Josh Files battled to a hard-fought seventh place finish in Round 7 of the 2013 Renault UK Clio Cup on a frustrating day at Oulton Park (Saturday 8 June).
Having taken a stunning maiden win in the 2013 Eurocup Clio Championship in the time since the last UK Clio Cup meeting five weeks ago, the Team Pyro driver headed to Cheshire with his focus set on taking podium finishes to maintain his championship challenge.
In the sweltering morning sunshine, Files showed strong early pace in the 30-minute qualifying session. Slipping down to eighth halfway through the session, he was unable to make progress back up the timesheets in the incredibly close qualifying session. The Vocalink-backed driver ended up eighth on the grid for both races, despite being only two tenths off pole position.
“I’m disappointed, as this is the first time in a while that my car hasn’t been scrutineered after qualifying, as the top six do,” said Files. “I don’t like that feeling, but we are only two tenths off and I’m confident we will make inroads in the race.”
A good start to Round 7 saw Files make some early progress. However, he lost ground when he got caught up in a rival’s accident, hitting a stray tyre stack in the middle of the road. Recovering well, the 22-year old found himself in a race-long battle with Jake Giddings, passing him at the hairpin on the final lap to take seventh place at the finish.
“I got a good start this time and managed to go around the outside to make some places. On lap two, Ant Whorton-Eales knocked a tyre stack into the middle of the road and I managed to find it and hit it, allowing a few people to get past.
“I went back to eighth, which sort of ruined the race, and I got stuck behind Giddings. He defended really well and it wasn’t until the final lap when he made a mistake that I managed to get through. It’s good that we managed to pick up a place at the end, but it’s a shame we got caught out by someone else’s accident. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.”
Round 8 of the Renault UK Clio Cup will take place at 15.15 on Sunday (9 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.