For Immediate Release
10/10/2012
Shenstone’s Ant Whorton-Eales, had a successful weekend at Silverstone last weekend.
He claimed his second podium of the year, along with a sixth place finish in the Air Asia Renault UK Clio Cup.
Picture Credit: Jakob Ebrey
There were early signs in Friday practice that Whorton-Eales could be one to watch, as he took third place in the first free practice session in the morning.
Qualifying saw the teenager claim seventh and ninth place for Sunday’s two races with his best time a 1:05.564 and his second best a 1:05.757. The field was tightly bunched with the top 20 in qualifying separated by under a second.
The 18 year old, BRDC Rising Star, started the first race from seventh place but a fantastic start from the KX Akademy finalist, saw him gain positions on the first lap as he passed Paul Rivett and Josh Files.
Whorton-Eales fought his way up and on lap five, he set the fastest lap of the race at that point, as he pushed forward to gain on the cars in front of him.
Whorton-Eales fought his way up to third place after a terrific move on James Dixon coming into Copse corner, showing great bravery and determination. Whorton-Eales then spent the next few laps defending as Dixon, Adam Bonham and Josh Files pressurised him.
Towards the end of the race the impetus changed to attacking with Josh Cook and Stefan Hodgetts fighting for the lead. With three laps to go Whorton-Eales found himself side by side with Hodgetts as they raced down the Wellington Straight. However, he could not quite make the move stick round the outside.
The chequered flag saw scenes of jubilation on the Westbourne Motorsport pit wall as Whorton-Eales took his second podium of the year and matched his career best Clio Cup position from earlier in the season at Donington. The result was also good enough for second in the Rookie Cup.
The second race, televised live on ITV4 saw Whorton-Eales start ninth, and he once again gained positions to find himself in sixth place. The second race saw the drivers a lot more conservative than in the first race. Despite his best efforts to try and pass Bonham he was unable to, as the first six crossed the line with just 1.4 seconds separating them. Whorton-Eales showed his credentials around the Silverstone National circuit even further, setting the fastest lap in the race out of the Rookie Cup category, which he again took second place in.
Whorton-Eales also had a lot of praise for the team, “I would like to thank Liam Ross, my chief mechanic, and all the others from Westbourne for the hard work that they put in again for me this weekend, a third and a sixth is certainly not a bad weekend’s work and it has been one of the best weekends of the season for me. I would also particularly like to thank my sponsors SSFT and One-Lux for their continuing and enthusiastic support.
Next weekend (20th/21st October) sees the final two races of the Clio Cup season. Ant Whorton-Eales has had a very promising first full season in the Clio Cup. Whorton-Eales is seventh overall and leads experienced team mate James Colburn by 23 points. The Rookie Cup campaign has also seen Whorton-Eales in fierce competition and he has 53 points on Ignas Gelzinis for second place. With Brands Hatch GP being a track Whorton-Eales likes and has excelled at before, could he be saving his best result until last?