The 2016 Scottish Motor Racing Club concluded at Knockhill yesterday in spectacular fashion (Sunday 2nd October 2016). Ahead of the event, several of the main Championships had been sewn up; John Paterson took another Legends Championship – his third on the spin at Knockhill; whilst Neil MacLennan – who had been the dominant force in the Formula Ford Championship this year – wrapped up the series with a few races to spare. Additionally, the Tore racer also secured the much-coveted Road to Indy test opportunity that will see Neil compete with other selected drivers for an opportunity to win a berth on the Mazda Road to Indy grid for 2017. Elsewhere, Gary Clark had already won the Scottish BMW Compact Cup series thanks to a stellar year. That said, on the day there were still five Championships and a number of Newcomers/Ladies Cups up for grabs.
Defending Champion in the Fiesta ST class, Wayne Macaulay, went head-to-head with his arch-rival Kevin Whyte for the Championship; with Macaulay trailing heading into the weekend the onus was on him to beat Whyte in the opening race to set up a thrilling climax to the season in the final race of the year. That scenario never quite came true however, as Whyte held his nerve to win the opening encounter of the weekend, to all but secure the 2016 title. Macaulay headed into the second encounter knowing that he needed a miracle to win the Championship, and despite another strong finish, Whyte followed his rival throughout the race to finish the season off with a 2nd placed podium to wrap up the 2016 title.
Similarly, Jim Deans headed into the Fiesta XR2 Championship races with his nose just in front of his long time rival Steven Gray – the defending XR2 Champion. And, despite an off-track excursion in the opening race of the day, Deans secured enough points over the course of the day to wrestle the Championship from Gray, who’d won the Championship in each of the past two years.
In the Celtic Speed Mini Cooper Cup there was all sorts of drama, cars spearing into tyre walls and drivers galore called to race control to sort out a number of incents on track. But, over the course of the day, Balgonie Motorsport’s Paul Bell secured enough points to see him become the new Mini Cooper Cup Champion for 2016 – with a fourth, and two third place finishes in each of the three Mini races – to fend off the challenge from five other rivals.
In the Scottish Saloons and Sportscar Championship, a trio of drivers entered the weekend with a chance of winning the title. The weekend also saw the return of Charlie Shaw in his incredible 1000hp Ford Focus and Andrew Gallacher – a former Saloons and Sportscar Champion himself – returning to the fray. However, it was Paul Brydon, securing a brace of 2nd placed podiums on the day who would be crowned the overall Saloons and Sportcars Champion for 2016. There were also individual class winners on the day as well.
The Classic Sports and Saloons series also sees individual class honours given out at the end of the season, with all drivers also competing for the overall Championship. And, this weekend it was a straight fight between Raymond Boyd and Jimmy Crow for the title. Ultimately, it was Boyd who’d amass enough points over the two races to take the 2016 Championship title.
Here’s a quick snippet of the action on the day:
So with that, another thrilling SMRC season concludes; it’s been a fantastic year of action on track, with bumper grids, some excellent racing and some new names coming to the fore to win their first SMRC Championships. We very much look forward to hosting the Scottish Motor Racing Club events next year and would like to say a massive thank you to all the marshalls, medics and officials who donate their time to help organise and run these events at Knockhill, and of course up and down the country at other motorsports venues.
See you in 2017.
You cat see a whole host of images from yesterday’s event via the Power-Images website, whilst results from the weekend’s action can be found via MyLaps and of course information about joining the SMRC and all its Championship classes can be found via the Scottish Motor racing Clubs website.
