Round 3 hits Scottish Fans
This weekend saw the GT Battle Round 3 event move-on to Scotland's premier race circuit, Knockhill. Greeted by fresh surroundings and an exciting crowd, the weekend scored highly for teams, drivers and the local supporters of the Europe's best Drifters and Tuners for the special Dusk Stage date in this years calendar……….
The Knockhill circuit has great character with its sweeping bends veering on and off camber and the section of track used for D1GB was simply amazing. The drivers would approach at speeds of up to 110mph from the pit straight, initiating their first drift on the handbrake a hundred yards before the first corner. The first corner ( Seat ) was very scary for all as it trails off steeply down hill which is also a blind bend, with the drivers having to initiate their second transition half way down the hill!
As the drivers got familiar with the circuit in practice, a pattern was emerging of those who had the power and determination to tackle the downward slope at 110% to get the best result. In attendance from Japan was Mr Ueno, Top D1GP driver and owner of Vertex in Japan who flew in to judge the event and cast his expert opinion on the drivers and their exploits.
Drivers showing the most speed and skill throughout the day included Mark Luney, Damien Mulvey, Tim Marshall and Ralph Crampton who were all on a charge to see who could take the course the quickest and with the best line with Mulvey making the course look easy. Championship leader Brett Castle had car failure during practice and was unable to continue forcing him to retire and miss his opportunity to increase his lead in the Championship, paving the way for a change at the top of the overall standings.
After qualifying the drivers were paired up according to scores with the weakest against the strongest. The last 4 drivers put on a nail biting fight as crowd pleaser Phil Morrison took on Mulvey for a place in the final. With both drivers pushing to the limit Mulvey eventually ended up the victor and ending Morrisons day with a 3rd place and valuable points.
Tim Marshall in the Sumo 350Z was paired up with Stephen Evans in the Autoglym Skyline and with both cars built in the Sumo Power stable, there was a score to settle between the drivers with Evans putting in consistent runs to out drift Marshall who held back to watch Evans take his podium opportunity away and giving another 4 place for Marshall. The final was Mulvey in the DataCom S13 against Evans in the Autoglym Skyline with Mulvey once again giving clear and consistent runs which Evans was unable to duplicate, giving the lead and 1st place podium to Irishman Mulvey in his blue smoke machine.
As well as podium trophies, the HKS Hard Charger Award was awarded on the day to the driver showing the best determination and ambition, this award was presented to local Scotsman Kieran Cameron who had only just gained his Provisional licence in the morning and went through to compete and finish in 8th place, automatically earning him a full D1GB licence.
D1GB Qualifying drivers were
1 Ralph Crampton 99.6 2 Mark Luney 99.5 3 Phil Morrison 99.5 4 Ian Harrison 99.1 5 Steve Evans 99.1 6 Maciej Polody 99 7 Damien Mulvey 98.5 8 Tim Marshall 98.3 9 Declan Hicks 98 10 James Hudson 98 11 Ben Broke-Smith 97.9 12 James Grimsey 96 13 Mark Coyne 95 14 Mark Buckle 95 15 Scott Armstrong 93 16 Kieran Cameron 93 17 Brett Castle DNF
D1GB Round 2 Race ResultDamien Mulvey 20 PointsStephen Evans 18 PointsPhil Morrison 16 PointsTim Marshall 14 PointsMark Luney 12 PointsBen Broke Smith 10 PointsIan Harrison 8 PointsKieran Cameron 6 PointsRalph Crampton 4 PointsMaciej Polody 2 PointsJames Hudson 1 PointDeclan Hicks 1 PointJames Grimsy 1 PointMark Coyne 1 PointMark Buckle 1 PointScott Armstrong 1 Point
D1GB National Championship Scoreboard after Round 2
Phil Morrison 44 Points Nissan 200SX S14 Works Driftworks carDamien Mulvey 36 Points Nissan S13Brett Castle 34 Points Nissan S14aMark Luney 30 Points Nissan Skyline R32 GTR ( RWD )Tim Marshall 29 Points Nissan 350Z – Works Sumo Power carRalph Crampton 21 Points Nissan 350Z – Works SVA Imports carBen Broke Smith 20 Points Nissan Skyline R32 GTSStephen Evans 19 Points Nissan Skyline R32 GTSDarren McNamara 19 Points Toyota AE86James Hudson 18 Points Nissan Skyline R32 GTSMaciej Polody 16 Points Nissan 200SXPaul Vlasblom 13 Points BMW E36Ian Harrison 8 Points Nissan S13Glen Maher 8 Points Nissan S13Declan Hicks 7 Points Toyota SoarerKieran Cameron 6 Points Nissan S13Niall Gunn 6 Points Nissan S13Mat Steele 3 Points Nissan 200SX S14Ian Coyne 3 Points Nissan S13Mike Deane 2 Points Nissan S13Steven Shine 1 Point Nissan S13Mike Murphy 1 Point Nissan S13James Grimsy 1 Point Nissan S13Mark Coyne 1 Point Nissan S14Mark Buckle 1 Point Nissan Skyline R32 GTSScott Armstrong 1 Point Datsun Stanza WRC
For the first time Knockhill had the opportunity to host the Series and for the local Scottish fans to see the top tuner and privately tuned cars in the UK performing on track before their very eyes. With the majority of the grid travelling up from the South it was also a first for these guys to get to Knockhill and prove to the Scottish crowds what the Southern Tuners could do.As the practise sessions got underway and the cars lead out onto the track the sight was unbelievable. One after another each car pulled out of the pitlane in a procession around the track leaving the local crowds and marshalls with their mouths open in amazement at what they were looking at.
The grid was mixed from Ford Cosworths to Mitsubishi Evos and Skylines, not forgetting Nadine Geary in her Dodge Viper and Adrian Smith in the Fensport Celica. For most this was the first time they had driven Knockhill but they didn’t disappoint with the front runners in the Series laying down 55+ second laps and all on street legal tyres ( BTCC cars do 54 seconds on Slicks! ) Local Scottish track heroes Stewart White and Chris Doherty joined the Time Attack Pro Class in their pair of professionally built Cosworths, putting in some amazing 55 second laps and seeing off the competition and matching times of Time Attack regulars Simon Norris in the Norris Designs Evo 9 and Philip Keen in the Powerstation/Litchfield Imports Subaru WRX.
As the finals came in Time Attack, the local guys in their Cosworths showed their knowledge of the track and put their cars staggeringly fast around the track with Cossy powered Stewart Whyte laying down a 55.191 lap for first place, leaving only Philip Keen to closely match his time to file a second place for the Litchfields/Powerstation team 55.476 and third place going to Chris Doherty in the Scottish Escort Cosworth with a 55.953 lap.
In the Club Challenge Class it was all go with a mixed bunch of cars making the event in both 4WD and RWD classes. Nadine Geary put up an excellent fight against the Evo's of John Swift and Jason Shires, posting a final position of 3rd with a 59.906 behind Jason's' 2nd place 59.621 in his Evo 8 and 1st place man John Swift in the Evo 6 with a 55.870.
A first for the event was the new SuperBattle addition to the line-up where the top cars go head to head in an open pitlane to lay down the quickest lap with a set time ( 10 minutes at Knockhill ). Teams must stage their strategy to ensure they get a clean track without traffic to set the quickest time ( normal Time Attack is just one hot lap with one chance ). With the top 3 cars from the Pro class Time Attack going forward, once again Stewart Whyte in the Ford Cosworth pipped a quick lap of 55.012 being not only the quickest in the SuperBattle but also the quickest time recorded all day.
Time Attack Results (Pro Class) Time Attack Results (Club Challenge)
Stewart Whyte 55.191 Ford Escort Cosworth John Swift 55.870 Mitsubishi Evo 6Philip Keen 55.476 Subaru Impreza Type 25 Jason Shires 59.621 Mitsubishi Evo 8Chris Doherty 55.953 Ford Escort Cosworth Nadine Geary 59.906 Dodge ViperJohn Curistan 56.432 Subaru Impreza Steve Fitzpatrick 1.00.671 Ford Escort CosworthRobbie Thornton 57.312 Nissan Skyline GTR Nigel Wilson 1.02.582 Mitsubishi Evo 3Paul Blamire 57.540 Subaru Impreza GC8 Tony Pearman 1.03.082 Lotus EliseRob Barnes 58.824 Mitsubishi Evo 8
Time Attack Super Battle Results ( Top 3 from Time Attack Pro )Stewart Whyte 55.012 Ford Escort CosworthChris Doherty 55.306 Ford Escort CosworthPhilip Keen 55.932 Subaru Impreza Type 25
The Next GT Battle Event is:Silverstone – August 20th
