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Press Releases by Claire Tippet
June 26, 2005
Claire
Tippet: Smokin' at Castle Combe!
Wiltshire - Claire Tippet had a weekend packed full
of drama as she took part in the latest rounds of the VW Racing
Cup at Castle Combe (Wiltshire) at the weekend.
The weekend also saw the unveiling of a new look for Claire
as she debuted a race outfit courtesy of her new sponsors
Ko-Gee.co.uk. Ko-Gee, an internet lifestyle clothing and accessories
company based in Ledbury, Herefordshire, have sponsored Claire's
new Alpinestars racesuit, gloves and boots. As well as being
eye catching the suit is an important part of Claire's safety
equipment. "The new racesuit is a big improvement for
me" commented Claire, "fantastic quality and a lot
more comfortable than the one I'd been using previously so
I am very grateful to Ko-Gee for their support. They have
kindly provided some great clothes for 'off track' too so
I'll be looking smart this summer!"
Behind the wheel of her Golf GTi Mk1, Claire's qualifying
was hindered by a mysterious engine misfire which was particularly
frustrating for her given it meant she could not recreate
the times she was achieving at a test session at the circuit
a few days previously, which would have seen her comfortably
into the mid field. Claire qualified in 29th position to the
rear of the grid so it was a case of summoning up all her
determination for a race from the back!
On Sunday Claire dually delivered. The engine was declared
fit to race but still the underlying problem caused a sluggish
start off the line. However with every cloud having a silver
lining, Claire turned this into an advantage as she witnessed
the usual first corner bottle and was able to clearly pick
her way through! Back with the pack some hard racing followed
as she battled with VW Caddy, swapping places back and forth
before finishing the race in 20th position.
Race Two saw the car's pick up off the start line slow once
more but Claire was quick to get into the thick of the action.
Claire found herself in a tooth and nail battle with three
other racers. At one point the action was too close and Claire
was knocked off the track but skilfully kept going to rejoin
the battle. Keeping her cool, Claire carried on despite the
fright of tyre smoke filling the cockpit as on the outside
of her car the battle scars were obvious with a wheel arch
about to part company with the bodywork.
More seriously, a further plume of smoke filled the cockpit
signalling the demise of the gear box, forcing Claire to pull
off the circuit but as she did the race was red flagged after
a heavy crash elsewhere and the race was declared with Claire
in 16th position
"It was a tough weekend" said Claire afterwards,
"technical problems plagued me but I was still able to
come away with two finishes which in the light of things was
as good as we could hope for. My sponsors from Ko-Gee and
Cole Easdon Consultants kindly came to see me race which was
great support and we certainly provided them with some dramatic
action"
Claire's next race will be at the Kent circuit of Brands
Hatch on 30-31st July.
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