The highly competitive 2017 Michelin Clio Championship kicks off with the first round at Silverstone National circuit this coming weekend,
and entering the road class is Shanel Drewe who last year, despite having no previous karting experience, entered the Junior Saloon Car Championship as a novice father-daughter team.
Although Shanel perhaps had the least experience of all the JSCC entries last year, and the team openly admit they struggled with experience on how to set the car up and even prepare for a race, Shanel did show an underlying pace that deserved better support, and this materialised when she was offered a place with Jade Developments who were the 2016 Michelin Clio Road Class Champions, and front runners in the Race class.
The support that Jade Developments will bring Shanel this season will remove the distractions and noise, which will allow her to focus on her racing approach. Shanel is extremely excited about the coming season but is keeping her feet are firmly on the ground. She mentions that the goal this year is for her to simply build her experience and approach so that she can become a regular front runner, and will then go from there.
Shanel has already completed a shake down test, and a couple of long track days, and she notes she has perhaps driven longer and received more driver development support in the short pre-season build-up than managed in the whole of last year. Shanel explains that she is experiencing a new dynamic to the way she feels in her car even before she turns a wheel, which she describes as a simple feeling of empowerment. She puts this down quite simply to the experience and confidence that both Jade Developments and her instructor Peter Felix bring which raises her determination to succeed.
This year Shanel’s new car is a Clio Sport 197, both Jade and Peter Felix report that Shanel has quickly settled into the new car and has been showing positive pace and consistency. Shanel describes the car as simply as a lot of fun to drive and push, and can feel the racing pedigree and performance that makes both Renault and Michelin so synonymous with various motorsport formulas.
Shanel’s entry this season is with the kind on-going support of Dansoft Aviation Services, Wrapped Up Cars.com, Goldstar OnBoard for Cameras and Data, City Electrical Factors and the Witham Group who are sole UK importers of Motul Oil, but like others, they still need to increase support to secure a full season.
Now with her rookie year under her belt, we feel this experienced support and knowledge that Shanel will receive this year is the platform she deserves to concentrate fully on developing her racing experience in a truly competitive car, and 2017 looks to be an exciting year for Shanel to really forge and confirm her reputation.
