ROUNDS 5 & 6 - Donington Park, Leicestershire - May 3rd/4th 2008

DRAMA & DAMAGE AT DONINGTON

Amery Motorsport were eagerly awaiting rounds five and six at Donington Park in Leicestershire, only a one hour trip from their Congleton base and a circuit they all know very well, having tested there many times before.

Running father and son duo, Jonathan and David Shepherd in the 2008 ELF Renault Clio Cup for their second season, the team are encouraged as both drivers have progressed well recently, so confidence was high in the Amery camp. But as the weekend unfolded, confidence was replaced with frustration as Jonathan suffered two major crashes, whilst David had problems in qualifying, which hampered his chances of a top six finish.

Having set the pace in testing on the Thursday prior to Saturdays qualifying session, David was confident as he left the pits to start his flying laps in his half hour qualifying run. Meanwhile Jonathan, after coming in to swap his tyres after a few warm-up laps for optimum tyre temperature, set off on his flying laps. Unfortunately Jonathan pushed too hard, too early and dropped a tyre off the edge of the kerb exiting the ‘Esses’ which pitched the car backwards at high speed in to the concrete pit wall, causing major damage and resulting in the red flags being waved and the session stopped.

David set-off as the session was restarted in the hope of a top six grid slot. However, unlike on the test-day, the car would not respond due to a slightly damaged steering arm and David suffered handfuls of understeer through ‘Redgate’ and ‘Coppice’ corners leaving him a disappointed 18th and 16th on the grid for the two races to follow.

Race one, was late on Saturday afternoon and it was touch and go whether Jonathans car would be fixed in time. It was a frenzy of activity in the awning as the whole team set-about trying to get Jonathans car back to as near its original shape as possible. Needing the help of a hydraulic ram tool to push the rear corner of the car out, they managed to get the car sorted, after replacing; rear axle, suspension, exhaust, boot lid, spoiler and bumper. With just minutes to spare and much to the surprise of everyone in the paddock, car number 21 proudly lined up on the grid, aided by several rolls of Gaffa tape.

Race one saw David forced into the gravel through no fault of his own and ending his race on the very first lap. Jonathan meanwhile with a car that was now a little shorter than it was previously, did his best to finish in 22nd place overall.

Large crowds descended on Donington on the Sunday and Amery’s sponsors ALP (Auto Legal Protection Services) arrived along with many of their guests and Dom Field (Team Manager) enjoyed a spell away from the spanners to talk to guests and show them around the race cars. The new articulated truck and large race awning, now see Amery Motorsport as one of the most professional teams in the paddock and has proved a winner with the drivers, guests and spectators and has helped raise the whole team, as they establish themselves within the high-profile BTCC package.

For Sunday’s race two, both drivers were hoping for better fortunes and to bag some points. However this time it was Jonathan’s turn to be the victim. After gaining a few places at the start, he was t-boned by a spinning car as he exited ‘McLeans’ corner on the very first lap. Limping back to the pits it was then decided by the team for safety reasons, to call it a day.

David meanwhile was on a mission and quickly settled into a good pace, picking off a few places early in the race. Each time he passed a car he would close on the next and obviously had rediscovered his testing pace. Eventually finishing 11th having started in 16th place David was pleased with his performance, especially when the data showed he was lapping only 0.3 seconds slower than the race winner and championship leader Ben Winrow.

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