ROUNDS 11 & 12 - Silverstone, Northants July 4th/5th 2009

PODIUM FOR AMERY MOTORSPORT AT A PACKED SILVERSTONE

For rounds 11 and 12 of the ELF Renault Clio Cup, the series visited the ‘Home of British Motorsport’ at Silverstone as part of the ‘World Series by Renault’. The drivers and teams relished the prospect of racing in front of the largest crowds of the season, as over 135,000 spectators attended the two-day event.

Clio regular, Robert Gaffney joined Amery Motorsport for the rest of the season, following David Shepherds decision to pull-out of the championship following the previous Croft event. Rob immediately impressed the team during testing and throughout the weekend and hopes to benefit from sharing data and set-up information with Amery’s front-running driver, Dave Newsham.

Ex-Clio Cup Champion Danny Buxton also joined the team at Silverstone as driver coach and proved an instant hit with drivers and crew alike. Adding his extensive set-up and driving experience to the fold, Danny created a buzz within the team and his input had an immediate effect on the drivers pace, with Clio rookie Darren Wilson finding a large chunk of time around the daunting full GP circuit.

Martin Amery, Team Principal added, “I’m really chuffed that Danny has come on board as driver coach, his input was well received by the drivers and crew and most importantly paid dividends on the track and on the stop-watch.”

Due to three red flags during Friday’s testing, the drivers entered Saturday’s qualifying with only 12 minutes practice under their belts. Newsham ended the session disappointed, with a 7th grid slot for race one and 8th for race two. However Gaffney was pleased with an impressive 6th place for race one, but his second fastest lap was only good enough for 14th place in race two.

With both races on the Sunday, the Amery Motorsport team were hoping all three drivers could stay out of trouble in race one. Unfortunately for Newsham following a great start climbing up to third, his race ended in the gravel at Stowe following a nudge from 2008 champion Winrow. Gaffney enjoyed some great battles throughout the race and ended a respectable 10th and Wilson finished 18th.

Race two saw Amery get their second podium of the season, thanks to a great drive from Newsham, who starting from 8th on the grid drove a stunning race, taking third place on the podium for his efforts. Both Wilson and Gaffney had disappointing races with Rob ending 20th with a single point and Wilson finishing out of the points.

“ With Ex-champion Ben Winrow and multi-race winner Stefan Hodgetts both entering the World Series by Renault at Silverstone, for Dave to take third was a very impressive result. He has the confidence and pace to keep challenging for the remainder of the season to try and finish in the top three in the championship, the whole team will be working hard to help him achieve this”, stated Martin Amery.

You can watch the ELF Renault Clio Cup live on ITV Four and further coverage on Motorsport UK, check programme listings for times.

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