The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Race fans will flock to touring car festival
KnocKhill: Record entry for event held to commemorate track star David Leslie
There is a record entry for the second David Leslie Super Touring Car and F1 Festival staged at Knockhill this weekend.
Supported by Fife Council, the event is named after the Annan-born BTCC star who tragically died in a plane crash in 2008,
The championship first arrived at Knockhill last September when Italian racing legend Gabriele Tarquini recorded a double win.
This year an increased entry list has been received, with some of the most iconic cars to have ever raced in the UK again doing battle on track.
Super Tourers will head the grid but thunderous Group A Sierras, and new era 2l BTCC cars from 1992 onwards will also add to the line-up.
There may even be some cars of an older vintage.
Legendary double British Touring Car champion John Cleland from Galashiels will be hoping for better luck than last year.
He qualified third in 2016 but an engine issue in his Super Touring Vectra meant that he was not able to race on either day.
Stewart Whyte from Auchterarder also suffered heartache as he was involved in two racing incidents which prevented him from finishing either race in his Honda Accord.
Knockhill director of events Stuart Gray said that with a record entry of 15 Super Tourers, including cars from BMW, Ford, Honda, Nissan, Volvo and Audi, Knockhill officials were over the moon that the championship was coming north with more numbers than last year.
“In addition to a quality grid on track, the pit lane garages will feature a whole host of special exhibits that will be on display and being paraded too,” he continued.
“The complement of racers and show cars will attract race fans from all over.”
Formula One cars in the shape of an ex-Nelson Piquet Benetton and Fernando Alonso Renault, as well as a F3000 of Laurent Aiello, will also be gracing the circuit and entertaining the fans and, given ideal conditions, one may well set a new lap record.
The teams will be arriving in Scotland from tomorrow onwards for testing and, unusually, the Super Tourers will have one race on Saturday and one race on Sunday, making it a full weekend of action.