Beckenham’s Ed Pead arrived at Silverstone holding a slender two-point lead in the 2004 ELF/BTE Lawline Renault Clio Cup. After two emphatic drives, he left on Sunday night having extended that advantage to 40 points.

The single qualifying session was held on a damp but drying track and these conditions always produce something of a lottery, with the last person over the line at the end often setting the pole position time. Pead was at the top of the times for all of the session and his time would have been good enough for pole but for a red flag stoppage with only five minutes remaining. This allowed a little longer for the track surface to dry out even more and when the cars were allowed back out for the final few minutes it was Michael Simpson who crossed the line last to snatch the pole away by just 0.028sec, and second fastest time by 0.001sec. As a result, Ed would be starting both races from second on the grid but he wasn’t too concerned by this as he knew that his Mardi Gras Motorsport car was set up well for the Silverstone International Circuit. Also his closest rival in the championship, Paul Rivett would start the races from ninth and fifth respectively.

Track conditions were slippery at the start of round five, and Ed stayed into second place as the cars set off on the first lap. As they went round Copse corner Pead watched as Simpson had to fight the back end of his car on the damp surface, but before he knew it he was doing the same thing! Still on the first lap Pead took the lead of the race, easily passing Simpson at Brooklands. There was a brief Safety Car period on the third lap which bunched the field up, but at the restart Ed got it inch perfect and immediately began to pull away. He was never challenged again and set the fastest race lap on his way to win by over three seconds. “It was a bit hairy at the start, but once I was in the lead it felt ok” said Pead “then, at the restart I got the drop on the others and put in 5 or 6 qualifying style laps to open a gap and that was it, job done!”

Round six turned out to be almost an action replay except that Pead was in the lead earlier on, this time he passed Simpson at Priory and did exactly the same thing - he just pulled away. His cause was helped by the three cars behind him fighting vigorously for second place, but it was a fantastically controlled and confident drive that took him to his third win of the season so far. “I got a much better start that time and once I got past Michael I just pulled away” said a delighted Pead. As for the Championship standings, it was all good news as his nearest rival, Rivett, had crashed out on the first lap.

The next two rounds of the series take place at Oulton Park in Cheshire on May 23rd.