GREENWOOD STILL A TOP LEGEND AT 73
As far as Ivor Greenwood is concerned, there is no such thing as “retirement”. The 73-year-old proved as much by claiming two out of three Scottish Legends victories at Knockhill to close the gap to points leader Dave Hunter.
Using nearly 50 years of stock car experience, Northern Irishman Greenwood superbly worked his way up from 14th on the grid to take victory in a stunning opening encounter, before doubling up in the second race from third.
He secured yet more valuable points with sixth in the final, won by David Newall, as championship leader Hunter suffered an up-and-down meeting.
Hunter trailed defending champion John Paterson and Greenwood in race one before claiming fifth in the second. But a trip backwards into the Mcintyres gravel following Duncan Vincent’s attempted overtake on Steven Mcgill meant Hunter could only manage 11th in the final.
Resident Knockhill commentator Vincent had looked like taking victory, having built a mammoth four-and-ahalf second advantage. But an overzealous attempt to wrestle the lead back from Mcgill three laps from the end sent the latter into the gravel, taking Hunter and Kieran Beaty with him.
Robbie Dalgleish catapulted himself into Scottish Mini Cooper Cup title contention with a hard-earned trio of victories. Minimax’s John Duncan retains his points lead but, after an eventful meeting, he left Knockhill just five points clear of main rival David Sleigh.
Sleigh led away from pole in the opening race but Dalgleish forcefully snatched back the advantage under braking for Clark’s halfway round the first lap. The pair stayed close until the flag amid chaos behind, with Hannah Chapman beating Duncan for third.
The leading quartet were unchanged for a comparatively sedate second encounter, but the real drama was left for the final race.
In a repeat manoeuvre, Dalgleish grabbed the lead from Duncan with a panel-bashing overtake at Clark’s which put Duncan wide. Title rivals Sleigh and Duncan then collided, sending the latter spearing across the track. Both continued with heavy damage; Sleigh finished second while Duncan only managed 15th.
Runaway Scottish FF1600 points leader Ross Martin extended his unbeaten run this year to nine straight races, but was pushed all the way in three stunning 12-lap encounters. Martin claimed the prestigious David Leslie Trophy, beating Jordan Gronkowski’s Van Diemen in arguably the race of the year. Sebastian Melrose recovered from a poor qualifying to finish third in race one, while the Mygale of James Clarke and GBR interloper Josh Smith scored their maiden podiums in races two and three respectively.
Tommy Gilmartin prevailed in a trio of excellent Scottish Classic races. Gilmartin (Morgan +8) used his car’s superior straightline speed to survive attacks from Raymond Boyd’s Porsche 911 and Andrew Graham’s Triumph TR8 each time. Boyd secured a hattrick of second places but Graham was denied a similar result due to overheating brakes in race two. Bruce Mitchell bagged the podium instead while reigning champion Alastair Baptie endured a nightmare meeting, failing to finish two of the three races.
John Cleland scored his first touring car win at Knockhill since 1993 with two wins in the Super Touring Championship. Cleland stroked his original Vauxhall Vectra from 1997 to both victories, beating a depleted field.