For Immediate Release
Picture Credit: Kingsley Newman
Shenstone’s Ant Whorton-Eales leads the Air Asia Renault Clio Cup’s Rookie Cup, at the halfway point of the season. Whorton-Eales, 18, maintained his lead in the Rookie Cup by 14 points following last weekend’s meeting at Oulton Park.
Friday was a mixed day for the 18 year old BRDC Rising Star, in Cheshire. Friday morning’s session saw the track damp from overnight rain. Whorton-Eales went out on wet tyres to start with but it wasn’t long before he made the decision to put slicks on the front, with the track drying quickly. His decision paid off well and he was up to 2nd place in the SSFT, One-Lux and Westbourne Motors backed car on his first flying lap. Upon seeing this others soon made the same call. The times got quicker as the session went on and Ant was on full slicks by the end finishing in 15th place.
The afternoon session saw torrential rain and it was a frustrating session for Whorton-Eales. The visibility problems that hindered him at Thruxton returned. With Whorton-Eales unable to see, it reduced his session to eight out laps as the team tried to solve the problem.
Qualifying on Saturday saw the track conditions damp, with some nasty puddles off line. Whorton-Eales stepped up to the challenge and qualified the car 10th overall and 4th for the Rookie Cup class. His time of a 1:39.051,was two seconds off pole, showing just how the conditions affected the session.
Round seven on Saturday saw Whorton-Eales make up four places on his starting position. Another great first couple of laps to gain positions, saw him finish in sixth place overall and second in the Rookie Cup class. Whorton-Eales defended brilliantly against James Dixon and Aaron Wiliamson who tried in vain to overtake the Shenstone teenager but failed.
The live ITV4 televised race on Sunday, once again saw progress from Whorton-Eales. Starting in 12th place he had made four places up by the end of the first lap. He would say in 8th for the duration of the race, once again defending well and took home another second place finish in the Rookie Cup to keep up his 100% finish record for this season.
Whorton-Eales was delighted at how the weekend faired “It has been another good weekend really, two finishes and another two second places in the Rookie Cup. We are consistently scoring points and that is the main thing. Westbourne Motorsport are giving me a great car and I have to thank them for that. An overall podium, leading the Rookie Cup and being sixth overall at the half way point is certainly not a bad place to be. I would also like to thank my sponsors for their continued support.”
There is now an eight week break before the next two rounds at Snetterton in Norfolk, at the beginning of August. Ant will be going all out to try and claim a second successive title, as he hopes to add the Rookie Cup to his Mini Challenge Club Class success of 2011.
Dan Blake
Westbourne Motorsport Press Officer