Super Lap Scotland, powered by Rockstar Energy Drink, 2016 Round 2 couldn't come soon after the great turn out at round 1. The buildup to the season had suggested another step forward in the series, and there was no disappointment! A diverse field of almost 70 cars entered the second round with healthy competition in all 7 classes, showing the growing popularity of the series, and its transparent classification system. There were a lot of familiar faces from Scottish Motorsport, a few competitors traveling hundreds of miles, and plenty of new talent making their first steps into competitive motorsport. The amount of new drivers highlights the accessibility of the series as a grassroots/low cost motorsport.

What is 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. The format for qualifying has changed for 2016. Gone are the batches of two flying laps, and in comes a 15 minute open pit session for small groups of cars. This seemed to go down well on the day, but we would welcome any feedback on the format. Please email club@superlapscotland.co.uk with any suggestions or issues. Qualifying is still scored, so it is important to set a fast lap time!
The final remains unchanged, and still poses a stern test for drivers. The pressure is high to set a winning laptime with cold tyres and only 1 lap! It can be all or nothing as some have found out in the past.

There are seven classes (Class F is new for 2016), 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 F 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

Round 2 was held on the Anti-Clockwise / Reverse direction circuit. 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. There were a few drivers who have never driven the circuit, so there sessions would be key for them to learn the racing lines and braking points. Drivers were split into 4 groups to limit traffic on track and allow drivers more space. Warm up was wet, and there were timing issues to resolve.

Practice

The drivers now started to push on, with some practicing laps on cool tyres to get knowledge for the final, 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. This also now gives practice for the open pit qualifying session. Vital points need to be won in qualifying, and any hopeful 'King of The Hill' winner needs to score very well in both.

Group 1: Ian Pitman, Allister Phillips and Scott Robson (driving reverse direction for first time) set the quickest times of group 1 and class F. The track was now dry, but it would have still be quite green. The times behind the top 3 were all close with 5 cars setting 64s laps. Trap speeds indicate that most of this class is evenly matched.

Group 2: Alastair Mowat set the pace with a lap that was 0.7s quicker than last years Class E champion and class leader, Matt Collins. Paul Martin and Paul Tomlinson ran in this group, but couldn't match the pace of the E front runners. This looks like it will be an intriguing battle between Mowat and Collins.

Group 3: Keith Cowie, Stephen Henderson and David Rybowski took top 3. The top 5 in this group all setting 58s laps.

Group 4: Paul Rankin took first again with a 54.630 - a comfortable 1.5s gap to his nearest PRO rival. Wayne Sutherland made a bright start to his 3rd year in SLS with a 55.974 to go 2nd overall. George Rigby came 3rd in his Class C Impreza.

The top 3 times for each class in the practice session were;

Qualifying

Qualifying is scored, so the pace will increase and the pressure to perform is high. Drivers get 15 minutes to find space and set a winning lap. Traditionally the fastest times of the day are set during qualifying. Track conditions were generally good.

Class F

With 16 competitors challenging for honours in Class F it was always going to be interesting. Scott Robson took full qualifying points on his reverse circuit debut. His best lap coming right at the end of the session, signaling he needs heat in those Elise tyres. Allister Phillips made a good recovery from Round 1s engine damage and came home just 0.193 behind Scott. A further 0.082 behind was Pitman in his Impreza - now running some ballast from Round 1. Marshal Wishart made good gains from Round 1 to challenge the top 3, but McNab, Jobson, Wilson and Dunlevy were all snapping at his heels. 0.346s separating 4th to 8th.

Class E

Ali Mowat broke the lap record in this session, but was still pushed all the way by Matt Collins. Andrew Cameron took his heavy 911 into 3rd, with Jamieson just 0.4s behind his the Clio. 4th to 7th all very close again.

Class D

Keith Cowie looks to be getting to grips with the SuperCopa now, and set a lap record for class D. Paul Tough pushed him hard and wasn't too far behind with a very quick 57s lap of his own. David Rybowski took 3rd with a low 58s lap, backing up the pace he showed during round 1. 3rd to 6th all doing well on 58s laps. The next group on 61s laps were all very close, but need to find 2-3s to challenge the front runners. Sadly Fred Walton suffered gearbox failure in this session, calling an end to his weekend.

Class C

George Ribgy seems to go very well in the reverse direction. His driving makes for interesting watching (watch the youtube clips from SLS). He took full advantage of McConachie's issues and dominated the Class C qualifying. Robbie Wyper took a solid second on his debut, and Henry 3rd despite still suffering teething problems.

Class B

Class B saw Fee Kindness on top of the times with a low 56s lap, with Wayne and Hamish not far behind. David Long was a little off form whilst trying out different 1B tyre combinations. Tyres - Hamish was DQ'd for a technical infringement.

Class A

John Stevenson made his SLS debut and took 1st in qualifying at his first attempt on the reverse layout. His gap to Bain in second was comfortable. Sam Elassar showing better pace and ending the session just 0.018 behind Archie Bain.

PRO

Paul Rankin was 2s clear in PRO, and 4s clear of 3rd. Eric Holmes was showing signs of improvement but was dealing with car troubles. Andrew Barbour was suffering from front bumper and braking issues. Steven Darley finished just 0.054 behind Barbour in the road going Impreza Estate. Clark Sutherland took the crazy looking and sounding Toyota powered S2000 home in 5th.

Final

One final flying lap to decide the points, all or nothing. 25 points are available for 1st, down to 1 for 15th. Cars went out in order of qualification, with slowest out first, building up to the fastest car. The track conditions were dry.

Class F

Ian Pitman backed up all his early form and took the win by a VERY narrow margin. He was just 0.075s ahead of Allister Phillips, who in turn was just 0.160 ahead of Marshal Wishart. Three very close times from three very different cars. Impreza, Prelude, RX8. Robson took 4th, Wilson 5th and McNab 6th. Very close and competitive all the way through the class.

Class E

Ali Mowat took full points from the day with his first win of 2016. He was over 1 sec clear of Collins. Stuart Buchan took a solid 3rd in front of Cameron and Jamieson. A noticeable absentee was James McEleny who unfortunately had more engine issues for the second round in a row.

Class D

Keith Cowie couldn't match his qualifying pace but did enough to take the win from Paul Tough and David Rybowski. The top 5 in this class all trading close times around 1s clear of the rest of the Class.

Class C

Blair McConachie got things right in this final and took the win, with Rigby doing enough to take 2nd with a scrappy lap. Robbie Wyper rounded off the top 3 in his EVO despite suffering AYC diff problems.

Class B

A great result for Wayne Sutherland saw him take the win in the final despite close competion from Kindnessand Long. Just 0.5s spitting the 3 drivers. Unfortunately Wayne suffered engine damage on this lap.

Class A

With a depleted field it was down to Stevenson and Elassar. Both put in good laps but it was John Stevenson who cam out on top. Sam put in a PB lap to take 2nd in the McLaren.... despite not having the 'active' rear spolier working on his supercar!

PRO

Paul Rankin completed the full house again despite having no clutch in the car. He has a sequential gearbox, but ideally still needs a clutch to get the car moving. He was pushed along the pits to start the car... and post a 53.0s lap. Eric Holmes took a deserved second ahead of Andrew Barbour.

Full class honours are as follows:

	Pro Paul Rankin - Impreza (1st) Eric Holmes - EVO (2nd) Andrew Barbour- EVO (3rd) Class A John Stevenson - Impreza (1st) Sam Elassar - McLaren (2nd) Class B Wayne Sutherland - EVO (1st) Fiona Kindness - Impreza (2nd) David Long - Caterham (3rd) Class C Blair McConachie - Caterham (1st) George Rigby - Impreza (2nd) Robbie Wyper - EVO (3rd) Class D Keith Cowie - Supercopa (1st) Paul Tough - M3 (2nd) David Rybowski - Impreza (3rd) Class E Ali Mowat - M3 (1st) Matt Collins - Cayman (2nd) Stuart Buchan - Clio (3rd) Class E Ian Pitman - Impreza (1st) Allister Phillips - Prelude (2nd) Scott Robson - Elise (3rd)

Fastest laps per session:

Speed Traps per session:

Warmup	Practice	Qualifying	Final
		Speed Trap PDF

Results: to follow after event

Full Results

Full championship standings can be found here - http://www.superlapscotland.co.uk/championship.htm

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.


See you all at the next rounds on the 30/31 July 2016.

For more Round 1 Pictures please visit - Power-Images or Flat Out Photography