Saturday 30th May
Glew takes his 6th win from 8 races.
Round 7 & 8 Oulton Park
Qualifying
Having dominated the Friday test session on the 2.2mile Cheshire circuit Glew had high hopes for qualifying on Saturday.
As expected he lead the way topping the time sheets throughout the session until championship rival MacDowall managed to piece together one blistering lap knocking Glew off pole position for race one.
Glew’s consistently quick lap times paid off and his second best lap was easily good enough for him to take pole for race two on Sunday.
Race 1
The lights went out and the 7th Clio Cup race of the season got underway without incident, with all 24 cars making it round the first corner unscathed.
It was immediately apparent that Glew and MacDowall were head and shoulders above the rest of the field as they pulled out a 2 second lead before the end of the opening lap.
The pace of the front pair was so equal that only 300ths of a second covered them for the majority of the race.
Glew soon realised that his pace was so equal to that of MacDowall that he may not be able to make a move to pass him without damaging both cars and possibly ending one or both of their races. With Championship points in mind Glew drove as hard as possible, attempting to push MacDowall in to a mistake.
On lap 4 the distinct green livery of Aron Smith’s car was seen flying towards the barrier at Knickerbrook, resulting in Smith having to retire from the race.
Although Smith is Glew’s team mate his retirement was a welcome site for Glew who was aware that Smith was his closest Championship rival.
The next lap saw Osborne clip the curb at the same place putting his car into a roll before landing upright. Osborne was unhurt, but with debris on the track the Clerk of the Course was forced to deploy the Safety Car.
MacDowall managed to stay ahead of Glew following the restart and made his car as wide as possible as Glew added further pressure in the closing laps of the race.
Glew finally settled for second but took fastest lap securing a new lap record and earning him two bonus points to cap MacDowalls final tally.
Sunday 31st May
Race 2
Glew back on top …
In front of crowds of thousands, both at the circuit and at home watching on ITV4, Glew - who has yet to start a race away from the front row lined up on the grid as pole-sitter with MacDowall alongside him.
As the lights went out on the sun-soaked circuit, it was Glew who made the best start to lead the field into Old Hall followed by MacDowall and Robinson.
Glew started to pull away and looked to be making light work of the race until he locked up entering Hislop’s on lap two forcing him to cut across the grass and allowing MacDowall to close right up.
Despite being in the midst of their own battle Glew and MacDowall once again demonstrated their superior pace by pulling away from the rest of the field with relative ease.
As the leading pair of Glew and MacDowall continued to battle, lap 8 saw mid field runners Herron, Tordoff and Dickenson go three abreast exiting Island Bend. With neither driver willing to yield, contact was made with Tordoff and Dickenson going into the tyre wall.
With the two damaged cars in dangerous positions the clerk of the course deployed the safety car for the second time this weekend. After one lap behind the safety car the red flag was deployed and the race was cut short.
Although Glew could now breathe a sigh of relief having taken his 6th win of the season, it is always a let down when you do not get to pass the chequered flag in the lead.
Glew had now mirrored MacDowall’s performance this weekend by taking a win and a second place. Glew still managed to extend his Championship lead over MacDowall after earning himself four additional points for claiming fastest lap in both races and a new lap record.
Glew goes in to round 9 leading MacDowall in the Championship standings by 34 points.
After race 2 Glew commented "It has been yet another fantastic weekend and it is great to get my momentum going again. In Saturday’s race I was just waiting for Alex to make a mistake but it never came.
I was conscious that I need to think about scoring championship points and not taking unnecessary risks.
I knew I had the pace to win race two and the race went well apart from the lock up at Hislop’s which I am sure kept the crowd on the edge of their seats!"
Once again Phil Glew would like to thank each of his sponsors DAS, WD-40, 3 in 1, STMC, MayContain.com and Edge for their support.
Phil hopes that he successfully entertained STMC, WD-40 and 3in 1 who all attended Oulton Park at the weekend.
Rounds 9 and 10 of the 2009 ELF Renault Clio Cup take place at North Yorkshire’s Croft circuit on 13th/14th June.
Copyright 2009 Philip Glew | Internet Design by Artsgraphica