gap to 8th. Unfortunately, a resurgent Jackson came into his own as the race progressed and re-passed Rory on the sixth lap en route to an 8th place finish, relegating the Welsh ace back down to his starting slot of 10th. Over the next five laps, Rory would drop eight tenths of a second behind his competitors, but pulled out a stellar twelfth lap to cut the deficit in half, and then again the following lap as he set about claiming 9th from Jack Mitchell in front. The two Clios ran nose to bumper for a few laps before an off for Rory on the exit of the chicane dropped him a second and a half behind, although he did well to retain his position from the chasing group behind. He set about claiming lost ground and did manage to pull another seven tenths back across the remaining three laps, but time was not on Collingbourne’s side as he was forced to settle for 10th in a race that demonstrated just how competitive the Renault Clio Cup UK grid is. Rory managed a fastest lap time in the race of 58.302, matching him closely with his rivals.
“Race two was tough” commented Rory afterwards “We had a great start, but I really need to get to grips with finding the best setup for the car as I started to struggle halfway through.”
“I had a great battle with my team-mate, George Jackson, and also a good battle with Jack Mitchell at the end of the race. It was really difficult to overtake but we’ve made more progress and I’m definitely looking forward to the next round at Rockingham.”
In the overall championship, Rory sits in 8th place leaving Knockhill with a total of 137 points, giving him a slender 8 point lead over his fellow ex-Fiesta competitor, George Jackson. In the Graduate Cup, Rory maintains his 4th position in the standings and again holds a point advantage over George Jackson, although this time the gap is marginally healthier at 10 points. Meanwhile, Team Cooksport remain third in the Teams Championship but the absence of second-placed SV Racing at Knockhill, combined with their loss of championship contender Ant Whorton-Eales, gives Cooksport a real opportunity to claim the runners-up spot with three meetings left to run.
The Renault Clio Cup UK next travels to the 1.94 mile Rockingham Motor Speedway in Northamptonshire on the 5th-6th September 2015. Whether trackside or live on ITV4, many thanks for your continued support of Wales’ latest motorsport talent, Rory Collingbourne.
