Dereham race Zelos enjoys himself in big meeting at Snetterton
Dan Zelos in full flight at Snetterton at the weekend. Picture: Russell Atkins - Credit: Archant
Dan Zelos made up seven places in the second Renault Clio Cup race at Snetterton at the weekend to equal his best result of fifth for the season after a difficult qualifying session had seen him start from 12th.
'It's getting closer,' stated the Dereham racer on his goal of standing on the podium, having been sixth in the earlier event.
The local racer had made a stunning start to race one and unseated Jamie Dorlin for fifth on the third lap but WDE team mate Paul Rivett demoted him before the end while Mike Bushell eased to his sixth and seventh wins of the season.
Zelos' best combined score of his UK Clio Cup career elevated him from eighth to seventh in the 2017 standings, with the goal of climbing even higher in the next outing at Rockingham at the end of August.
'It was a great weekend, and our busiest one of the year without a doubt,' reflected the Norwich University of Arts Graphic Design undergraduate and former Dereham Sixth Form College student. 'I had a lot of sponsors, family and friends come along to watch, which was fantastic and I was determined to put on a good show for them.
'I always look forward to going to Snetterton because it's my home circuit, and after such a long summer break, I was excited to get back on track.
'I got mega starts in both races, steered clear of any trouble and was able to pull off some great overtakes.
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'Towards the end of race one, I was struggling a bit with overheating brakes, which meant I couldn't attack the hairpins as hard as I would normally do and that allowed Paul to close in on me. We had a good battle, but he was clearly quicker and I obviously wasn't going to do anything to jeopardise his championship chances.
'Race two followed a similar theme, and again we proved we had the pace for the podium if we had only started further up the grid. The two drivers immediately ahead of me both have a lot more experience under their belts, but I learnt a lot from studying the lines they were taking, which will be useful in the future.
'Having lost so much track time earlier in the weekend, to come away with two top six finishes in a championship as tough as the Renault UK Clio Cup was just reward for everybody at WDE Motorsport after all the blood, sweat and tears.'
