Maiden win for Melksham racing car driver

First year Melksham racing driver Jake Honour claimed his maiden Michelin Clio Cup Road Series victory at Rockingham in Northamptonshire.

He claimed his success on Saturday 16th November during the opening round of the ‘Autumn Cup’ before duly adding a second win in race two.

Delivering some fantastically entertaining action, the Road Series class – which is for race converted road-going Clio Renaultsport 197 cars – was very keenly contested between Jake and former British Touring Car Championship racer Lee Linford (Brackley) but the Melksham racer came through to stand atop the class podium in both encounters.

Jake, who is a mechanical engineer by trade, built his own car for use in the brand new Michelin Clio Cup Road Series this year and after progressing strongly in his maiden season of racing, he served up two outstanding performances at Rockingham to cap off his debut year in motorsport in style.

While profiting from a gear problem for Lee Linford in race one, Jake had similar issues of his own in race two but managed to keep going – despite losing a significant amount of oil from his gearbox late in the race – to make it a Rockingham clean sweep.

Jake said, “I thought my tyre had gone at first, the back went loose – obviously because of the oil – but I wasn’t sure if I’d had a blow-out.”

Reflecting on his race two dramas, he said, “I was expecting to get black flagged, but didn’t, so I carried on and got another win which was great. It’s a big confidence boost for me ahead of next year. Big thanks to all the guys at Jade Developments for their help in preparing the race set-up of my car this year.”

Along with headline sponsors Michelin and Protyre, the Clio Cup Series is additionally supported by Safety Devices, Mark Fish Motorsport and The Lubricant Consultancy.