Andy Scott underlined his race-winning calibre once again at Croft Circuit on Sunday, October 28, rounding off the season with two further heat race wins aboard his Ford Focus ST T16 4x4. But the 15-time 2012 race victor was denied the chance to challenge for the MSA British Rallycross Grand Prix title due to a snapped driveshaft, yet Scott skilfully guided his Supercar home to finish fifth.
The Dumfries rallycross ace went into his final race of the season intent on Grand Prix glory at Croft following a mixed day of results in the final round of the MSA British Rallycross Championship on Saturday. Although the 55 year-old suffered right rear suspension unit and rear driveshaft damage yesterday, Scott clearly had the pace of the field, clocking-in fastest in timed practice and bagging double heat victories.
With damp conditions starting off Sundays action, Scott opened his MSA British Rallycross Grand Prix account with a charge through from the second row of the grid to secure a solid second place in heat one.
Starting from pole position for heat two, the 2011 MSA British Rallycross Vice Champion stormed to a lights-to-flag victory, expertly piloting the 550bhp Scott Trawlers-backed powerhouse home to a staggering advantage of over five seconds.
On a roll with the Tony Bardy Motorsport-prepared Ford Focus in fine fettle, Scott made a blinding getaway from third on the pre-drawn grid for heat three to lead from the first turn. Once again, the scallop trawlerman proved unstoppable as he collected his fourth heat win of the weekend, and 15th victory of the season.
The impressive collection of heat results placed Scott on pole for the British Grand Prix Final and, with son Marc Scott having just taken the RX150 title with a clean sweep of heat and outright wins, Scott senior was ready to seal another family championship crown.
Scott nailed his final start of the season, beating Pat Doran on the charge down to turn one to slot-in behind Julian Godfrey and, with six laps to run, the multiple FIA European Rallycross heat race winner was content to bide his time to try for the lead. However, his winning aspirations were sadly short lived when the driveshaft snapped on lap two, yet Scott somehow managed to nurse the Ford Focus through the remaining four laps to still take the chequered flag in fifth.
I am immensely proud to see my son, Marc, take the MSA British Grand Prix RX150 title in such style today, said Scott. It was wonderful to have so many family members down from Dumfries to see Marc and I race, and we are all absolutely delighted. Its just a shame that I wasnt able to seal a second family championship crown.
The driveshaft issue was probably a knock-on effect from yesterdays damage so, in hindsight, we probably should have changed the driveshaft as a precaution, but you cant change everything on the car just in case. The Tony Bardy Motorsport team has done a cracking job all season and we have the strong satisfaction of having been one of the fastest cars all weekend, so we can take a lot away from that.
