Former title rivals Brunton and Smith unite to win C1 enduro
It wasn’t that long ago that Finlay Brunton and Ryan Smith went toe to toe for the Scottish C1 Cup title. But last weekend they shared the victory spoils in the championship’s first-ever 90-minute endurance race, a result that catapulted Brunton to the top of the points standings.
A far cry from the regular 10-lap sprint format, the endurance event on the reversed Knockhill layout was a triumph for the Scottish Motor Racing Club, with the race only decided in the closing stages after four cars disputed the win.
Of the quartet, erstwhile points leader Sam Corson finished second on the road before a 30-second penalty for contact with Marc Nisbet was applied. It meant that Brunton turned a four-point deficit pre-weekend into the championship lead.
“I was a bit unsure about having a team-mate for this race, because I was conscious of the championship position,”
Brunton admitted. “But Ryan did an amazing job, and actually set the faster qualifying time, so it was a good decision in the end!”
Pre-event testing hadn’t exactly gone to plan for Brunton and Smith; a brush with another car caused damage that prevented Brunton from completing the second session. Still, Smith qualified the car third and handed over to Brunton at the mandatory pitstop with a lead of more than 6s from Corson.
That gap should have been enough for Brunton to rejoin in the lead, but Corson and Nisbet benefited from a safety-car intervention following an off for
Henry Gillespie to effectively bag themselves a free stop.
Corson divebombed Nisbet for the lead at the restart, with Brunton sneaking into second. Brunton’s attempt to wrestle the top spot from Corson allowed Nisbet back ahead, but Brunton inherited the lead for good after Nisbet and Corson came to grief at the Hairpin. Calum Conway and Nisbet benefited from Corson’s penalty to complete the podium.
Smith barely had time to celebrate his C1 victory with his 2019 title sparring partner. He was on pole for the final Mini Cooper race of the day, which he duly won, albeit in utterly bizarre circumstances. He ran third approaching halfway after being passed by Neil Hose and race-one winner and points leader Michael Weddell, but contact between the leading duo gave Smith a clear path through to the lead.
Smith then completed the nine-lap distance, despite the chequered flag not appearing. Thankfully for Smith, the race had been called at the original length since an apparent brake failure pitched the race winner into a fiery spin at Butchers on the slow-down lap. Daniel Patterson and Jack Irvine completed the podium, with racetwo victor Chad Little fifth. Jamie Blake earlier twice won overall among the R53s.
Liam Mcgill ended Steven Gray’s
Scottish Fiesta ST Cup winning streak by claiming both victories in a pair of hotly contested races. Mcgill led from pole in the opener, only to fall into the clutches of a charging Gray in the closing stages, with just eight hundredths splitting the duo over the line.
It was a similar story in race two, with Broddy Orr making it a three-way fight for honours before his spin on the exit of Clarks late in the race brought out the red flags.
Rain affected both of the Scottish
Classic Sports and Saloon races, with
John Kinmond dominating each encounter in his Rover 3500.