Podium Success For Morgan At Donington

Alex Morgan continued his impressive start to the 2014 Courier Connections Clio Cup series by taking another podium at Donington Park, and maintained his lead in the championship standings that he secured after his double win success at Brands Hatch. Alex’s weekend didn’t start off as planned as he experienced some technical problems with the car in both practice sessions. Heading into qualifying Alex was on the back foot after losing valuable time on track to work on set-up, but nevertheless he put in a strong performance to take P7 and P6 on the grid for the two races on Sunday. Race 1 saw him line up alongside three-time champion Paul Rivett and behind championship contenders Mike Bushell and Josh Cook. With the race being wet it was new territory for all drivers but Alex made the most of a great start to gain two places in the first two laps to get into 5th place. After a long battle with Jordan Stilp throughout the race, the Welshman unfortunately lost out with a few laps to go but was able to bring the car home in 6th place to bag some crucial points for his championship bid. Alex started from 6th position in race two, but this time the conditions were dry and Alex was keen to make another clean start and move up the order quickly. In the start line melee, which saw Mike Bushell make contact with Jordan Stilp and hit the wall, Alex scythed his way through the middle of the pack and by the exit of turn 1 he was in second place behind SVR teammate Josh Cook.  After a brief safety car period to clear Bushell’s damaged car, racing resumed and Alex held his position against a chasing pack made up of Hand, Whorton-Eales, Rivett and Stilp. The battle become very physical on occasions and at one stage all four left the track at the last chicane as they jostled for position. Unfortunately in the tight scrap, Hand made his way past Alex through the gravel however he was still in third place and eyeing a podium finish. As the race drew to a close the battle became extremely intense with Whorton-Eales, Rivett and Stilp all side-by-side over the last lap but it was Alex who managed to keep his cool and take another brilliant podium. Alex is leading the championship on 107 points, four points ahead of Josh Cook. The next race weekend takes place at Thruxton on 3-4 May. Morgan said:

The weekend was always going to be difficult after such a great opener at Brands Hatch and, after the troubles of Thursday testing, I’m extremely happy to get some great points for the championship and another podium. After only achieving 7th and 6th in qualifying it was always going to be difficult but it’s on these occasions you have to come out fighting and we made the most of a compromised situation. I am still leading the Championship, which is fantastic, and we head to Thruxton with confidence after a strong test there. Ahead of Thruxton however I need to focus on the Eurocup Clio Championship after a last minute deal came together to compete in all four rounds. I am already looking forward to mixing it with the best in Europe and will use the experience to progress my UK campaign.