At his home circuit, Croft, Max Coates took an emotional race two win alongside a second placed finish in race one.  The weekend’s results have given the Harron Homes driver the Renault UK Clio Cup championship lead as the series heads into its summer break.
Alongside his season long sponsors Coates was supported by a number of local businesses through his sponsor a tyre scheme.  The companies included; Primex Plastics, Aycliffe Engineering Ltd, DMC Electrical, Workshop Supplies, Northern Handling Systems Ltd (Cesab), Hydraulic and Offshore Supplies and Colourpol.
Coates started strong, topping the timesheets in free practice one on Friday.  He then showed his true pace in Qualifying to take a double pole position with a new circuit record.
A good start in race one went wrong at turn one, the Primex Plastics and PLASgran Recycling sponsored driver braked too late and was sent into a spectacular drift.  He controlled the car well but fell back into second place.  Despite applying pressure to Paul Rivett for the whole race he couldn’t find a way through.
Determined not to fall foul of the same error in race two Coates duly took the lead into turn one and held on to lead the first lap.  He then started to build a gap of almost a second and brought home his third win of the season and reclaimed the top spot in the championship.  In front of a huge race day crowd the Clements Limited driver received a rapturous applause as he climbed onto the top step of the podium.
Afterwards Coates said, “What a weekend.  We achieved exactly what we set out to do and now lead the championship, to do it with a home win is very special!”
Coates will be appearing at the new RMB / Bennett Renault dealership in Darlington on Friday with his race car where members of the public are openly invited to attend and try to beat Max’s lap time on a racing simulator.
Snetterton, near Norfolk is the next round of the championship on the 28th and 29th of July.
Photo credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography