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It was a fantastic day of racing for Westbourne Motorsport at Anglesey Circuit Trac Môn on Saturday July 13, with drivers Ben Colburn and Daire Flock claiming a race victory apiece.
Trac Môn’s scenic Coastal configuration hosted the third and fourth rounds of the returning Clio Cup Great Britain Championship, with competitors eager to hit the ground running and secure important championship points.
Qualifying
Daire Flock secured pole position last time out at Brands Hatch, but narrowly missed out on a second at Anglesey. His best lap time of 1m16.437s was a mere 0.040s shy of teammate, and polesitter, Ben Colburn. Graves Motorsport’s Nicky Taylor looked quick out of the blocks and set the early benchmark, before Flock and Colburn traded places at the top of the classification.
It was an emphatic session for Colburn, as he secured pole position for Round Four too, courtesy of topping the second fastest lap classification. Flock would join the front row once more, just pipping Taylor by 0.039s.
On championship debut LDR Performance Tuning’s Ben Jenkins qualified fourth for each race, with fellow debutant Jeremy Evans in fifth.
Race One
A tremendous start and opening lap ensured Colburn remained at the front of the field. Flock maintained second despite Taylor’s advances, with Jenkins and Evans holding position behind.
As the race progressed, Flock closed in on his team mate in front, with the gap between the two over the start/finish line comfortably less than one second each lap. The pressure from Flock mounted on Colburn, enabling Taylor in third to start to reel in the leading Westbourne Motorsport duo.
In the penultimate lap of the race, Flock attempted to surpass Colburn into Rocket for the lead. Expert defending kept Colburn in front and put Flock immediately into the clutches of Taylor. Taylor made his move into second, before Flock fought back to reclaim the position. It wasn’t to be for Flock though, as a better exit from Church corner for Taylor on the final lap saw the Graves Motorsport driver decisively through into second.
Meanwhile, the battling had enabled Colburn to amass some slight breathing room up front to claim his second Clio Cup GB victory. It was a tremendous drive from Colburn, emulating the pace he had shown in qualifying prior. Taylor’s second-place finish was hard-earned, while Flock had to settle for third after a spirted performance. Jenkins and Evans finished fourth and fifth respectively, earning their first championship points of the season.
Race Two
Colburn replicated his earlier strong start to again lead the field through the opening lap. Taylor had managed to leapfrog Flock at lights out, but a slight mistake sent Taylor running wide and Jenkins through to third place.
Taylor immediately set about making amends, pushing hard and getting back in front of Jenkins by the end of lap three. Out in front, Flock was once more hot-on-the-heels of race leader Colburn.
Flock was clearly keen to push on and, on the fourth lap, utilised a better exit to surpass Colburn for the race lead.
Colburn was straight back on Flock’s tail, exerting pressure to the leading #22 car. However, Flock defended valiantly to take his maiden Clio Cup GB victory and ensured his strong run of podiums continued. Colburn would come home second, rounding out an impressive day. Taylor closed the gap to the leaders but would ultimately finish third, ahead of Jenkins and Evans in fourth and fifth.
Flock sealed a memorable day with fastest lap in both races.
Clio Cup GB returns next month for Rounds 5 & 6 of the championship’s inaugural season under the stewardship of MSV Trackdays, at Snetterton on August 11.