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Graves Motorsport’s Nicky Taylor recorded an impressive double victory around the Donington Park Grand Prix circuit on Saturday 14 September, finishing the meeting as the new championship leader.
Qualifying
The battle to be the fastest classed qualifier was a tightly fought affair, with both Taylor and Westbourne Motorsport’s Daire Flock trading times at the top of the classification.
A tremendous 1m46.200s by Flock proved too strong a benchmark for his rivals to best. Taylor came close but would have to settle for second on the grid, finishing the session a mere 0.029s behind the polesitter. LDR Performance Tuning’s Ben Jenkins outqualified championship leader Ben Colburn to start the race in third, with newcomer Jack Wright rounding out the top five.
Flock sealed an excellent session by also securing pole position for the day’s second race, with Taylor again lining up on the front row.
Race One:
Staunch defending from Flock off the line kept the #22 driver in front through the opening corners of Round 7, before Taylor capitalised on a strong end to the opening lap to take the lead. Flock immediately fought back to retake the lead, while his teammate Colburn had rose to third.
Spectators at the circuit were being treated to an exhilarating battle. Just 1.590s separated the field at the five lap mark, with Taylor managing to get the jump on Flock once more. The dueling between the leading duo ensured Colburn and Jenkins remained in close quarters.
Only one lap later, Jenkins had mustered overtakes on both Colburn and Flock. In the same time, Taylor had amassed a small buffer to the chasing classed runners. Flock fought back to reclaim second place, but was unable to hunt down and prevent Taylor from taking a third victory of the season.
Ben Jenkins claimed an inaugural Clio Cup GB podium, finishing ahead of two Westbourne Motorsport drivers - Colburn and Wright.
Race Two:
Just as he had in the day’s opening race, Flock fought off charging rivals at the start of Round 8 to maintain his lead. Again the battle at the top was incredibly tight, as less than 0.652s separated Flock and Taylor over the line for the first six laps.
A fast-starting Wright put pressure on the cars in front, but Colburn saw off the challenge to maintain third and simultaneously keep within striking distance of the leading pair. Flock’s resolute defence was eventually breached into the Melbourne Hairpin when Taylor managed to get past.
Flock set about retaking the lead immediately, heaping the pressure onto Taylor. Colburn and Jenkins both remained in close proximity to add to the intensity of the situation, with all drivers knowing that any mistake could cost them dearly.
The battle went right to the wire. As the classed runners crossed the finish line, only 0.201s separated the front two. Taylor had seen off the challenge to take his second win of the day, with Flock having to settle for second.
Colburn fought off Jenkins to take third by a similar margin, with Wright rounding out his Clio Cup GB debut with another fifth-place finish.
Rewatch both races on the MSVT Racing YouTube channel.
The championship returns on September 28, at Oulton Park, for the penultimate meeting of the 2024 season.