Saturday 24th May 2014 - SLS Round 2

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Round 2 Report

Super Lap Scotland Round 2 - Saturday 24th May

The first reverse circuit round for 2014, and first of the two double headers. There were some new faces to the Championship and the return of many familiar ones. Some of Scotland's most highly-tuned vehicles, spitting out upwards of 900bhp, took to the track in search of SLS glory this afternoon; all in search of one simple thing - a perfect lap.

SLS is simply - man and machine against the track and clock. Competitors complete two warm up sessions to perfect their lines and tweak their set ups ahead of qualifying. In qualifying competitors get a couple of attempts at topping the timesheets by completing 2 flying laps, with the top 5 competitors in each class progressing to the SLS Final; where one lap, that's right, one single lap decides it all. There were several close calls on these all or nothing laps!

There are six classes, all based on the power-to-weight ratio of each car; which allows even the most modest of road cars the opportunity to compete against the super-tuned monsters out on track; with points awarded for qualifying positions and overall finishing positions in each class. Meaning that, a class E competitor (least powerful) could easily take the overall Championship title from a Pro class competitor (most powerful) by scoring more points throughout the season, giving us an overall "King of Knockhill".

Warmup

Typically there will be no lap records set in these early sessions as many will be testing setups or even driving the track for the first time. Despite this, 5 of the 6 classes began the day under the 60s mark that many rate as a fast lap at Knockhill. There were close battles down the field, Adam Kindness and Jack Strathdee were 0.6s apart, Matt Collins and Jason Ogg only 0.2s apart in Class D and Keith Cowie, Bob MacKay and Wayne Sutherland split by just 0.3s between them. A great start to the day.

Practice

The second session normally sees drivers trying to get the times down in preparation for Qualification. Dave Herd managed a quick fix to his Fiesta and challenged Calum King for fastest in Class E. King eventually coming out on top with a 1:03.165. Group 2 had 10 cars at 57s and under. Very quick for the mostly unknown reverse layout. Shaw, Darley and Napier finished top of the times with a 53, 55 and 56s lap respectively.

Qualifying

Qualifying is scored, so the pressure is on to perform. Drivers get three chances at two flying laps, this give practice on cold tyres for the Super Lap Final.
Dave Herd took full points in Class E, narrowly defeating Calum and Steve King in the Clio. All drivers were less than half a second apart. Class D was also close at the top, with Jason Ogg and Matt Colins setting very fast laps, some two seconds clear of the rest of the field. Jason took the win, with Matt second and Calum Dryburgh third. Class C had been about three drivers early on, and qualifying was no different. Bob took full points with a new P.B. and Lap Record for the Class, with Wayne Sutherland and Keith Cowie coming close behind. The remaining four drivers were all split by 0.4 second. The final could go any way in this class! Adam Kindness qualified first in Class B with a 56.5s lap to edge out Jack Strathdee in the Focus. David Long had been the one to watch in Class A, seemingly getting to grips with the manic Caterham. He was pipped to first by Fiona Kindness on her final attempt. Pro had been dominated by the formidable Focus of Charlie Shaw but a surprise one off entry by Steven Darley in the blue TrackScotland Impreza (Fiona's car) was keeping him on his toes. Charlie finished the session in first, 0.5s clear of Darley. Andy Napier took third spot.

Final

One final flying lap to decide the points, all or nothing. 50points are available for 1st, down to 10 for 5th. Cars went out in order of qualification, with slowest out first, building up to the fastest car.

Class E - Dave Herd had the upper hand in Qualifying and used that momentum to take the top step by a small 0.2s margin. Second and third was even closer with Calum King pipping Steve King by 0.094s!

Class D - Again it was down to the Porsche of Collins and Leon of Ogg as it had been for most of the day. Collins took the victory by a tiny 0.1s over Ogg with Dryburgh taking third spot in his Impreza.

Class C - Bob, Wayne and Keith had been battling for first place during the course of the day. Keith Cowie took his R35 GTR to victory with a 57.006, half a second ahead of 2013 Champion Bob Mackay. Wayne Sutherland took third.

Class B - Jack Strathdee took the deserved victory with a 57.4s lap. Adam Kindness took second nursing his Impreza round to set a time.

Class A - David Long had the upper hand in the morning, but Fiona was performing better over the shorter runs. Fiona set a 56.402 lap, and David countered with a 57.448.

PRO - Charlie Shaw was made to work for his qualifying points, and again was pushed hard in the final by a flying Steven Darley. Charlie set a 54.037 to take first ahead of Darley (54.605). Brian Rennie came home in third spot with Andy Napier having a close call at the hairpin. Luckily he managed to drag the car out of the gravel trap to complete the lap to score vital points.

Following the final it was noted that the TrackScotland Impreza being driven by Fiona Kindness and Steven Darley was running tyres that did not conform with the regulations (MSA 1B tyres, Dunlop CR311, but not an E marked compound). This meant that both competitors were excluded from the results, and points adjusted accordingly.

Full class honours are as follows:

	Pro Charlie Shaw - Ford Focus (1st) Brian Rennie - Mitsubishi EVO (2nd) Andy Napier - Subaru Impreza (3rd) Class A David Long - Caterham R400 (1st) Class B Jack Strathdee - Ford Focus (1st) Adam Kindness - Subaru Impreza (2nd) Class C Keith Cowie - Nissan GTR (1st) Bob MacKay - Mitsubishi EVO (2nd) Wayne Sutherland - Mitsubishi EVO (3rd) Class D Matt Collins - Porsche Cayman Cup (1st) Jason Ogg - SEAT Leon Supercopa (2nd) Callum Dryburgh - Subaru Impreza (3rd) Class E David Herd - Ford Fiesta Mk2 (1st) Calum King - Renault Clio 172 (2nd) Calum King - Renault Clio 172 (3rd)

Fastest laps per session:

Super Lap Scotland comes back to Knockhill on Saturday 19th July for round 4, and the following day; Sunday 20th July for round 5.. Make sure you book tickets for this modified fest via the Knockhill website.

Thanks also, once again, to all those officials, marshals and medical teams who devote so much time to ensuring we can enjoy motorsport events like today.
For all the results and in-depth reports from today, make sure you hop on over to the Super Lap Scotland website or give their Facebook page a like ahead of the next event.

See you all at Knockhill very soon!

For more Round 2 Pictures please visit - Power-Images or Flat Out Photography

Results:

	Full Results