Colburn misses after season long battle

European Clio Cup Series newcomer Ben Colburn narrowly missed out on the Challenger Class overall honours when a puncture robbed him of certain victory at the last round of the championship at the famous Monza circuit.

After an amazing season that saw Colburn running sixth overall, the highest newcomer entering into the last round, he just needed to out point his rival Filip Kuncher (Montenegro) to claim the Challenger class reserved for those that are not previous champions.

Qualifying for race one went to plan with Colburn grabbing 4th place late on. A demon start saw he entering the Prima Variante first chicane in third, only to be ceremoniously spun round from behind when others misjudged their braking. Safety cars marred the race and made it impossible to progress back to the front with the few racing laps.

Race two now saw Kuncher with a small points advantage, but Colburn was determined to make amends for the previous day. Achieving 10th and Kuncher at the rear of the field due to a qualifying accident prospects looked good to take the title.

Driving a steady race in the top ten was all that was needed, but again safety cars prevailed and under the second one Colburn suffered a puncture demoting him to last and the title was gone.

Despite the disappointment it was an excellent first season of European racing and the driver and team combination proved that they had what it takes to run at the front of the Clio Cup grid.

2026 will see and enlarged Westbourne Motorsport squad challenge for overall honours.