It was a visit to the quickest track on the calendar for Stockport’s Kyle Hornby, as the Renault UK Clio Cup visited Thruxton for the latest Rounds of the 2017 Championship.
Hornby, in his first season behind the wheel of his 20Ten by Pyro, Renault Clio, setting eighteenth and twenty-first fastest times for the Series’ two Races at the Hampshire track. With average lap speeds just a little under 100mph.
Under sunny skies, and in front of a bumper crowd, Kyle, a former Poynton High School student , made a great start to Race One, claiming three places on the opening lap, and despite losing a spot a lap later to Myles Collins, Hornby grabbed the place back two laps later, from Collins.Two laps later Hornby was back down to sixteenth, but wasted no time nicking two places a lap later from both Collins and Luke Reade, leaving him in fourteenth spot. The Hazel Grove youngster would hold on until the flag, as the pack behind battled for places, crossing the line just seven-tenths of a second ahead of Lucas Orrock [who was back following his huge roll at Donington Park last time out] after twelve laps. Up front it was left to Pyro’s Mike Bushell to win, having taken pole, and a new lap record too, incidentally the fastest UK Clio Cup Race speed, ever.
A much reduced-distance second Race was red-flagged just two corners in , as a multi-car accident at Thruxton’s Allard series of curves, caused the contest to be stopped to recover the cars. Hornby taking avoiding action to make his way around the ensuing incident.
With just ten minutes on the clock, there would only be time for a six lap dash to the flag, Hornby climbing to fifteenth early on left it late, clinching two places on the final lap of the encounter, crossing the line in thirteenth place, this time just seven-tenths of a second ahead of teammate Oliver Pidgley – Kyle was subsequently promoted to twelfth position, with Reade given a thirty second penalty for jumping the Race start.
This time is was James Dorlin taking the Race win, nicking it as from Bushell as they crossed the line, by 67-thousandths of a second, again illustrating the closeness of the UK Clio Cup.
Next time out Hornby moves on to his ‘home’ track of Oulton Park, in Cheshire, for Rounds 7&8 of the 2017 Series on the 20/21 May.