Super Lap Scotland Round 5 - Clockwise! There was a huge variety of cars taking part, as well as other events being run along side SLS - MSA British Sprint Championship, , Northern Sports & Saloons, Fueltopia Barrel Sprint and Gymkhana Cup, all helping to attract good crowds and create a busy paddock. On top of this, film crews were on hand to capture material for Motors TV. Round 5 saw a another record entry, with over 50 entries across all classes. There were two new competitors to SLS.

SLS is simple - 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, before progressing to the SLS Final; where one lap, that's right, one single lap decides it all. This final lap is often all or nothing, with some drivers throwing caution to the wind.

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

The warmup session traditionally sees competitors giving their cars a shake down, adjusting settings, scrubbing tyres or finding out more about the track conditions. No records are normally set in the first session of the day. The clockwise layout is much more familiar to the drivers, and the track conditions were much better than Round 4. Times were expected to be a lot faster than at the same stage of Saturday. Group 1 - Classes D & E - 2014 class D regular Frank Ogg set the early pace in Warmup, with a narrow 0.1s margin to Chan in the M3. Third spot went to David Greenan. Group 2 - Classes Pro, A, B & C - Andy Forrest lay down a marker of 50.8, signalling his intentions very early on. David Brown (B) took second with a new Class record (54.102). Andrew Barbour took 3rd overall.

The top three times in the Pro/A/B/C session were set by Henry (Astra- 50.845), Brown (Elise - 54.102) and Barbour (EVO - 54.702).
The top three times in the D/E session were set by Ogg (Leon - 58.711), Chan (M3 - 58.908) and Greenan (Civic - 60.109).

Practice

The drivers now started to push on, with some practising laps on cool tyres, or fine tuning changes to setup from the first session. Other drivers took a different approach and used the time to get maximum laps in to get a better feel for the car and further learn the track layout. Class E had Round 4's fastest all close at the top again. 1st was Collins, 2nd Phillips and 3rd McEleny - all in very different machinery. Class D saw Warman turn up the pace and leapfrog Ogg and Chan into 1st, with less than 0.5s splitting the three it was going to be close later on. Class C saw Henry continue his good form from Round 4, taking first with a low 57. Second was McConachie and Walker 3rd. The three drivers split by just 0.7s. Class B - David Brown again showing the pace of the Automek Elise, taking a commanding 1st with a 1.6s gap back to Long in 2nd. Wayne Sutherland just missing out on 2nd by 0.06s! Class A's only competitor, Jeram, again set a good early benchmark with a 57s lap. PRO - Could TimeAttack Pro-Extreme driver Barbour push Forrest? Sadly, Forrest sat this session out with minor niggles. Barbour took a deserved 1st with a 52s lap and a new P.B. 2nd was Paton and 3rd Lawson.

The top three times in the Pro/A/B/C session were set by Barbour (EVO- 52.898), Brown (Elise - 54.337) and Napier (Paton - 54.760).
The top three times in the D/E session were set by Warman (EVO - 58.586), Ogg (Leon - 58.671) and Chan (M3 - 59.160) .

Qualifying

Qualifying is scored, so the pace will increase and the pressure to perform is high. Drivers get two chances at two flying laps, this give practice on cold tyres for the 1 lap 'Super Lap' Final. Traditionally the fastest times of the day are set during qualifying. Track conditions were dry and reasonably cool.

Class E

With 14 competitors challenging for the win in Class E it was always going to be interesting. Collins took full qualifying points with a narrow gap to McEleny in 2nd. Allister Phillips took 3rd, doing well with exhaust issues. Yumen Lai and Keith Cowie are getting noticeably closer to top, so hopefully they will be in the mix at round6.

Class D

The battle for the top spot in D was also very close. The top 3 were split by 1 second, with Warman taking the top step, followed closely by the M3s of Chan and Tough. Paul Tough had to rebuild <bodge> a suspension bush early on, missing some of the early running. Times for D on the clockwise direction were very close. The top 7 all sub 60, with Walton, Dillon and Allen not far behind.

Class C

Mark Dawson took 1st with a very small gap to Henry (0.045s). Both FWD turbo cars showing very well against 3rd place McConachie in the Caterham, and 4th place Walker in the very quick 997 Turbo S. Stewart in 5th will be into the 59s soon.

Class B

Another lap record for Brown in the Elise. Class B now into the 53s! Dorward took 2nd, and Long 3rd. Kindness a close 4th, completing her first flying SLS laps of the day, still suffering fuel pressure issues. Sutherland too 5th with coolant issues, and Bain 6th.

Class A

Graeme Jeram again improved his time - 56.386.

PRO

Forrest will have taken note of Barbours 52s lap in Warmup, and noted that he couldn't afford any mistakes on these runs. His last lap was good enough for 1st, with Barbour setting another new P.B. on his last lap, later mentioning he was struggling to get heat into tyres. Lawson took 3rd, just ahead of Ogg in 4th. Napier, Rankin and Paton rounded up the points - all with respectable times despite having issues or being in borrowed cars.

Final

One final flying lap to decide the points, all or nothing. 100 points are available for 1st, down to 10 for 10th. Cars went out in order of qualification, with slowest out first, building up to the fastest car. The track conditions were still dry, but rain was forecast.

Class E

James McEleny showed some good pace, and reversed the qualifying positions, taking 1st from Collins. Phillips took 3rd, Lai 4th and Cowie 5th. Very close battles all the way through the class again.

Class D

Viney Chan provided an upset, defeating Warman for the first time in a final. Chan took 1st, Tough 2nd (both in M3s) and Warman 3rd, narrowly ahead of Jefferies in 4th and Ogg in 5th.

Class C

With nothing between Dawson and Henry in qualifying this was set to be a close final. Henry took the initiative and set a quicker time than Dawson, taking full points by the smallest of margins. His lap was only 0.004s faster than Dawsons. Walker took 3rd, McConachie 4th and Stewart 5th.

Class B

David Brown took full points again, but Dorward (2nd)was closer this time round. David Long took 3rd, with Fee Kindness an agonising 0.002s behind in 4th. Bain finished the day in 5th.

PRO

Andy Forrest continued his 100% winning streak with a 51s lap. This was slower than his qualifying lap, but Barbour was also slower than qualifying, but faster enough for 2nd. Ogg took a deserved 3rd with the smallest of margins between a podium and 7th! Ogg to Napier <same car> 0.074s, Napier to Paton 0.747s, Paton to Lawson 0.016s and Lawson to Rankin 0.063. it could have gone either way.

Full class honours are as follows:

	Pro Andy Forrest - Impreza (1st) Andrew Barbour - EVO (2nd) Jason Ogg - Impreza (3rd) Class B David Brown - Elise (1st) Colin Dorward - EVO (2nd) David Long - R400 (3rd) Class C Martyn Henry - Astra (1st) Mark Dawson - Corrado (2nd) Stewart Walker - 997 (3rd) Class D Viney Chan - M3 (1st) Paul Tough - M3 (2nd) Steve Warman - EVO (3rd) Class E James McEleny - Impreza(1st) Matt Collins - Cayman (2nd) Allister Phillips - Prelude (3rd)

Fastest laps per session:

Speed Traps per session: