GT Cup campaign commences as 750MC holds Croft season opener

Scott Edgar and, in bizarre circumstances, Christopher Keir – both notably in older 182 models – took the wins in the new-look Renault Clio Sport Championship as the 750 Motor Club’s 2022 season got under way amid intermittent hail at Croft.

Former karting ace Owain Rosser, in a newer 197, qualified on pole for the opening Clio encounter – his car racing debut – but a loss of power off the start meant he ended the opening lap in 16th. In contrast, Edgar made a rocket launch to go from seventh into the lead at the opening bend, Clervaux, but then came nine very hard laps to stay ahead of those behind.

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Tim Bentley (182) initially took up the chase before giving way to Justin Griffiths’s 197. Bentley, though, retaliated, diving back past exiting the Jim Clark Esses and taking fellow 182 racers, reigning champion Jack Dwane and Keir, with him. Dwane closed in but Edgar held strong for his second win in the category. Dwane took second, while Griffiths held off Keir for his first outright podium result in third.

After lap one of race two on Sunday, a first victory for a 197 looked a very real possibility. Rosser again started on pole, but Griffiths got the jump on him at the start and, together, they started to build a gap to the following Keir and Dwane.On lap two, though, there was contact between Griffiths and Rosser entering the complex. Both were eliminated, and suddenly Keir was leading a Clio race for the first time. Like Edgar the day before, he had Dwane in his mirrors, but also like Edgar he held his nerve to record a first ever win – and at his home circuit.

But things had been far from straightforward inside the car for the Newcastle-upon-Tyne