Rockingham Report
Rory Collingbourne scored two top six finishes on his best weekend to date in the 2015 Renault Clio Cup UK as the Newport-based driver contested the seventh meeting of the season around the 1.94 mile Rockingham Motor Speedway.
Collingbourne, who turned 18 on the Wednesday prior to the race meeting, completed several laps of the circuit on Friday during the two free practice sessions and heading into qualifying on Saturday morning in optimistic mood. With the track and ambient conditions rising with the minute, it would be a difficult session to navigate, especially after rain earlier in the morning.
“Practice went well” said Rory “The setup from during the week at Donington Park helped a lot. There was a really good balance in the car, it didn’t understeer much, and I was just concentrating on my racing lines and improving my pace.”
Rory had one of his best qualifying sessions of the season, setting a fastest lap time of 1:30.390 to put himself into 8th on the starting grid for the first race later in the afternoon. His second fastest time of 1:30.666 would ensure he started 9th for the live televised race on the Sunday afternoon. The car continued to perfom reliably throughout as Rory completed 12 laps, nearly a race distance, without any mechanical woes.
The first race on Saturday brought Collingbourne’s best race finish of the season as he claimed an impressive 4th position in sunny conditions, narrowly missing out on his maiden podium in the championship. Thomas Grundy stalled on the starting grid as the lights went out, forcing Rory to pull to the inside. Helpfully, the incident enabled him to make up several positions heading into the first corner, and by the end of the first lap Rory was sitting a comfortable 5th ahead of his Team Cooksport team-mate, George Jackson. As Paul Rivett and Ant Whorton-Eales contested the final podium slot in front, Collingbourne waited patiently behind for any slip-ups, and with a handful of laps to go Rivett was forced to pull into the pit lane, handing Rory fourth place which he held until the chequered flag. Collingbourne was delighted following the race with his best ever result.
“It was really about getting the car in the right place, and I managed to get to the inside line by overtaking Grundy off the start and a couple of the others in front like Kindsley, who stalled it. The first corner I just followed everyone and they all went sideways. We all exited four abreast but I managed to get past everyone as they went off.”
“I had to concentrate on the first corner as it was a struggle, because the car went off quite quickly. But I kept on pushing and stopped myself from being overtaken by him, it was just a case of maintaining the gap.”
“It was nice to get my best finish of the season as my Grandad’s come back from Thailand this weekend. From being at Knockhill and finishing 10th to here and finishing 4th, it’s a great step forward.”
The second race on Sunday afternoon proved to be one of the all-time classic races in the championship and highlighted the intensely competitive nature of the field. Rory made a good start, moving to the inside of Grundy and Jackson into the high-speed turn one. Contact at the front between the leaders opened up an opportunity for Collingbourne to move up to 5th and he hugged the inside line on the chicane to continue his charge to the front. Charlie Laddell in front compromised his run out of Piff-Paff and allowed team-mate Paul Rivett to slide through, opening the door for Rory to make a pass of his own. He slid to the inside in the #13 car into Tarzan hairpin and claimed 4th. However, after a less than sporting gesture Laddell tapped the rear end of Collingbourne into the next chicane, sending Rory into the gravel and back down the order. In a matter of metres, Rory was back on the chase, claiming his first victim in the form of championship contender Ashley Sutton to the inside of turn one. Thomas Grundy was next, with Rory moving to the inside at Gracelands. Grundy then lost control of his Clio under braking and hit the rear bumper of Collingbourne, forcing the latter wide and allowing Ashley Sutton an opportunity to re-pass. The two made contact again at the final chicane, and whilst Rory maintained his position ahead of Sutton, George Jackson took full advantage to overtake them both. More incidents further up meant that, as a result of keeping a clean nose through all the carnage, Rory had now made his way back through the field to 6th position. Rory then chose to repay a favor to his team-mate George Jackson. With Ashley Sutton in front charging towards the Team Cooksport driver, Rory put Sutton under as much pressure as possible in order to allow his team-mate the chance to extend his advantage. The two even made contact in the final corner, with Rory ending up in the wall as a result. Holding the car together, he limped over the line to claim his second top six finish of the weekend.
“We made some changes to the car before the race and in the warm up lap I could already feel the car was on form. There was a fantastic balance and I was able to get a really sharp turn in to the corners. Team Cooksport definitely did a good job there!”
“I had to work my way back through after Charlie Laddell pushed me off the track on purpose, which he’s received penalty points for. Then I had a good scrap with Sutton, there was a bit of contact here and there but overall it was good, close and aggressive racing by both of us, trying to get that position.”
“We were both quick at the time and closing in on the top four, but I saw my team-mate George Jackson in fourth, which at the time I thought was third because I couldn’t see how far ahead Whorton-Eales was. We could have caught him up, we would have had the pace if I wasn’t attacking Sutton, but I felt it was the right thing to do as in the first race he backed everyone up in the safety car lap. On the last lap, I went for the outside line into the last chicane, I hit the kerb and caused my steering to bend. On the exit, we both had severely damaged cars trying to have a drag race to the end and we made contact on the way out. I hit the wall and lost 5th position on the straight. It was a very enjoyable race and it was good to see myself battling with the top runners in the championship.”
As the championship heads into it’s final two meetings, Rory moves into 7th position in the Drivers Championship with a total of 175 points, the deficit to Jack Mitchell in front standing at 27 points. In the Graduate Cup, Rory remains in a solid 4th position and has just 8 points to claw back from Mitchell in this category. Team Cooksport move into 2nd position in the Entrants Trophy but the title is all but Team Pyro’s for this season.
Rory Collingbourne heads next to the iconic and world-famous Silverstone circuit to contest the eighth meeting of the campaign on the National configuration of the venue. With the championship starting to reach it’s conclusion, every result will be crucial for Wales’ latest motorsport prospect as he looks to lay solid foundations ahead of a championship challenge next season. As always, the race on Sunday 27th September will be televised live on ITV4 and in HD.
“I’ve been to Silverstone many times, I do like it in the wet conditions round there, so maybe it could rain and that will help us out! It’s a very good track, it’s important to get good exits from the corners and I’m looking forward to it.”
