After a break for some summer holidays, rounds 15 and 16 saw the Clio Cup Championship back at Donington Park, but this time on the full circuit, over the weekend of the 9th & 10th September.

This weekend was the World Series by Renault, and being one of the biggest motorsport events in the country, saw a crowd of over 90000 people over the two days.

This weekend the testing session took place on the Thursday, and a total of 18 drivers were involved in the Clio Cup races.  The qualifying then took place on the Saturday as usual and Mel qualified in 16th position for both races.

Race 1 took place on the Saturday afternoon and Mel finished the race in 13th position.

The second race of the weekend took place on the Sunday and after a long battle with Steve Wood, with their positions swapping many times in the remaining laps, Mel eventually managed to finish in front of him, to finish the race in 13th position.

 

Rounds 13 + 14 of the Clio Cup Championship took place at the Norfolk based circuit of Snetterton, over the weekend of 12th and 13th August.

Having already visited the circuit earlier in the year for pre-season testing, it meant that Mel could concentrate on improving her times during the testing sessions.  After testing in the wet, qualifying then took place in the dry on Saturday morning.  Mel qualified in 16th position for both races, but due to a technical infringement with Steve Hunters car, was moved up to 15th position for both races.

For the first race on Saturday the rain returned and to add to the excitement of the Clio racing, Tom Onslow-Cole’s loss of oil all over the circuit made the racing conditions even harder, and Mel showed this by spinning several times during the race!  Eventually Mel finished the race in 13th position.

Sunday’s race was again to take place on a wet track. Mel spent most of her time chasing the battle of Steve Wood and Martin Johnson, although never quite being able to catch up with the pair.  Mel finished the second race of the weekend in 12th position.

 

Rounds 11 + 12 of the Clio Cup Championship took place at Donington Park, on the National Circuit, over the weekend of July 29th & 30th.

After the 2 testing sessions on Friday Mel was lying in 16th place out of the 17 drivers.  Qualifying then took place on Saturday, with your two quickest times determining your position for the following two races.  For both races Mel qualified in 14th position.

The first race of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon and after 20 minutes of hard driving Mel finished in 11th position.

 The second Clio race took place at midday on the Sunday and was to provide some of the most action packed Clio racing, with several cars leaving the track on the first lap!  All of this helped Mel to reach her best finishing position so far, finishing the race in 7th position just behind Phil House.   

Mel was pleased to welcome guests from the web design and maintenance company WebBoarding, including the Directors Andy Healey and Daf Dent.

 

Rounds 9 + 10 of the Clio Cup Championship took place at the North Yorkshire circuit of Croft, over the weekend of 15th & 16th July.

During free practice on Friday Mel managed to keep her lap times coming down, although found that having only one session wasn’t enough to improve on her times over the weekend.

The first race took place on Saturday afternoon, and Mel started from 13th position on the grid after a short qualifying session in the morning.  Taylor made the better start from the lights getting in front of Mel into the first corner, and so the battle began again.  The two cars battled throughout the race until Mel managed to get the better of Taylor and pass him to finish in 11th place.

The race on Sunday, again involved the Clio carnage throughout the first half of the first lap.  Unfortunately for Mel, she span on oil dropped by another car, coming out of the chicane and just caught the barrier on the outside.  However she kept going, but in a pretty lonely race, to finish in 13th. 

Mel was pleased to welcome Mark Pearce, from Secure Valeting, and his family to join her at Croft circuit on the Sunday, and hopes that they enjoyed their day.

 

The only visit to the Scottish circuit Knockhill on the program was to provide the home for rounds 7 + 8 of the Clio Cup Championship. 

In an unusual forecast for the testing session on Friday the weather was sunny and the track stayed dry for the Clio’s.  However this wasn’t to last and during qualifying and both races the rain came down.  Only one qualifying session took place on the Saturday and Mel struggled with the damp a bit, but qualified in 14th for round 7, and 13th for round 8.

Both races took place on the Sunday, and again both took place in the rain.  Round 7 was an eventful race with the safety car being released after the first lap, for a first corner incident involving several of the pack.  Once the safety car had returned, the racing got underway and provided much entertainment.  Mel spent much time trying to catch Williams, and eventually finished in 11th place.

The second race took place later on in the day on Sunday and saw Mel go past both Taylor and Johnson to again chase Williams.  Although never getting close, Mel finished in 11th place again.

 

Rounds 5 + 6 of the Clio Cup Championship took place on one of the fastest tracks, Thruxton.

During the practice sessions and through qualifying Mel improved on her lap times, this being her second only ever visit to Thruxton.  Eventually her final times qualified her in 13th place for both races.

Luckily the weather for the weekend was fantastically sunny, although a little warm in the car!  The first race took place late on Saturday afternoon and for Mel proved to be a long battle with Taylor. During the final laps of the race, Mel got close enough to overtake at the final chicane, finishing the race in 11th position.

The race on Sunday again saw battling between Mel and Taylor taking place throughout the whole race.  Again leaving it until the final laps of the race, Mel managed to get past Taylor to finish the race in 12th place.

 

The Clio Cup made its way to Oulton Park on the 4th & 5th May for the next two rounds of the Championship.

After a fantastically sunny first practice session on the Friday, the rain then made its way over the circuit, and looked set to stay for the rest of the weekend.  Even though the wet is not the easiest weather to go out in, Mel managed to qualify in 11th place for the weekend.

The first race on Saturday afternoon, took place on a wet track, and with a first lap incident the safety car was released.  At the first corner after the re-start, Mel was hit from behind by Mark Fell, putting her into a spin and sending Mark into the barrier.  This incident bought out the red flags, and the racing was stopped.  The results were then taken back a lap, resulting in Mel finishing in 11th place.

The racing on the Sunday was once again on a wet track.  The race for Mel was fairly uneventful, unfortunately going backwards from the start, to finish the race in 13th place.

Mel Healey was glad to welcome Darren Whibley, from Secure Valeting, and his guests to join her for the day’s racing.

 

The first rounds of the Clio Cup took place at Brands Hatch over the weekend on 8th & 9th April.

In the Clio Cup there is only one qualifying session that takes place, and the two quickest lap times that you set in this session are used to determine your start place for the two races.  Mel took a while to get in to the qualifying session, but her quickest times put her in 15th place on the grid for both races.

The first race took place on Saturday afternoon.  Mel made a bad start to the first 2006 Clio cup race, by stalling on the start line and then had to spend her time playing catch-up to the rest of the pack.  After a few race incidents Mel finished the first race in 10th place. 

The second race took place on Sunday afternoon.  Not wanting to repeat the start from the first race, Mel made a steady start from 15th on the grid.  This enabled her to stay with the pack from the start of the race, however a first lap incident meant that the safety car was released.  Once the safety car made its way into the pitlane, the racing got underway again.  This time Mel finished the race in 8th place.

On the Sunday, Mr Senyo Toseafa, from sponsors Secure Valeting and his family joined Team Pyro and enjoyed the Renault hospitality that was available.

After rounds 1 & 2 of the Clio Cup at Brands Hatch, Mel is currently in 8th position in the Championship