Damp conditions greeted the 112 or so Scottish Championship car racers at Knockhill today (Sunday 3rd April), in what was the opening round of the 2016 title trail.
The 16-race schedule saw seven different championships take on the 1.27 mile international track, with close racing and plenty of drama on show throughout. Featuring on track included the Scottish Mini Cooper Cup, Scottish BMW Compact Cup, Scottish Legends, Scottish Formula Ford, Scottish Fiesta, Scottish Sports & Saloons and Scottish Classics.
With a host of former Champions lining up on the grid for another sensational day of racing, the action got underway with 2015 Scottish Legends Champion John Paterson suffering a rare defeat to David Hunter in the first of three races. Paterson however, would win the two following encounters ahead of Hunter, who should prove to be one of the leading contenders in the Legends series this year. Elsewhere, the three remaining 3rd placed podiums went to Billy Wait and Ross Marshal (2).
With all of the previous Mini Cooper Cup Champions off to pastures new for 2016, this season heralds the start of a new ear in Mini racing; with new names set to feature on the famous SMRC trophy for the first time. Vic Covey Junior was first to lay down a marker of his Championship intentions by securing a brace of wins to open his 2016 account. Whilst, William Blake stormed past Championship newcomer Dylan O’Donnell in the closing stage to take the other outright win. It’s hard to say who will emerge triumphant over the course of the season; Mini racing tends to be unpredictable at best, and this year will prove no different.
One former champion left off where he finished last season, with Wayne Macaulay adding another two race wins to an already impressive Fiesta ST honours list. Competition in this series will come from Kevin Whyte and Peter Cruickshank who made a solid start to their 2016 campaigns with two 3rds and two 2nd places respectively. In the XR2 Championship, it was business as usual between Steven Gray and Jim Deans; sharing one win apiece and a 2nd placed rostrum each. Expect these two to remain tightly poised at the top of the XR2 standings from the off.
“That’s probably the best the car has felt in conditions like that. I was quietly confident beforehand… I tend to go well in the rain at Knockhill,” said Macaulay.
In the Scottish Formula Ford Championship, Jordan Grownkowski finally seems to be making headway with the vehicle he purchased at the start of last year; securing the opening race win by 2.7 secs ahead of Neil MacLennan. However, the young Tore racer went one better in the next race taking the victory ahead of Thorburn and Gronkowski. Border Reivers racer, Thorburn opened his day’s account with a solid 2nd place to add to his 3rd place in the final outing of the day. Expect to see this trio emerge as genuine Championship contenders.
“I was under pressure for a few laps, but it feels phenomenal to finally get that race win with the new car. It was a difficult year last year, but thanks to all my sponsors and my Dad, we’re back on the top step once again”, commented Gronkowski after his opening race win of the day.
In the Scottish BMW Compact Cup, last year’s winner Steven Dailly has left the series to explore a different avenue. That however, leaves a vacuum in the Championship that needs to be filled. And, three of the top four from last year have already thrown their cap into the ring to claim Dailly’s title. David McNaughton, Cliff Harper and Gary Clark made a solid start to their season taking 2nd, 3rd and 4th place respectively in the first race of the day. Greig Sutherland however, emerged at the tail end of last season and has continued that form into this; taking the opening outright race win by just 0.935s. Sutherland failed to maintain his momentum, ending his weekend with a DNF. That left the way clear, for David McNaughton to take the final race win ahead of the aforementioned Clark/Harper duo to lead the BMW standings heading into the next round. This Championship remains highly popular and the competition for that overall title should be a fierce one.
Defending Scottish Saloons and Sports Car Champion Ian Donaldson, opened his 2016 account with a pulsating victory in the opening round behind the wheel of his super-fast Evo. The 19-second margin of victory would suggest he won this one at a canter, but that would be unfair to his fellow competitors Colin Simpson and Adam Kindness – as they made a real fist of it in the opening stages. Race two followed in the same vein with the trio dicing at the front, each taking turns to lead the race. However on lap seven, Simpson retired; quickly followed by Donaldson, with his car expiring at the Hairpin. That left the coast clear for Kindness to coast to victory, however, just a few yards up the road his car also expired. Leaving the way clear for Phil Dryburgh to claim the race win ahead of Paul Brydon and Mark Dawson.
On-board footage from Sports and Saloons competitor Adam Kindness:
“That was some crazy racing up ahead, some excellent car control on show and great to watch. And then to see them all expire one by one and take the victory is great,” said Dryburgh immediately after the race.
The final Championship on show for the hundreds of fans was the Classic Sports and Saloons series, featuring a whole host of classic machinery from the likes of Morgan, Ginetta, MGB, Ford, Jaguar and an iconic Lotus Cortina. Winning plaudits on the day went to Harry Simpson behind the wheel of his nimble Ginetta G4, claiming both race wins ahead of Raymond Boyd and Stan Bernard in the first encounter, and Boyd and Tommy Gilmartin in the second. You’d think, given the age of these machines that the racing action would be quite precessional, but in truth, the Classic racing is some of the most entertaining on an SMRC timetable.
Video highlights from our first SMRC of the season:
This was the first of seven similar events to be held at Knockhill in 2016, and the video highlights below represent only a small fraction of the action. If you want to come along and enjoy a fantastic day of motor racing, at a friendly and inclusive venue then head on over to Knockhill.com to check out all the latest event news and ticket pricing.
The next installment of Scottish Championship car racing takes place at Knockhill on Sunday 1st May, hopefully we’ll see some of you there.
You can final all the SMRC images via the Power-Images website.
For all the race results check out the MyLaps website.
