Super Lap Scotland powered by Rockstar Energy Drink recap

The 2016 Super Lap Scotland Championship, sponsored by Rockstar Energy Drink got off to a dramatic start at Knockhill Racing Circuit (Sunday 17th April). The opening round drew a record-breaking entry for SLS with 61 drivers confirmed across seven championship classes – ranging from whopping 600bhp monsters in the Pro class, through to road-going Renault Clios driven to and from the circuit.

SLS drivers

Super Lap Scotland is beginning to be regarded as the ‘next step’ for budding trackday/hobby drivers to make their first formative steps into competitive motorsports. The relative low cost and easy entry to SLS, plus the recent adoption of SLS and similar series into the MSA Blue Book, make the Championship very appealing for those drivers who wish to compete at a higher level whilst building up their experience on track. Indeed, SLS has quickly become a feeder series for the Scottish Racing Championships with several SLS competitors now regularly lining up on SMRC (Scottish Motor Racing Club) grids.

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Round 1 however, ultimately belonged to Paul Ranking (Pro) driving his Subaru Impreza RB320. The Armadale driver had been the quickest driver in each and every session, including topping the qualifying times with a 53.435sec effort. That said, as Rankin rolled his car into the pitlane as the very last competitor of the day, his exhaust gave way just as he headed for the pit exit. That left husband and wife duo, Adam and Fiona Kindness on course for a historic SLS one-two. However, Ranking was given additional time to temporarily fix his exhaust and duly went on to record his best time of the day, a 53.337sec lap, on his one and only Super Lap. Indeed, Rankin’s performance on the day was the perfect SLS strategy – gradually building the speed in each session, making minor modifications to the car to improve performance and then hooking all those elements together to herald your fastest time of the day.

Despite, Rankin’s Pro Class success; each and every competitor out on track has the chance to claim the overall King of the Hill trophy. We could quite conceivably have a road-going 135hp/T machine trump the 450hp/T+ pro class bohemoths over the course of the season. Class wins and qualification points scored consistently across the season can easily propel a class F competitor to SLS glory. And, it’s potentially this facet that sees 45% of the Super Lap Scotland powered by Rockstar Energy Drink field line up in classes E & F (the least powerful).

The full class breakdown is as follows:

Pro – Paul Rankin (Subaru), Russ Paton (Mitsubishi)
A – Archie Bain (Subaru), Colin Dorward (Mitsubishi), Sam Elassar (McLaren)
B – Adam Kindness (Subaru), Finoa Kindness (Subaru), David Long (Caterham)
C – George Rigby (Subaru), Mark Dawson (Seat Leon), Blair McConachie (Caterham)
D – David Rybowski (Subaru), Paul Tough (BMW), Viney Chan (BMW)
E – Matt Collins (Porsche), Alistair Mowat (BMW), Fraser Jamieson (Renualt Clio)
F – Steven McNab (Renault Clio), Robert Jobson (Audi A3), Neil Methven (Renault Clio)

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One of the stories of the day was that of Sam Elassar; the Egyptian born Dundonian rocked up to his very first competitive motorsport event behind the wheel of a stunning, bright orange, McLaren 650s. And Sam admitted that the slightly cool conditions weren’t quite suiting the 650bhp, rear wheel drive supercar.

“With this being my first foray into competitive motorsport, aside from the odd trackday. I simply want to complete the event, have some fun and look forward to the upcoming rounds that should provide more suitable conditions for the car.”

With the confirmation that Rockstar Energy Drink will sponsor the series for the next few years, and another five rounds to look forward to in 2016 – utilising both Knockhill track configurations – Rockstar Energy Drink representative Craig Cowles had this to say about the impending season;

“We’ve always had an involvement in motorsport; we had a relationship with Gordon (Shedden) for a number of years and when this opportunity came along it was such an obvious fit for us. So, as well as being the official Energy Drink supplier to the Circuit, we will also assume title sponsorship of the Super Lap Scotland Championship; and from what we’ve seen on day one, it is looking really special already.”

ABoards

As well as all the SLS action on track, fans were also treated to a multitude of other activities with possibly one of our biggest season-opening Show ‘n’ Shine gatherings that saw upwards of 300 cars on display at the venue. Give that it’s only the first event of the season, we may need to investigate how we host such large numbers if the interest continues to grow. Additionally, there were also Hot Hatch Car Trackday sessions (one word guys – SLS?) and of course the customary lunchtime entertainment courtesy of Drag and Drift competitions/demonstrations.

You can find a full set of results/times on the MyLaps website:
http://www.mylaps.com/en/events/1252794

For more information on Super Lap Scotland see:
http://www.superlapscotland.co.uk

And of course, for more information on Rockstar Energy Drink see:
http://gb.rockstarenergy.com/

The next Super Lap Scotland powered by Rockstar Energy Drink event takes place on 21/22 May and advanced tickets can be purchased online now via the official Knockhill website.

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