A delighted Josh Files broke his race victories duck in the Renault UK Clio Cup by emphatically winning Round 9 of the championship at North Yorkshire’s Croft Circuit today (Saturday 22 June).
From pole position, the Bacs Payment Schemes Ltd-backed racer got a lightning start and had a comfortable buffer of around 1.5s over the competition at the completion of lap three, when the race was halted following a heavy collision with the barriers for Scuderia Vittoria rookie Devon Modell.
At the restart, a less hasty launch left Files vulnerable to the chasing Jordan Stilp into Clervaux, but the Norwich-based racer stood firm on the inside to retain the lead.
With the exception of a lunge from Stefan Hodgetts into Tower Bend on the opening tour of the 2.1-mile track, Files was unchallenged for the remainder of the ten-lap encounter. He took the chequered flag with a comfortable 4.432s advantage over the rest of the field to seal a long overdue maiden race win in the UK-based Clio Cup.
Points for the victory has narrowed Files’ deficit to championship leader Paul Rivett to just 17 points and the 22-year old is adamant he can ‘do the double’ in Round 10 tomorrow (Sunday 23 June) to reduce the gap further.
“Achieving this win is a massive monkey off my back and I want to do it more often,” said an ecstatic Files. “A bit of doubt was starting to creep in, but I never gave up because I know I’m quick and I absolutely love it here at Croft. I’m chuffed!
“I made a great start the first time around and pulled away, but then the red flag came out. My second start wasn’t as good and Jordan Stilp had a run at me and we made contact. That bent my steering, so I was surprised to pull out such a gap over Stefan Hodgetts. I came here with the aim of achieving nothing less than two wins and we’re halfway there, so let’s do the same tomorrow. It’ll be a fantastic way of thanking my sponsor Bacs for their support.”
Round 10 of the Renault UK Clio Cup is scheduled to take place at 15.50 tomorrow (Sunday 23 June) and will be broadcast live and in high definition on ITV4 and ITV4HD.
For more information on Josh Files’ racing activities, please visit the official www.joshfiles.co.ukwebsite, 'like' his Facebook page or follow @JoshFiles on Twitter.