RORY Collingbourne endured a “horrendous” two rounds of racing at Thruxton, as his stuttering start to the 2016 Renault UK Clio Cup continued.

The Newport teenager finished races five and six of this year’s championship in 12th and 14th respectively after encountering gearbox and wheel alignment problems.

Those glitches followed mechanical woes at Brands Hatch in the season opener and then a reprimand for exceeding track limits during qualifying at Donington Park.

Collingbourne has dropped two place to 14th in the overall standings after Thruxton, where he shone in testing, with Oulton Park the next destination for the drivers on June 4-5.

Reflecting on how things went in Hampshire, Collingbourne said: “It was horrendous.

“Things were looking good when we tested at Thruxton, I was fastest in the wet and third fastest in the dry.

“But towards the end of the first race my gearbox actuator went, so for the rest of that one and the second race I struggled for straight-line speed, and that is what Thruxton is all about.

“I would have qualified P3 or P4 but I kept getting the last corner wrong and ended up qualifying P18 and P13.

“I had a good start in race one and got past a couple of guys, but the corners are really technical and you have to be on the right line.

“Right at the end my gearbox went and I couldn’t overtake anyone.

“I had a good start again in race two but came into contact with another car midway through the chicane on the second lap and it knocked my front right wheel out.

“It’s really hard when you’re averaging 100mph and going flat out through corners and the car is pulling to one side and the steering wheel isn’t straight.”

There was a win double for Ant Whorton-Eales at Thruxton, although his victory in race two came after Mike Bushell was given a five-second penalty.

Bushell, third in race one behind Josh Price and Whorton-Eales, crossed the line first but had to settle for second place after exceeding track limits.

Price completed an impressive weekend by clinching another podium spot to move up to seventh overall.

Paul Rivett’s lead in the championship is now down to six points, with Bushell second and Collingbourne’s Team Cooksport stablemate Lee Pattison third.

Team Cooksport lie third in the team standings on 205 points, 26 adrift of WDE Motorsport and a further 13 behind Team Pyro.