Scots racers show their true class in 2020 season finales
SUPERB SEASON
SCOTS motorsport stars ended their seasons on a high with a host of championship and race honours last weekend.
Paul Di Resta was a key member of the crew that saw United Autosports officially crowned LMP2 class World Endurance Champions.
The team rounded off a superb season with a fourth-place finish in the eight-hour race in Bahrain. They had started in pole position but a fuel problem cost them valuable seconds.
Nonetheless, the result was good enough to secure Di Resta second place in the drivers’ championship just behind co-drivers Phil Hanson and Filipe Aluquerque.
United Autosports had already picked up 24 Hours of Le Mans and European Le Mans Series LMP2 titles and the West Lothian racer claimed the whole outfit deserved credit.
Di Resta said: “I think everyone should be proud of what they have achieved in their first attempt at WEC. The team have had an exceptional year under difficult circumstances.”
Meanwhile, Fife’s Jonny Adam helped TF Sport take second place in the series’ LMGTE AM class.
He and fellow Aston Martin Vantage pilots Salih Yoluc and Charlie Eastwood were robbed of the title by a combination of a safety car period and brake problems.
But they can also look back on a Le Mans victory and three other wins, and team owner Tom Ferrier said: “After finishing third last season and now second, we are more determined than ever to come back next year and win the title.”
Forfar endurance ace Sandy Mitchell ended his season with another podium finish in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup decider.
The 20-year-old Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo driver had a major influence on the outcome of the Pro-Am class in the six-hour decider at Circuit Paul Ricard in southern France.
He and his Barwell Motorsport team-mates Rob Collard and Leo Machitski finished second in the race and third in their division overall.
Mitchell, personally backed by Black Bull Scotch Whisky, had won the British GT Championship at Silverstone just a week earlier.
He reflected: “To finish on the podium again and finish third in the European championship is a very solid end to the season. Everyone in the Barwell Motorsport team did a terrific job this weekend.
“It’s been a terrific season, with my first overall championship win plus the British GT Silver Cup, and a number of race wins, including the Spa 24 Hours, and podiums.
“It’s been a hectic second-half of the year because of Covid, and I have to thank everyone who worked tirelessly to make it possible to go racing.”
Elsewhere, British Touring Car Championship contender Rory Butcher completed his impressive season with victory in the final race at Brands Hatch.
Along with fourth and 10th place finishes at the Kent circuit, it cemented the Motorbase Performance Ford Focus ST driver’s fifth position overall.
The Knockhill-based racer said: “We really needed that to go into the winter. It’s been our first year with a fantastic new car. Our goal is to come back fighting even stronger next year.”