Renault Aftersales Racing completed the latest round of the ELF Renault Clio Cup at Brands Hatch today with Ed Pead ruing an accident that stopped him from taking the start of the 18-lap encounter.

The championship race had to be started on two different occasions such was the carnage out on the damp track. Pead’s weekend was over less than half a mile after the first start. The 30 year-old got a good start from fifth place on the grid and looked strong in the lead group – until the train of cars arrived at Graham Hill Bend.
 
With cars nudging each other for position, Pead was tipped sideways by one of his rivals and spun across the path of the oncoming field. It was inevitable that someone would collide with his stricken Ixell, Ixtar, Rapide Bodycare, RAMB, Renaultp@rts, Motrio and Renault Trade Partner-supported car and when the impact came, it ripped off most of the car’s front end.
 
The incident forced the race to be stopped and with the championship race now running late, organizers ruled that it was in danger of encroaching on the live television slot that had been reserved for the final British Touring Car Championship race that was due to start immediately afterwards. With this in mind, the race was abandoned and the organizers said it would be restarted at the end of the meeting.
 
Although the Renault Aftersales Racing team could have fixed the damage on Pead’s car, he prohibited from taking the restart of the race later in the afternoon because he didn’t complete the opening lap of the original race.
 
Pead described the mood in the Renault Aftersales Racing team as “very positive” and believes better times are just around the corner.
 
“We all know that we are competitive, it’s just that we haven’t had much luck at the last couple of meetings,” he explained. “But we know things will change and we’re going to be going all out to ensure that happens at the next round – the World Series by Renault weekend.”

Be sure to check out the other photos from this years' meetings in the Photo Gallery.