First registrations received for 2009 Elf Renault Clio Winter Cup

Organisers have received the first registrations for the 2009 ELF Renault Clio Winter Cup with Michelin which takes place at Northamptonshire’s Rockingham Motor Speedway on Saturday, 7th November.

Among the early entries is 20-year-old Sam Tordoff competing with Total Control Racing. The Leeds racer finished an impressive eighth overall, the highest placed rookie-racer in 2009, despite it being his debut season in the one-make series. TCR team-mate Daniel Lloyd (Huddersfield) also joins the winter series along with 16-year-old James Colburn competing under the family-run Westbourne Motorsport.

Registrations have also been received from two newcomers – Matthew Munson (Burnham, Bucks) and 42-year-old Paul Plant (Copthorne, West Sussex) – both run by Stancombe Vehicle Engineering.

Organisers are also offering a 5% discount from the 2010 ELF Renault Clio Cup with Michelin registration fee to all drivers who take part in this year’s Winter Cup.

This year’s Clio Winter Cup sees a change from previous years with the series being contested over just two rounds instead of the previous four in order to help boost costs for both teams and drivers.

The series will still adopt the same format as used in recent years of 1x qualifying session and 2 x races with testing taking place on the Friday beforehand.

Cars without the latest bodywork update, introduced during the summer, will also be allowed to compete.

Last year’s series saw Irish racer Aron Smith take the overall honours with two wins and two second places to finish 21-points clear of PH Motorsport’s Philip House.

Registrations for the series are open now and will remain open until early November.