WORTHING racer James Colburn scorched to his fourth podium of the Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup season during round ten of the campaign at Croft on Sunday.

Fourth podium leaves Colburn eyeing the championship
James ColburnJames Colburn
James Colburn

The driver concluded the weekend, in North Yorkshire, just 15 points shy of the top of the driver standings, as well as becoming the new leader of the Graduate Cup class.

Round nine earlier in the day was not too fruitful for the Westbourne Motorsport racer. A first corner melee saw him drop to the tail of the field and an eventual tenth-place finish.

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In the second encounter, he delivered an excellent performance to secure his fourth podium in five races.

Making a good start from fifth on the grid, Colburn rounded the first turn safely this time but the same could not be said for championship rival Josh Cook, who sustained significant damage to the front of his Clio – ultimately leading to retirement later in the race.

Affording Colburn a terrific opportunity to make inroads into Cook’s substantial points lead, the youngster rapidly moved into the top three and applied big pressure to WDE Motorsport driver Paul Rivett.

On lap three, following a good run out of Tower Bend, Colburn managed to usurp the three-time champion for second place with a stunning pass around the outside into the flat-out Jim Clark Esses, before breaking away to finish four seconds clear.

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Colburn said: “I was up for that one, I was wanting at least a podium out of it.

“I went for a bold move around the outside of the Jim Clark Esses on Mr Rivett, it was brave and there was no contact involved, which was great. I’m really pleased to be on the podium.”

Competitors from the Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup now head into a five-week summer break with rounds 11 and 12 of the season taking place at Snetterton 300 Circuit in East Anglia over the weekend August 2 and 3.

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