The 2012 AirAsia[1] Renault Clio Cup UK season is a multi-event, one make motor racing championship held across England. The championship features a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded drivers, competing in a Clio Renault Sport 200 that conform to the technical regulations for the championship. It forms part of the extensive program of support categories built up around the BTCC centrepiece.

This season is the 17th Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom season. The season commenced on 31 March at Brands Hatch – on the circuit's Indy configuration – and will conclude on 21 October at the same venue, utilising the Grand Prix circuit, after sixteen races to be held at eight meetings, all in support of the 2012 British Touring Car Championship.

Regulation changes

edit

The only change from 2011 to the technical regulations will be a weight increase of 15 kg (33 lb) to a total minimum weight of 1,165 kg (2,568 lb).[2]

Teams and drivers

edit

A 23-driver entry list was released by series organisers on 20 March 2012.[3][4]

Team No. Drivers Class Rounds
Stancombe Vehicle Engineering 1   Adam Gould[4] 1–3
22   Paul Rivett All
Westbourne Motorsport[2] 2   James Colburn[2] All
10   Ant Whorton-Eales[2] R All
17   Will Davison[5] R All
Scuderia Vittoria[2] 3   James Dixon[6] 1–3
5   Stefan Hodgetts 4–8
7   Vic Covey, Jr.[2] All
8   Finlay Crocker[2] M All
9   Ronnie Klos[2] M All
41   Russell Lee Gordon[2] 1–3
Total Control Racing 3   James Dixon 4–8
28   Nicolas Hamilton[7] All
37   Rob Smith[8] R All
Team Pyro[2] 4   Adam Bonham[4] All
6   David Dickenson 7–8
33   Jack Goff[9] All
88   Kim Andersson[4] R 1–4
99   Josh Files[9] All
Handy Motorsport with Pyro[2] 11   Simon Belcher[2] M All
Juta Racing[2] 13   Tautvydas Barštys[2] 1–6, 8
55   Ignas Gelžinis[2] R All
20Ten Racing 20   Darren Wilson[4] M 1–6
25   Graham Field M 7–8
66   Josh Cook[4] R All
MBR 21   Mike Bushell[3] R All
Silver Fox Racing 27   Mark Tilbury[3] R 1, 5, 8
Finesse Motorsport[10] 31   Aaron Williamson[10] R 1–5
77   Jake Giddings[10] R All
Team HARD. 34   David Grady 5
20Ten/Team HARD. 50   Andy Wilmot 8
Icon Class
M Masters Cup
R Rookie Cup

Race calendar and results

edit

The 2012 calendar supports the BTCC at all rounds, with no major changes from 2011.[2]

Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team
1 R1 Brands Hatch (Indy), Kent 31 March   Josh Files   James Dixon   Jack Goff Team Pyro
R2 1 April   Josh Files   Adam Bonham   Paul Rivett Stancombe Vehicle Engineering
2 R3 Donington Park (National), Leicestershire 15 April   Paul Rivett   Adam Bonham   Paul Rivett Stancombe Vehicle Engineering
R4   Paul Rivett   Kim Andersson   Jack Goff Team Pyro
3 R5 Thruxton Circuit, Hampshire 28 April   Adam Bonham   Josh Files   James Colburn Westbourne Motorsport
R6 29 April   James Colburn   James Dixon   James Colburn Westbourne Motorsport
4 R7 Oulton Park (Island), Cheshire 9 June   Stefan Hodgetts   Jack Goff   Stefan Hodgetts Scuderia Vittoria
R8 10 June   Stefan Hodgetts   Adam Bonham   Stefan Hodgetts Scuderia Vittoria
5 R9 Snetterton (300) Circuit, Norfolk 11 August   Jack Goff   Stefan Hodgetts   Paul Rivett Stancombe Vehicle Engineering
R10 12 August   Jack Goff   Paul Rivett   Paul Rivett Stancombe Vehicle Engineering
6 R11 Rockingham Motor Speedway, Northamptonshire 23 September   Jack Goff   Paul Rivett   Paul Rivett Stancombe Vehicle Engineering
R12   Jack Goff   Paul Rivett   Paul Rivett Stancombe Vehicle Engineering
7 R13 Silverstone (National), Northamptonshire 7 October   Paul Rivett   Adam Bonham   Josh Cook 20Ten Racing
R14   Paul Rivett   Josh Files   Josh Cook 20Ten Racing
8 R15 Brands Hatch (GP), Kent 20 October   Josh Files   Stefan Hodgetts   Stefan Hodgetts Scuderia Vittoria
R16 21 October   Josh Files   Mike Bushell   Stefan Hodgetts Scuderia Vittoria

Championship standings

edit

Drivers' Championship

edit
Pos Driver BHI DON THR OUL SNE ROC SIL BHGP Pen. Pts
1   Jack Goff 1 2 5 1 4 3 2 4 4 4 2 2 11 4 9 6 373
2   Paul Rivett Ret 1 1 3 5 2 Ret 3 1 1 1 1 7 2 Ret 8 354
3   James Dixon 6 6 7 5 6 4 7 6 2 7 3 3 4 3 7 3 2 330
4   Adam Bonham 5 3 2 2 3 21 4 17 21 3 5 7 5 5 5 7 297
5   Josh Cook 10 Ret 8 8 9 6 3 5 6 Ret 4 4 1 1 3 4 287
6   Josh Files 2 4 9 Ret 2 13 5 2 5 5 18 5 6 10 2 Ret 2 268
7   Stefan Hodgetts 1 1 3 2 Ret 8 2 8 1 1 2 239
8   Ant Whorton-Eales 8 5 3 6 10 15 6 7 Ret 13 Ret 12 3 6 Ret 5 208
9   James Colburn 22 7 Ret 4 1 1 Ret Ret 8 Ret 13 6 10 9 16 9 182
10   Ignas Gelžinis 16 12 13 15 12 7 12 Ret 15 10 7 11 8 7 10 15 152
11   Mike Bushell 9 Ret Ret 9 8 Ret 9 Ret 7 18 6 Ret 12 17 6 2 2 146
12   Vic Covey, Jr. 15 9 12 10 13 8 13 9 10 11 15 18 13 15 15 11 140
13   Simon Belcher 17 10 Ret 12 17 12 17 8 13 14 9 10 14 16 14 12 121
14   Jake Giddings Ret Ret 15 16 15 14 14 12 17 8 11 9 18 11 8 10 118
15   Aaron Williamson 3 15 Ret 14 Ret 10 8 10 14 6 99
16   Will Davison 11 Ret 10 11 18 19 10 Ret 19 9 8 17 17 13 12 Ret 2 98
17   Rob Smith 23 8 17 17 16 Ret 11 11 12 Ret 10 15 9 14 18 17 2 97
18   Kim Andersson 7 Ret 6 7 Ret 5 19 13 82
19   Finlay Crocker 18 13 14 18 21 11 Ret Ret Ret 12 12 13 20 18 11 18 74
20   Luke Wright 4 Ret 4 Ret 7 Ret 60
21   Nicolas Hamilton 13 Ret 11 21 14 18 Ret Ret 11 Ret Ret 14 19 Ret 13 16 6 54
22   Darren Wilson 21 11 16 Ret 20 17 16 16 16 17 16 19 46
23   Tautvydas Barštys 20 16 18 20 19 20 15 14 18 15 14 16 21 19 3 46
24   David Dickenson 16 12 4 14 43
25   Ronnie Klos 19 17 19 19 Ret 16 18 15 20 Ret 17 Ret 15 19 19 13 7 40
26   Adam Gould 12 Ret Ret 13 11 9 39
27   Mark Tilbury 14 14 22 16 20 20 21
28   David Grady 9 Ret 12
29   Andy Wilmot 17 Ret 4
30   Graham Field 21 20 22 21 1
Pos Driver BHI DON THR OUL SNE ROC SIL BHGP Pen. Pts
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

References

edit
  1. ^ "AirAsia X gets on board with Renault Clio Cup UK". Renault Sport UK. Renault Sport. 28 February 2011. Archived from the original on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "AirAsia Renault Clio Cup Va Va Vooms into 2012". Renault Clio Cup UK. Renaultsport UK. 27 January 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  3. ^ a b c "Season start for tin top Media Day". Renault Sport UK. Renault Sport. 21 March 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Devine, Richard (20 March 2012). "Bumper 2012 AirAsia Renault Clio Cup Entry List Revealed". BTCC Crazy. James Mappin. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  5. ^ Turner, Kevin (1 March 2012). Bradley, Charles (ed.). "In Brief...". Autosport. 207 (9). Teddington, Middlesex: Haymarket Publications: 84. SaxMax runner-up Will Davison will race in the Renault Clio Cup this season with Westbourne Motorsport.
  6. ^ Turner, Kevin (23 February 2012). Bradley, Charles (ed.). "Dixon to Vittoria for Clio title tilt". Autosport. 207 (8). Teddington, Middlesex: Haymarket Publications: 82.
  7. ^ "Hamilton confirms return". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 2 March 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  8. ^ Paice, Simon (8 March 2012). "Rob Smith Joins Clio Cup with TCR". The Checkered Flag. BlackEagleMedia Network. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  9. ^ a b Devine, Richard (27 January 2012). "AirAsia Clio Cup 2012 Picture Beginning To Take Shape". BTCC Crazy. James Mappin. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  10. ^ a b c Turner, Kevin (15 March 2012). Bradley, Charles (ed.). "In Brief...". Autosport. 207 (11). Teddington, Middlesex: Haymarket Publications: 83. Ginetta racers Jake Giddings and Aaron Williamson will both move into the Renault Clio Cup this season with Giddings' family-run Finesse Motorsport team.