MAX COATES was able to celebrate a “dream weekend” as he claimed a pair of race victories on his home outing at Croft Circuit.

The Scorton driver made light of torrential conditions as he cruised through the rain to win Saturday’s opening race in the Renault UK Clio Cup, and followed up on a drier surface to claim a second success this afternoon.

Having also claimed a brace of wins on the opening weekend of the season at Brands Hatch, Coates has already matched his previous best of four race wins in a single Clio Cup campaign.

The 25-year-old’s latest victories were especially sweet, with more than 100 of his family and friends watching on from trackside at Croft.

“It’s been a great couple of days,” said Coates. “We knew we were in good shape coming to Croft, and it’s really satisfying to be able to come away with a couple of wins.

“There were a lot of things to contend with over the two days, but the car handled the conditions well and the races panned out pretty much as I would have hoped for.

“That’s four wins this year from the opening six races – I’ve never had more than four wins over the course of a whole season. I needed a big weekend to get myself right back into things at the top of the championship, and you can’t do any better than two wins.”

Saturday’s success came amid a downpour that left standing water lying on various parts of the Croft track. Coates’ local knowledge proved invaluable as he finished a mammoth 21 seconds clear of Jack Young, who started the weekend at the top of the drivers’ standings, and another six seconds ahead of his Team HARD team-mate Jamie Bond, who finished third.

“It was difficult,” said Coates. “I’ve never driven at Croft when it’s been anything like that. It was really a case of learning as we were going round because the rain was so hard that it was changing the track massively every lap.

“There were pools of water all over the place, so it was a case of trying to find out where the best lines were. Visibility was poor, but thankfully I didn’t do anything stupid. I got to the front early and managed to stay there.”

Today’s second race finished minutes before another heavy shower, with Coates’ race management coming to the fore as he claimed maximum points.

Having burst away from the lights, Coates was overtaken by Young at an early stage. However, Young was hit with a ten-second penalty for a false start, meaning that although Coates was not in the lead on the track, he was comfortably ahead on the time sheet.

With no need to push against Young, he kept his closest title rival at arm’s length for the final few laps, eventually finishing almost three seconds clear of Brett Lidsey, who finished second.

“Jack put a good move on me, which I wasn’t expecting, but pretty much straight away afterwards, it came over on the radio that he’d been hit with a penalty,” said Coates. “It was just a case of driving sensibly after that.

“I didn’t have to do anything silly, although I didn’t really want to be behind Jack because he was slowing up and shuffling me back towards his team-mate. The gap was always big enough though, so I knew I’d win as long as I kept my pace.”