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Ben Colburn and Nicky Taylor shared the spoils as the 2024 Clio Cup Great Britain Championship got underway at Brands Hatch last weekend (Saturday 1 June).
The historic Grand Prix circuit hosted two different generations of the iconic Renault hatchback, as Clio Cup action returned to the UK under the stewardship of MotorSport Vision Trackdays (MSVT).
Qualifying:
Daire Flock set the pace in the opening qualifying session of the year with an emphatic lap time of 1m42.581s to take pole by over half a second. The Westbourne Motorsport driver set the early pace before Ben Colburn moved head midway through the session, but Flock fought back late on to set a new benchmark time which wouldn’t be beaten.
Colburn was rewarded for his efforts with pole position for the later race however, with his second best qualifying lap enough to secure first on the grid by just seven thousandths of a second. Graves Motorsport’s Nicky Taylor rounded out the top three fastest Clio V II qualifiers for both races.
Behind that, GEN4 driver Leonardo Panayiotou qualified fastest of the Guest class cars for both races. Apple Car Centre’s Ray Honeybone and Team Norfolk’s Kevin Stirling were set to start both races second and third in class respectively after qualifying.
Race One:
A tremendous start from Taylor allowed the Graves Motorsport driver into the lead in the opening race. A quickfire double overtake on Colburn and Flock ensured his Clio was at the head of the pack as they streamed onto the Grand Prix loop for the first time.
Nothing separated the leading trio as they completed Clio Cup GB’s first ever race lap, with Flock right on Taylor’s tail. An epic battle then ensued in the laps that followed, with both Westbourne Motorsport drivers piling on the pressure. However, Taylor defended magnificently as the top-three repeatedly crossed the start/finish line just a second apart.
Ultimately, neither of the pursuers could do anything to take the lead though, allowing Taylor to become the first ever winner in Clio Cup GB. Flock and Colburn crossed the line second and third to complete the podium after an entertaining race-long fight.
Panayiotou produced a commanding display in his GEN4 car to finish ahead of Honeybone and Stirling in the guest class.
Race Two:
In the second race, Colburn led immediately after producing a strong getaway from pole position. Flock just about managed to defend second position from Taylor, despite the race one winner’s best efforts to make early progress. As the chasing duo fought for second, this allowed Colburn to build something of a buffer.
On lap seven, a small mistake from Flock opened the door for Taylor to take second place. But roles were reversed almost immediately as Taylor ran wide on the woodland Grand Prix section of the lap to reclaim the position. This ongoing scrap enabled Colburn to push on to an impressive victory, with Flock ultimately fending Taylor off to complete a Westbourne Motorsport one-two.
In the GEN4 fight, Honeybone edged out Panayiotou following a barnstorming race-long fight. Honeybone crossed the line just 0.295s ahead of his rival with Stirling once again rounding out the top-three in the Guest class.
In both races it was Westbourne Motorsport drivers who set the fastest lap, with Colburn and then Flock taking turns at setting the pace.
Clio Cup GB will return to action around the Anglesey Coastal circuit on 13 July.