Jonathan Ridley-Holloway Seventh Fastest At Snetterton Circuit
Jul 04, 2008
jakobebrey.com
North Devon saloon car racer Jonathan Ridley-Holloway produced one of the strongest and most consistent testing performances of his maiden ELF Renault Clio Cup season at Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk today and is now hoping to translate his pace into solid results when the championship resumes next weekend.
Jonathan, who celebrated his 24th birthday last week, concluded the day with a best time of 1m 18.954 seconds (96.89mph) in session four which actually placed him as the fifth fastest driver during the final period. Of the quartet of sessions run today, the Barnstaple ace finished inside the top 10 during three of them.
At the wheel of his Total Control Racing run car, Jonathan started off well with the ninth quickest time of 1m 19.608 seconds (88.27mph) in the first session of the morning, just seven 10ths of a second shy of the top of the times.
Session two saw him improve to within six 10ths of a second of pace-setting team-mate Mike Robinson, a lap of 1m 19.144 seconds (88.78mph) placing him seventh fastest, and then in the day’s third outing Jonathan dipped below the 1m 19 second barrier for the first time with a lap of 1m 18.976 seconds (88.97mph).
“Things went very well today, other than the third session where we didn’t get the best out of the new tyres I’m really pleased with the work we’ve done”, said Jonathan, “We didn’t quite have the car right in session three but after we made a couple of changes, in session four we ended up in the top five so I’m delighted with that.
“It was roasting hot and although we did have a couple of rain showers it wasn’t a problem as the track was always dry in time for our sessions. I really enjoyed today, it was nice to be back in the car after such a long break since Croft and I’m feeling pretty confident ahead of next weekend’s races.”
Supported throughout his 2008 ELF Renault Clio Cup campaign by PicoPC.co.uk, Bond Oxborough Phillips and A4 Apparel, Jonathan has been progressively improving throughout the course of the year and is just five points shy of the coveted championship top 15. Potentially, the Snetterton races could provide his best results of the season.
“As always, we’ll see how it goes but I reckon we can do a good job next weekend”, he added, “Today’s test was a good team effort. Mike (Robinson) helped me out with a few pointers and it was good having Fulvio (Mussi – former Clio Cup and SEAT Cupra Championship front-runner) on board for the day. I really benefited from his experience.”
