After almost two months off and no testing everyone in the2004 ELF/BTE Lawline RENAULT Clio Cup couldn’t wait to get going, and it showed, as eight cars piled up into the first corner in Race one.

In Friday’s practice session it was Scotland’s Jonathon Adam who set the pace. Pead meanwhile was hovering around the sixth mark only four tenths away from Adam. Pead commented “We’ve struggled a little with set up but we’re going to change it for qualifying as we need to be at the sharp end of the grid for the race.”

Croft wasn’t its usual sweltering sunny day for Saturday qualifying, instead dark clouds loomed above threatening showers at any time. Pead didn’t hang back and it was straight to pole from the off. Adam stepped infront a few laps later and Paul Rivett slotted into second. On Pead’s sixth lap he came in for new tyres and on his first flying lap went a mighty seven tenths quicker then he did in practice. Although Adam and Rivett also went slightly quicker and it was Ex-Mini Champion Ian Curley who also edged in front of Pead dropping him down to fourth, “I’m a little closer than I was in practice yesterday so I’ll look to go even closer in the race” said an upbeat Ed.

Race one was going to go as nobody expected it, or as nobody had hoped with a red flag and 2 safety car incidents. It was Curley who made an astonishing start and was in front going into the first corner only to be tapped by Rivett which sent him barrel rolling into the gravel and Rivett into the tyre wall. The race was stopped, Curley was dragged out and Rivett’s car panels were taped up on the grid for the restart. Pead got away cleanly but was out-run into the first corner by Jim Edwards Jnr, but returned the favour into Tower at the end of the back straight slotting into fourth behind Nick Adcock. On the second lap Adcock made a mistake through the ultra scary chicane leading onto the back straight and the momentum of Pead left him no option but to brave a move round the outside with two wheels on the grass and into third position. Pead started chasing down the two in front and a pace car on the fifth lap bunched everyone back up again. It was Adcock who tried to find a way past Pead but their battle let Adam and Rivett pull away. Into the last lap Pead defended but unfortunately hit a kerb at the chicane and popped him up onto two wheels allowing Adcock to dive through to third. Pead said “I don’t know what happened, I hit the same kerb the same time every lap and on the last lap it knocked me up, strange it was.”

An “Extraordinary Drivers Briefing” was called by the Clerk of the Course to talk about the driving standards of the Clio drivers. As a result the start of race two would see absolutely no contact into the first corner. It was Curley again who got into the lead ahead of Rivett and Adam. Pead had a slightly mild start ending the first lap in ninth. On lap two on the exit of Tower two cars collided moving Pead to seventh. Then a couple of laps later the title contenders Rivett and Adam touched and both flew off the circuit promoting Pead to fifth. Pead closed down on Vince Martin and made a move into the hairpin and into fourth. Second and third placed Edwards Jnr and Adcock where a couple of seconds ahead and as they began to fight for second Pead charged up behind them and made it a three way fight. “I saw Adam and Rivett go off so I was in two minds whether to attack. I really wanted to get to second but I didn’t want to crash trying” Pead said after the race. Ian Curley won the race and was awarded quote of the week “There was a bit of gravel falling out of the roof and hitting me on the head, but apart from that I was fine”. Pead continued “I’ve had two steady results this weekend and I’ve increased my lead, my aim is to go to Knockhill in a couple of weeks and take two wins to increase it further”. The Clerk of the Course had deemed Adams move on Rivett too harsh and subsequently excluded him from the race. Adam commented “It was my mistake I tried to avoid him. I’m not a dirty driver and never have been. I hope they’re going to be completely fair, if they excluded me the judges are going to have to exclude a lot of other people”.

Pead now leads the championship by sixteen points to Paul Rivett with Adam a further twenty seven points a drift.

The series continues at Knockhill on Aug 8th.

 

.