Startline clutch problems and a badly misted windscreen made Ollie Pidgley’s latest outing in the Renault UK Clio Cup at Rockingham over the weekend, 27th/28th August, one of his most challenging of the year – but the series rookie still managed to almost break into the coveted top 10.
Showcasing strong pace during the pre-event test day, the 18-year-old from Downton headed into the race weekend itself in confident mood. Frustratingly, though, neither of the weekend’s races went according to plan.
Heavy rain combined with a particularly warm ambient temperature, at the start of round 13 on Saturday afternoon, led to the windscreen of the No.3 Ciceley Motorsport car badly misting. Forcing a pit visit at the end of the first lap, Pidgley lost a significant amount of time and went on to finish the race in 12th position.
Sunday’s contest, round 14, took place in the dry but hopes of converting a sixth row starting slot into a potential season-best result went awry as the lights went out when the MAC Tools-backed driver’s Clio refused to budge from the line.
Eventually managing to overcome an issue with clutch, which meant he finally got going well over 20 seconds behind the rest of the pack, Pidgley raced strongly and managed to slice his way through the order into 11th place at the finish.
“Race two was actually a really good race”, he said, “At the start it probably looked like I stalled but we think there was a problem with the clutch, I had it all the way down to the floor while waiting for the lights but the car stalled itself. When I went to try and start again, the clutch wouldn’t disengage so it really messed things up and meant we were a long way down.
“At least we had a Safety Car, which gave me chance to catch up all the time we lost, and then I had to pick off as many as I could – there were some good battles. In the end, instead of starting 12th and having a chance of moving forward into a good position, we started 18th and with about a 30 second deficit to the rest. Anything we did, though, was going to be an improvement on race one!”
Pidgley prepared very strongly for the race weekend during the dry test day on Friday, 26th August, and ended session one inside the outright top six, having lapped in the top three, and went on to finish the afternoon run in the top 10 to cap a very encouraging day’s work.
Qualifying on Saturday morning was ultra-competitive as always and although only half a second shy of the top three, the Wiltshire driver had to be satisfied with the 14th fastest lap time – fourth of the Graduate Cup class competitors.
Worsening weather throughout the day ultimately resulted in some torrential downpours across Northamptonshire, and round 13 of the Clio Cup therefore marked Pidgley’s first experience of a wet race in his MAC Tools liveried fourth generation Renault.
Unsurprisingly, the opening lap was a particularly busy affair in the challenging conditions but the task was made even harder when the windscreen misted badly. Following an enforced pit-stop he held 15th place and although rapidly closing down the pack ahead the gap was still significant.
Even so, incidents for a couple of rivals enabled Pidgley to climb his way through into the top 12 with a couple of laps to go and he then set about challenging George Jackson. On the final lap as the pair diced at Deene Hairpin both went wide and while Pidgley did get ahead of Jackson, their delay allowed a recovering Anton Spires to move past and so Pidgley stayed in 12th spot, fifth Graduate.
For round 14 in the dry on Sunday afternoon, the issue with his clutch meant Pidgley was stranded on the grid for quite some time before he was able to join the action. As a result of a multi-car tangle at Chapman Curve, though, the Safety Car was called into action so the Wiltshire racer was able to catch the back of the pack before the re-start.
When the action resumed on lap four Pidgley held 16th overall and by mid-distance he was into 13th position and battling hard with Anton Spires. Moving into the top 12 on lap eight at Yentwood, Pidgley then pressured Luke Kidsley and managed to get ahead into 11th place on lap 14 of 16.
Next on the Renault UK Clio Cup schedule is a trip across Northamptonshire to Silverstone National Circuit, near Towcester, over the weekend 17th/18th September.
Provisional Renault UK Clio Cup Driver Standings (after Rd14):16th Ollie Pidgley, 97pts
Provisional Renault UK Clio Cup Graduate Cup Standings (after Rd14):4th Ollie Pidgley, 283pts
