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| Race Report - Rounds 16 & 17 - Donington Park | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2nd place for Paul at Donington Park With the disappointment of the Brands Hatch race firmly behind him, Paul capped an action packed weekend of racing with a podium finish in the second race at Donington Park. Having battled with Oli Wilkinson for the second time in two races, Paul claimed 2nd position with just a few laps of the Leicestershire circuit remaining. The reigning Elf Clio Renaultsport UK Cup champion has suffered throughout the weekend with an engine that has been down on power. After the damage caused last time out at Brands Hatch, he was in a fresh Team Boulevard Racing Clio, which ran for the first time this year in the practice sessions on Thursday. The result was a difficult qualifying session which ended with Paul taking 7th and 5th on the grid for the weekend's two races. In the first race of the weekend, on Saturday afternoon, Paul's 4th row start was enough to ensure he avoided the first lap incident that ended the race for a number of drivers just behind him. Having passed Matt Allison, Paul focused on catching the lead group who were engrossed in a terrific battle for the top few positions. His task was not made any easier by the engine problem that slowed him slightly throughout the weekend. Paul explains: "I was slightly down on power - only a mile or two an hour. It's not a big problem but it just means that I got in the slipstream of another car and where normally I'd be able to overtake them, I just sat there and they gradually edged away. At the end of the straight I would just slightly catch them again. Normally you just whiz by them like that" Despite the horsepower deficit, Paul finished the race in fifth position, having only lost out on fourth to Oli Wilkinson when passed under what he felt to be yellow flag conditions. Sunday morning brought race two, and with heavy rain predicted, Paul's hopes were high. When it came to the race however, the downpour did not emerge and there was another dry race on the cards. An early crash at the Craner Curves brought out the safety car ensuring the field stayed bunched up. When racing resumed, Paul showed the talent that won him the 2002 title, fighting to finish in second place despite the engine gremlins. He commented: "To have a 2nd place with a car that's not performing perfectly is great. It's not the team's fault; it's not something the team have done wrong. It's a different car from [the one we used at] Brands. We had the problem since the start of the weekend and we all sat down and decided to stick with it. We're not here racing for the championship so we thought 'let's just ride it out'. I'm over the moon with that one." With a pair of top five finishes, the outlook for the final round of the season at Oulton Park is bright. "Hopefully we'll get a win next time", said Paul. "It would be nice to end the season with a good result for the team. We'll be gunning for it at Oulton Park that's for sure! You can never know what's going to happen in racing though. It's great to be back, I'm loving it!" The race takes place on Sunday 21 September, at Oulton Park, Cheshire. |
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