Rory Collingbourne heads to Thruxton buoyed by testing form
Newport’s Rory Collingbourne heads to the third meeting of the 2016 Renault Clio Cup UK in confident form as the championship makes its way to the notoriously challenging Thruxton circuit in Hampshire for another brace of action-packed contests.
Billed as the ‘fastest circuit in the UK’, Thruxton presents a number of unique challenges for the drivers and engineers, not least in the special compound tyre required for the meeting due to the circuit’s abrasive track surface. In addition, the Hampshire venue features some of the fastest corners in the country, such as the infamous flat-out left hander at Church and the sequence of corners in Sector One that are aptly nicknamed ‘the Complex’.
Collingbourne and Team Cooksport endured a promising weekend at Donington Park, after turning around the disappointment of qualifying with a brace of strong points finishes on Sunday in front of a large crowd trackside and the regular ITV audience at home. Starting 19th and 20th respectively in both races, Rory stormed through to claim 11th and 9th, which saw him elevate himself to 12th overall in the championship after four races.
Thruxton holds extra cause for optimism for the 18 year old, however, after he topped the timesheets during wet weather conditions in a championship test day at the circuit a few weeks ago. Electing to miss the initial part of the session to analyse the performance of his closest rivals, Collingbourne then took to the circuit and shot to the lead of the field on his first flying lap. Even when the track surface dried and the times began to tumble, the series sophomore remained in a very strong third amid several championship contenders and former winners.
As well as this, Thruxton was a central part of the Newport Auctions, Add Energy and Europa Group athlete’s pre-season testing programme, with a number of miles clocked around the 2.1 mile track over the course of the winter. Bearing all these factors in mind, the team are expectant of a strong pair of results this weekend. As always the racing is live on Sunday via ITV4 and in HD.
“I can’t wait to get to Thruxton” admitted Collingbourne “We proved ourselves around there at the last test day, and we’re confident.”
“For qualifying, that’s going to be crucial. It’s nice to go into a session knowing I’m fully capable of putting together an optimum lap and getting the result we’re all after, which is of course pole position.”
“Even in the drying conditions, we remained as high as third, so I’ve got every reason to be in
