Knockhill Circuit in Scotland will provide a fresh new challenge for Renault UK Clio Cup front-runner Brett Lidsey this weekend, when the championship makes its return north of the border.
Marking the 27-year-old MRM racer’s first ever trip to the tight, twisty and undulating Fife track, the ante-penultimate event of the 2019 campaign is guaranteed to be as fiercely contested as any so far this year and Northfleet driver Lidsey is determined to try and hit the ground running.
Last time out at the fastest track on the calendar, Thruxton in Hampshire, the weekend was one of major highs – followed by unexpected lows. After claiming his maiden Clio Cup pole position, Lidsey went on to take what would have been his breakthrough first ever race victory in the championship, were it not for a luckless false-start penalty which demoted him down the order to seventh.
In race two at Thruxton, things went from bad to worse for the Kent-based driver when he collected a rival’s spinning car at one of the fastest parts of the track on lap six, resulting in big damage to the alternator belt of his engine.
With the 2.0-litre Renault powerplant requiring a rebuild, the costs of doing so threatened to curtail Lidsey’s season. Thanks to fantastic support from his sponsors, though, he will travel to Knockhill ready to hit back and mount a bid for more podiums and a return to the championship top three.
“I’ve got to say a massive thank you to the sponsors who helped us to find the budget we needed to repair the engine after Thruxton”, commented Lidsey, “Without that extra support there’s a strong chance we wouldn’t have been going to Knockhill next weekend, so I’m extra-determined to repay the faith all of the sponsors have shown in me and hit back hard in rounds 13 and 14.”
Away from the frustration and eventual disappointment of the Thruxton event, particularly after such a headline-grabbing performance in qualifying, the season as a whole has been outstanding for the second year Clio Cup racer with seven podiums – four second places and three thirds.
While Knockhill is an entirely new challenge, and a unique one at that with no other venue on the calendar anything like the Scottish circuit, Lidsey is confident he will be able to make a strong start to the race weekend in pre-event testing and then challenge for a deserved return to the rostrum.
“Obviously we’re going to Knockhill on the back-foot not knowing the track, but I’m pretty confident we’ll get up to speed in practice and I know the MRM guys will be on top of the set-up”, he added, “It’s always exciting when you’ve got a new challenge, and with the weather often playing a role at Knockhill it could be an unpredictable weekend. Whatever happens, I’m aiming for the podium.”
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