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| Race Report - Rounds 9 & 10 - Croft | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Troubled weekend checks Paul's championship challenge The first of the weekend's two Elf Renault Clio Cup races took place on Saturday afternoon. Paul lined up third on the grid, behind the TCR pairing of Nick Adcock and championship rival Tom Onslow-Cole. After an opening lap scramble that saw Nick Adcock take the lead of the race, Paul settled into third position. The pair at the front already had a healthy lead by the end of the first lap, and were able to break away from the pack behind. Paul's attention turned quickly to defending from Mark Speller behind him. Speller made assorted attempts to find a way past Paul, which resulted in bodywork rubbing on the rear left wheel of Paul's Clio. The rubbing panel slowed Paul down, and eventually caused the tyre to puncture. It left Paul with no option but to pit, ending his hopes of a strong finish. Even after the pitstop, Paul was able to rejoin the race and pick up some points by finishing in 13th position. Following the race, Paul said, "Speller hit me up the back, which did some damage to the rear of the car and started the bodywork rubbing. Eventually it wore all the way through and caused a puncture. I went back out and managed to score some points, but it's not exactly what I was hoping for." Sunday's race saw Paul start fifth and that's where he was going into the first corner, until his Boulevard Team Racing Clio was turned around by Michael Doyle. "Doyle hit me at the first corner", said Paul. "I managed to catch it and get going again, but I'd already lost time by then. I still enjoyed the race though, it was a good battle." Throughout the rest of the race, Paul fought off the advances of Robert Lawson behind him, going on to finish fifth. On the weekend as a whole, Paul said, "We didn't get any testing time because the car broke before the session, so we've been on the back foot all weekend really. It's been the worst weekend of the year for us." "I think the championship is over for us now. I guess you can't win them all! At least it means we can go out and have some fun for the rest of the season." "We haven't had the best of luck this year, but I'm still giving it everything every time I go out in the car. Hopefully we'll get some wins in the remaining races and not let them have it all their own way." Rounds 11 & 12 of the 2006 Elf Renault Clio Cup take place at Donington Park over the weekend of 29th/30th July. |
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