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RACING SCHOOL INSTRUCTOR MAKES WELCOME PODIUM RETURN
Racing School pace car driver Phil Glew strengthened his grip on third place in the 2008 ELF Renault Clio Cup standings with two podium finishes in rounds nine and 10 at North Yorkshire’s Croft circuit. The 24-year-old, from Tothill near Alford, came home just behind championship leaders Ben Winrow and Paul Rivett in both races to keep himself in the title hunt at the halfway stage of the 20-round season.
Qualifying on Saturday, 31st May saw Phil, who is backed this season by, appropriately given his name, WD-40 along with DAS Business Furniture, STMC Building Control and Denton Associates, line up third on the grid for both races. Round nine was held on Saturday afternoon and Phil looked to immediately gain a place by passing Winrow for second at the Hairpin on the opening lap. There was slight contact between the two as Phil attempted to avoid the back of Winrow’s car as the series leader took a defensive line.
After a brief Safety Car spell, Phil, who races for Full Speed Racing, latched onto the back of race leader Rivett but found the double former champion on top form. Phil lapped consistently within a fraction of the leader’s pace, with a best lap of 1min 33.707s (81.83mph) just one-fifth of a second shy of the fastest lap of the race. He was unable to challenge for the lead but took a strong second place, his first podium appearance since round one at Brands Hatch.
His joy was short-lived, however, when the Clerk of the Course upheld a protest from Winrow about the opening lap manoeuvre and imposed a three-second time penalty to Phil’s race time to reverse their positions to put Phil in third. Commenting after the race, Phil said: “At the end of the race I was delighted to be back on the podium because it’s been a long time coming since Brands Hatch. I don’t think I caused much damage to Ben’s car because I was trying to avoid him but that’s the decision that’s been made.”
Double podium success
Putting the disappointment of the Clerk’s decision behind him, Phil made another strong start to round 10 on Sunday, 1st June. The race had been delayed by two hours due to torrential rain but a dry racing line had emerged for the Clio Cup race. On this occasion, Phil, a former single-seater and GT racer, found himself having to defend third place from Niki Lanik but used all his experience to hold off the Austrian.
Rivett once again took victory ahead of Winrow, who made a mistake to lose the lead and came under pressure on lap eight when Phil set his personal best lap time. Chasing hard to the finish, Phil took the chequered flag one second behind Winrow but a mere 0.308s ahead of Lanik for a well-deserved podium finish.
Commenting on the race, Phil said: “This has been a much better weekend for me with two podiums and I’m really pleased for my team and my sponsors who enable me to do this. It was a great race with Niki all the way through and I was trying everything to shake him off but he just kept on at me so it was a relief to get across the line in the end.”
Rounds 11 and 12 of the 2008 ELF Renault Clio Cup take place in just one week’s time at Silverstone Grand Prix circuit in support of the UK round of World Series by Renault.
