Jamie Bond was back on track in the Renault Clio Cup last weekend and the Kent driver excelled in his first weekend in the series.
He came into the weekend with no test time in the Clio’s having made a last minute move from the VW Cup where he is the reigning champion to race the final Clio Cup season with Team Hard.
Speaking to Kent Sports News about not having a drive after Team Hard pulled out of the VW Cup and if he was worried, he said: “I was a little yes I was involved with the decision but we still had a big question mark over where we would head to next.”
The deal was done very last minute to get out on the grid for the remainder of the season in the Clio Cup, Jamie explained how the deal came about.
He added: “It was very last minute myself and Tony at Team Hard chatted about it but we had to one, find a car and two, raise some more budget and between myself Oakleaf Heating, Team Hard and Wrightsure Insurance we made it happen Peter at Oakleaf literally went above and beyond to make this happen and I can’t thank all of them enough it made me a happy man indeed.”
Jamie looked good from the off and in qualifying he was doing well before being demoted to the back of the grid, but this made him determined to prove himself.
“Yes and no I suppose this weekend was just a learning curve for me as we had no previous time in the car where we was finishing wasn’t the best but our pace was front running pace all round.”
Having started in the pit lane for the races, Bond showed that he was very competitive battling to 4th and 8th in the two races, showing he can be competitive in this series, something that gave him a big boost.
He said: “Definitely it was a big boost for me as the VW cup has been the only car and championship I’ve raced in so to come into a new championship with no testing or time in the car I was over the moon for myself team hard racing and my sponsors.
“The racing’s good but I think we need to be further up the front to take full advantage of the great racing the Clio’s produce.”
With no time in the car before the weekend, Jamie will be getting out for some valuable testing as he looks to catch-up on the other drivers in the series.
He added: “We will be yes, the car is going to have a complete overhaul as well and will look very different we will be getting the car out for some testing and to try some different setups as we still don’t know whether we have a good setup for myself and the car.”
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