RORY COLLINGBOURNE – DONINGTON PARK PREVIEW
Rory Collingbourne heads to the second round of the 2016 Renault Clio Cup UK at Donington Park this weekend on the crest of a wave after a positive mid-week test session at Thruxton and a wealth of positives to take from the series opener at Brands Hatch a fortnight ago.
Despite recording finishes of 13th and 19th, Collingbourne was consistently on the pace of the race leaders throughout the weekend, demonstrating just how difficult overtaking can be in a field of twenty-three identical one-make Clio Cup machines. His team-mate Lee Pattison went on the win the second of those two races, demonstrating what could have been for Rory had his qualifying not been hampered by a broken damper on his car in the lead up to the session.
Both Collingbourne and his race-winning engineering team at Team Cooksport headed to the notoriously challenging Thruxton circuit in midweek along with the rest of the championship entrants for an official test day, in which the drivers and teams were faced with changeable weather conditions in addition to the high-speed nature of the circuit and it’s unique challenges regarding tyre degredation and management.
In the wet, Collingbourne topped the timesheets with apparent ease, sailing round the Hampshire venue to a time of 1:29.918s. As a dry line began to emerge, Rory remained at the sharp end of the field and eventually finished the second free practice session in a commendable third amongst a number of certified championship contenders and experienced professionals alike.
The MSA Academy athlete, who is backed by Newport Auctions, Add Energy and Europa Group among other loyal sponsors, will now head to the venue of the 1993 European Grand Prix for another two action-packed, closely fought contests on the support package for the British Touring Car Championship, with the races televised live on ITV4 and in HD.
The Newport-based racer is confident heading into the weekend that, on an engineering and a competitive front, both he and the team are ready to make amends for the slightly bumpy start to the new season.
“We’re in a good place heading to Donington” summarised Rory “We know exactly what we want from the car, in terms of its setup, and it’s a circuit I always run very well at. We proved at Brands Hatch we had the pace to compete with the front-runners, if we can avoid any hitches in qualifying like we had two weeks ago, then we should be at the front end of the field where we deserve to be.”
“The mid-week test at Thruxton was very positive, and it just re-inforced to us just how much potential both me and the car have as a package. It was certainly nice to be giving the established championship contenders something to think about, and the fact the weather kept changing just shows we can produce the goods on a wet or a dry circuit – and there is a big difference!”
“I’d like to thank my sponsors as always – Newport Auctions, Add Energy, Europa Group and countless others, hopefully this weekend we can push on and get a good result for them and
