KMSC & Scottish Championship Reverse Circuit Report

KMSC & Scottish Championship bike racing competitors endured a tail of two very different days at Knockhill this weekend (2^nd/ 3^rd August). Saturday’s wet conditions played havoc in most classes with a number of leading competitors falling foul of the tricky weather conditions. That said, bike racers are a hardy bunch, and the action continued on despite the consistent downpour; whist Sunday’s weather couldn’t have been more indifferent; with a multitude of conditions causing tyre selection dilemmas for all the racers, as sunny spells were interspersed with rain throughout the day.

Saturday’s Superbike and Shirlaw’s Clubman races saw a tightly contested battle between Roy Houston and Andrew Tasker, with less than a second separating the duo on both occasions, however, it would be Houston who would emerge triumphant with two race wins.  Chris Fraser and Richard Hughes shared the Clubman spoils with Fraser taking his best result of the season.

In Sunday’s opening Superbike and Clubman race, two red flags curtailed the first Superbike encounter with Donald MacFadyen eventually taking the win ahead of Roy Houston and Andrew Tasker. Houston then set about both extending his KMSC lead and reeling in Andrew Tasker at the top of the Scottish Championship by claiming two victories, his 9^th race win of the season at Knockhill. In the Clubman class, Richard Hughes took his opportunity to reel in Darren Ross at the top of the Clubman standings with a dominant display today, taking four race wins ahead of his Clubman class rivals. Those wins see the St. Boswell’s rider leapfrog Ross at the top of the Clubman standings heading into the final round of the season.

A beaming Roy Houston said: “It’s been a really good weekend for Kirkcaldy Kawasaki and the rest of the guys. I’m really happy with the results from today.”

In a somewhat depleted Scottish and KMSC Skinner Motorcycles Superstock 600 field, Airdrie’s Douglas Cunningham dominated Saturday’s races by grabbing two race wins aboard his Yamaha R6 machine. Whilst Jodie Chalk, Mark Cumming and Sammi Tasker claimed the other podium scores. Cunningham was once again the man on form in Sunday’s races, pipping a hard charging Liam Shellcock to another three race wins. Shellcock scored a number of podiums, with Mark Cumming and Jodie Chalk also enjoying podium success, and those podiums for Shellcock, despite his no score on Saturday, see him remain top of the Skinner Motorcycles Superstock 600 series by a slender 12 points.

Douglas Cunningham said: “This weekend has been a really big confidence boost and it makes all the difference when things go your way. I’m lost for words to be honest, but it has been a great weekend for us.”

Lewis Rollo claimed his bike was running ‘really good’ at the weekend following his brace of wins in Saturday’s Scottish and KMSC Lightweight races. He followed that start to the weekend up with the opening race win on Sunday, before claiming a total of five wins over the course of the weekend.  The performance of the weekend though, came from young Rory Skinner, who piloted his GP125 machine to 3 impressive on-the-road 2^nd place podium finishes ahead of a strong Lightweight field. Rollo’s main title rival, Jason Blacklock managed to stay in touch and keep his title aspirations on track with four podium scores, despite riding with a damaged collarbone.  Elsewhere in the Lightweight class, Grant Reid continued his imperious Formula 400 form with another clean sweep of victories this weekend, and Gordon Murray and Steven Crichton enjoyed Classic race winning success.

In the Cupar Motorcycles Pre-Injection 600 Championship, it’s gearing up to be a straight fight between Partick Forman and Des Burns for the 2014 title, and it was almost honours even after the weekend following multiple wins for both riders; with Forman dominating Saturday’s encounters, taking a brace of wins and then Burns taking three of hos own on Sunday. With one round and five races remaining, it’s all set up for a thrilling final event of the year for the Pre-Injection duo on 27/28 September.

Gillian McGaw saw her GP125 Championship lead dwindle as Rory Skinner bagged four race wins, courtesy of those on-the-road Lightweight podiums. However, the Kilmarnock ace’s F125 record remains almost perfect for the season. McGaw has won every encounter this year and only dropped one point throughout the whole Championship campaign, loosing out on the Fastest Lap bonus point to Jordan Gill during the June event. The F125 series also witnessed a remarkable piece of sportsmanship when Mark McGaw (Gillian’s father), gave his machine to Lewis Paterson (a title rival of Gillian’s) after the youngster suffered mechanical issues at the start of the race.

“It’s been a brilliant weekend, five out of five, l’m very happy. Thanks to my Dad for building the engines, my family and sponsors for all their help,” commented McGaw

The Scottish Sidecar teams returned to Knockhill for the first time this season and certainly left their mark on the event for numerous reasons – a host of scintillating races, a few spectacular crashes and a mighty close health scare for one of its competitors. It was the pairing of David Wrinn and Stuart Clark who dominated the opening encounters, before Wrinn was rushed off to hospital immediately after winning his second race of the weekend. With Wrinn and Clark out of the picture, the Gordon Shand and Phil Hyde partnership claimed victory in the 3rd encounter of the weekend, before Phil Bell and Ben Hughes took the plaudits in the 4^th and final sidecar race of the weekend. The Steve Webster Trophy, which was scheduled to run as the fifth race was cancelled and will roll over to the next event in September. That means the Sidecar teams will have two feature races at the next event, one for the Steve Webster Trophy and the other for the coveted Jock Taylor Memorial Trophy.

KMSC President, Stuart Gray commented: “It has been a trying weekend for all concerned – competitors, officials, marshals, medics and of course the fans. I would like to thank each and every one of them for their professionalism, dedication and patience this weekend as we look forward to the final meeting of the year on 27/28 September.”

You can catch all the results for the KMSC via Smart Timing or My Laps and all the images from the weekend, including all those members who entered the Duffus Club, can be found on the Power-Images website.

This weekend, the bike racing action continues at Knockhill with the return of the Hottrax Endurance Championship Racing. The ACU/Sorrymate.com Endurance Championship comes back to Knockhill for the first time since 2007 and will represent round 7 of the 2014 Championship calendar. Tickets for the event are available now via the Knockhill website, or alternatively, can be purchased at the gate on the day!