MAX COATES enjoyed a “weekend to remember” as he celebrated a podium finish in his home round of the Renault UK Clio Cup.

The Scorton driver finished sixth in Saturday’s opening round at Croft Circuit, but improved markedly today as he clinched second spot behind championship leader Mike Bushell.

Despite starting in fifth position on the grid, Coates powered his way into second by the mid-point of 15-lap race, but while he spent the final few laps on Bushell’s coat tails, he was unable to force his way into the lead.

Nevertheless, his second-place finish represented a welcome return to form after a difficult previous round at Oulton Park, and enabled him to cement his fourth position in the overall championship standings.

“It’s been a really good weekend,” said Coates, who drives with the Ciceley Motorsports team. “We came here looking for a race victory and we weren’t able to get that, but we’ve still got to be happy with race two in particular.

“I think we did everything we could. It was my best start of the season, and that meant I was able to make up some early places to really put myself in contention.

“There were a couple of times when I thought I might be able to get past Mike, but I just wasn’t able to quite get close enough to make a move. It’s good to finish on the podium though, and it proves what we’re capable of heading into the second half of the season.”

The Northern Echo:

Bushell enjoys a healthy lead at the top of the championship standings, but today’s performance in particular proves Coates’ competitiveness in his second season in the Clio Cup.

His result in Saturday’s opening race would have been better had it not been for a minor shunt that shuffled him down the field, and the wet conditions on the opening day of the BTCC weekend did not play to his car’s strengths.

Today’s race featured a squally shower at the midway point, but the majority of the action took place in the dry and if conditions are favourable in the second half of the season, Coates, who finished just half-a-second behind Bushell, will be targeting some more wins.

“In dry conditions, we’ve proved we can match absolutely anyone,” he said. “The pace is there when it’s dry, as you saw in the second race. No one was getting away from us, and we have to be happy with the way the car drives in the dry.

“We’ve probably got a few improvements to make in the wet, and that’s something we’ll be looking at now there’s a bit of a break. We’re not quite as good when it’s raining, although we qualified in second position and still went fairly well in Saturday’s race.”

The Northern Echo:

Coates was brought up around five miles from Croft, so this weekend’s action was always going to have a special emotional significance.

More than 100 sponsors and friends were gathered around his garage, and his appearance on the podium at the end of the race attracted the biggest cheers of the day.

“It’s always nice to come and race so close to home, but this weekend has been extra special,” he said. “I think there were probably 100-or-so guests here (on Sunday), and we had another 50-or-so on Saturday.

“It’s nice to be able to say thank you to the people who have been supporting us all season, and I’m just pleased I was able to put on a half-decent show for them to watch.

“It would have been nice to be on the podium, but we’ll just have to save that for later in the season. At least we can be happy with the way things went and it’s a weekend I won’t be forgetting in a hurry.”