Westbourne Motorsport will look to secure their first race victory of the 2018 Michelin Clio Cup Series season at Rockingham Motor Speedway this weekend [14-15 April].
The team arrives at the Northamptonshire venue in a positive frame of mind following last months season opener at Silverstone.
Experienced campaigner Ben Colburn was unlucky not to open his title assault with silverware after an unfortunate coming together halted his progress in the first race, and Simon Freeman just held onto the final podium slot in the finale, despite Colburn setting the fastest lap of the race on the penultimate tour as he looked for a way past.
Team-mate and series rookie Ronan Pearson impressed by heading up the second row and leading Westbourne’s charge in qualifying after his graduation from the Junior Saloon Car Championship, and two solid points finishes will have given the youngster invaluable experience as he starts to convert reliability into results.
Finlay Robinson will also similarly look to further his development after damage sustained whilst avoiding another incident ahead curtailed his charge in the second race at the ‘Home of British Motorsport’.
The Vantage Motor Group driver performed well in his first weekend behind the wheel of the 2.0 litre, third generation Clio Cup car and will be in the hunt for another set of strong results this time around.
The same can be said of Tony Verhulst, who showed good pace to keep up with series regulars on his debut last time out.
A mechanical problem forced Sean Thomas to retire from the opening round and prevented him from taking to the grid in the last race at Silverstone, but the Road Series title contender will look to fight back at the circuit on which he made his debut last season, and claimed both class wins.
Darren Geeraerts took the Worthing-based outfits first silverware in the category courtesy of his two third place finishes in the Road Series last time out, and as a result will look to put pressure on Nic Harrison and James Joannou ahead as he hunts down the class lead.
The team also looks forward to welcoming back long-term racer Sarah Franklin to the fold this weekend after the series stalwart had to miss the opening round.
The weekend gets underway with Qualifying at 11:35 on Saturday morning ahead of Race 1 at 14:50, with Race 2 following on Sunday at 15:10.