Andy Scott bounced back from a disappointing first round result to win the second round of the Quaife MSA British Rallycross Championship at Knockhill on Sunday (April 25).
The Scotsman won the Supercar A final in which pole starter and British championship points leader David Binks (Newcastle upon Tyne) finished last after losing over 40 seconds when his car stopped in an incident that started when Pat Doran (Winkleigh), who also started from the front row of the grid, spun in the first corner. While Doran recovered and chased Scott (Dumfries) home in second place, Binks could do no more than complete the race in eighth place after getting his car restarted.
Andy Grant (Barnstaple) was third in the A final and completed the front starters in the Superfinal. The drag race to the first corner in the Superfinal was close, Scott and Grant running side-by-side to the turn but with Scott fractionally later on the brakes and easing into the lead. Completing the first lap with a brave run across the tricky gravel section of the lap, Scott was almost two seconds up on his rivals entering the second lap and maintained his pace to take a clear win. Scott was overjoyed with his first event victory after less than a year in the Supercar class, “It’s great to win because the team has put a lot of work into the car over the winter and everyone was a bit down after round one. It’s specially good to win at Knockhill and in Scotland because I’ve a lot of extra supporters and guests here today, it couldn’t have been better,” said Scott.
Grant took a personal best finish in second place and in only the second start with his new Ford Focus while Gareth Wood (Newcastle upon Tyne) also claimed his best yet British championship result, making the most of the slippery conditions to urge his Subaru Impreza home in third place, ahead of current title holder Doran.
Fifth place in the Superfinal for SuperModified class winner Julian Godfrey (Heathfield) moved the Sussex-based engineer into the lead of the championship after two events.
Celebrity driver David Bogie endured mixed fortunes throughout the day, but quickly adjusted to the frantically fast and furious format of Rallycross.
“It’s been very enjoyable, I’d would have liked to put in a few stronger performances here and there but that’s racing l suppose. The Suzuki is a great little car, the competition has been great and l managed to pick up the pace very quickly,” commented Bogie.
Asked about a new career in Rallycross, the 2009 Scottish Rally Champion stated, “It’s rallying through and through for me l’m afraid. I’d certainly have a go at Rallycross again though.”
Although the MSA Quaife British Rallycross Championship does not come back to Knockhill again in 2010, we do have other Rallycross events throughout the year. Check the events section on our website for full details.
We’ve put some images from the Bristish Rallycross event on our new Knockhill Flickr page.