KNOCKHILL: SMRC

MAY 1

Despite missing April’s opening round of the Mini Cooper Cup, Kyle Reid left Knockhill at the top of the standings after securing a hat-trick of victories.

Although guest driver Aiden Moffat started the first race on pole, Reid was quickly into the lead on the damp track. While Moffat’s pole position had been secured in heavy rain, the downpour had eased and he explained that the car’s set-up was not best suited to the conditions. Malcolm Mcnab took the battle to Moffat and briefly got alongside on lap five but dropped back.

Chris Reid had a major wobble exiting the chicane at the start of race two, which caught out a number of drivers behind, most notably Moffat, who had been slow away. On lap four the safety car was deployed after John Duncan and Des Wheatley went off at Scotsman. Reid reestablished his lead while Morgan Murray got ahead of Mcnab to take second place.

Hannah Chapman burst into an early lead in the reverse grid third race. Newcomer Murray once again impressed and he took over the lead on lap three although, a lap later, rookie Robbie Dalgleish got ahead. Dalgleish, who impressed with two fastest laps over the weekend, succumbed to the form man Kyle Reid on lap five.

Wet conditions played a part in a dramatic opening Classic Sports and Saloons race. Although Tommy Gilmartin led from lights-to-flag in his Morgan, he had to withstand race-long pressure from Harry Simpson’s Ginetta G4. Raymond Boyd’s Porsche 911 made a good start and briefly held second but his car slowed with a technical gremlin on lap 10.

The second Classics race was settled at Scotsman on lap one as Gilmartin ran wide and dropped to fifth. Simpson pulled a gap and, despite Gilmartin’s recovery, could not be caught.

Neil Maclennan continued his winning form in the Formula Ford races with another two victories. Jordan Gronkowski, who won a similarly wet race in April, used the conditions to his advantage in race one and was rarely more than a second behind but could not find a way through. Sebastian Melrose took his first podium in race one despite a bad start, which meant he dropped back. Fellow youngster Jamie Thorburn fought back from a difficult first race to take third in race two.

It was a difficult weekend for reigning Legends champion John Paterson, who suffered engine problems. David Hunter was the main beneficiary and he grabbed all three victories while Stewart Black took his best ever result with three seconds.

Reigning Fiesta ST champion Wayne Macaulay was unstoppable in the first race as he romped away from Josh Orr. Race two came alive as Kevin Whyte grabbed the lead from Macaulay on lap three only to be passed by Orr at the hairpin later that lap. Orr took too much kerb at Scotsman on lap five and crashed out, leaving Whyte to win a tight battle for the victory.

Gary Clark dominated both BMW Compact races, while Ian Donaldson and Roddie Paterson shared the spoils in the Saloons and Sportscar races.