Motorsport fans witnessed an eventful days racing at Knockhill today (Sunday 12th August) as the Scottish Championship Car Racing series hosted its latest round. A 14 race programme took place which saw action from the Scottish Formula Ford, Legend, Mini, Fiesta, Sports and Classic Sports & Saloons Championships.
John Finlayson navigates one of the Knockhill kerbs... almost!!
In the Scottish Formula Ford series, Craig Brunton, making a welcome return to action, couldn’t stop the dominant Ian Munro taking two race wins. Alistair Dow managed to secure himself a brace of 2nd place finishes, but it was Brunton, who not only took the ‘Driver of the Day’ award, but with it, two fine 3rd place finishes on his racing return.
In the Celtic Speed Mini Cooper Cup it was that man, David Sleigh who took all three race wins to extend his Championship lead. Ross Wylie, Kyle Reid, Shane Stoney and Malcolm NcNab all tasted podium success. However, it was the other Sleigh brother (Tim) who would provide the undoubted talking point from today’s proceedings, walking away unscathed from a big crash in the final race of the day.
A deflated, but thankfully, uninjured Tim Sleigh commented:
“I should have just stayed in my bed this weekend, it’s been one to forget, but I’ll be back.”
Scottish Championship Legends competitor Ross Marshall endured an uncharacteristic DNF in the opening Legends race, but soon put things to rights with another couple of race wins later in the day. Carol Brown enjoyed the top step of the podium in Marshall’s absence, whilst Robbie Burgoyne, Ben Mason and David Hunter all sampled some podium success.
In the Fiesta ST & XR2 Championship, it was Haddington’s Scott Robertson who took all the plaudits with two race wins. Indeed, it was the newer ST versions which locked out all the three on-the-road podium scores in both races. The top XR2 performer was experienced campaigner, Peter Cruickshank, taking two XR2 class wins.
Lauder racer Garry Watson was finally able to take victory from Stuart Whyte in the Scottish Sports and Saloons series. Watson crossed the line first in both races with Whyte suffering mechanical gremlins in the opening race and only managing third in the second. Philip Duncan managed to bag himself 2nd and 3rd place slots on the podium.
Andrew Smith’s stunning Morgan was still the machine to beat in the Classic Sports and Saloons series. He crossed the line in first place in both races ahead of Shonny Paterson and Robert Marshall on both occasions. Nic Boyes suffered a rare defeat in class A, which means that the deadlocked three way struggle for the overall championship, has now swung in favour of Smith and Marshall, who remain tied at the top of the overall standings once again.
Both the Mini competitors and the Classic Sports and Saloons racers will be eager to get their preparations for the BTCC meeting at Knockhill this month underway. Both series make a guest appearance on the programme for the event that takes place over the weekend of 25th and 26th August. Knockhill’s own, Gordon Shedden sits second in the BTCC Championship heading into Knockhill following a dramatic weekend at Snetterton, which included his Honda Civic spectacularly bursting into flames during Saturday’s practice session. See www.btcc.net for the full story.
The SMRC racers return to Knockhill on Sunday 23rd September. Tickets are available now on the Knockhill website and pre-booked tickets are subject to advanced discounts. A whole host of images from today can be seen here!