Jade Edwards started her 2017 Renault UK Clio cup challenge at Brands Hatch last weekend as the championship begun taking up it’s usual slot supporting the BTCC.
Edwards has been found at BTCC weekends for the last few years helping out with Jack Goff’s VIP guests but she’d now be taking to the track once again for the first time since her British GT campaign in 2015. Driving for Ciceley Motorsport, who run Adam Morgan in the BTCC, she has a great chance to make a big impression on this championship.
Friday testing was first and Edwards eased herself into thing, with her lap times improving throughout the day. She was feeling confident as she headed into qualifying on Saturday.
She went out early in the session to try and get a time which would put her right up in the sharp end of the field but as the rest of the field were getting faster, disaster struck when Edwards was forced to a halt by the side of the track with an engine issue.
This would put her right at the back for both races and so she would have to use all her racing skill to try and achieve a good result.
The first race was on Saturday and just before it was due to start, it rained quite heavily. Edwards first Clio race was to be a wet one. Edwards made a great start to run eighteenth. She then realised the two cars ahead of her were fighting each other and were perfect targets for a move. She quickly moved up to sixteenth before the safety car was scrambled for a stranded car.
Another rival made an unexpected move past as the safety car pulled in and although she then battled for her place back, she ran out of time and crossed the line in seventeenth. A good result given that she had needed to start from the back.
Race two was sunny and dry. this time Edwards was even more impressive. Initially she took eighteenth place before finding her moment to slice past those ahead of her leaving her in a strong fifteenth. She briefly moved up higher still before her rivals closed once more. She crossed the line back in fifteenth place.
Edwards has worked hard during the winter with her “9 for 9” campaign to raise enough sponsorship to get onto the Clio cup grid and she worked just as hard during the first weekend.
Although her potential was slowed by the qualifying issue, she still impressed everyone, including the ITV4 commentators who were very complimentary.
Edwards now heads to Donington park, a circuit she has won on in the past and she’ll be really hoping she can be quick from the start and with no issues she should be challenging for at least a top ten. By Marc Waller