Home win gives Coates championship lead

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 Max the Renault UK Clio Cup championship lead as the series heads into its summer break.

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 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 driver received a rapturous applause as he climbed onto the top step of the podium. With this round being at Croft Race Circuit, close to the Primex Plastics Plant in the UK it was a great opportunity for our team to get together outside of work hours to support our sponsored driver. We all enjoyed the weekend, made even better with Max's top performance.

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!”

There will now be a break in the season, with the next race at Snetterton, near Norfolk, on the 28th and 29th of July. If anyone is interested in coming down to enjoy the action with us please email tbirkett@primexuk.co.uk for more information.