The Madman Writes - 20th June 2009

Welcome to the Racewall where our great month of International events continues with the staging of the 2009 Prostox Open Scottish championship. Usually, I would dismiss such an event as the previous running have failed to attract any visiting drivers but a large contingent of drivers from Northern Ireland are planning to make the trip. From little acorns, great oak trees grow and, this could be the start of something big for the formula. People with long memories need only cast their minds back to the early nineties when a little event called the Banger World cup started up with only a handful of drivers from other promotions. Now it is one of the biggest events on the calendar. I would fully expect that the Scots will be the dominent force as most of the visitors will never have clapped eyes on the Racewall before with its own unique shape which takes a while to master. Good luck to all the drivers racing out there.

I must admit that I was a bit sceptical when I seen the fixture list at the start of the season with Saturday night at Knockhill and Sunday at the Racewall for the Brisca F1’s. However it was an experiment that worked a treat with many of the teams and supporters from the circuit racing getting their first taste of stock car racing and seeing how close and competitive that the sport can be. Knockhill’s racing manager Stuart Gray summed it up perfectly when he stated that he would love to see circuit racing adopting the same idea with the fastest cars starting at the back which would make it more of a spectacle for the fans. Good as the Brisca F1’s were, they found themselves being upstaged by their little brothers with John Fortune driving a great race to win the final at Knockhill on Saturday night after David Polley and Bryan Forrest traded bumper blows at the hairpin. The World qualifier last Sunday was one of the best races of the season. Stewart Mitchell had his new car going to perfection when he rocketed into the lead about halfway through the final. Ian Thompson chased and chased him all the way and crept a couple of inches closer lap by lap. Ian was close enough at the last bend to make a lunge at the leader. The bumpers touched. Stuart went for a spin but Ian was unable to control the car and went spinning also leaving the door open for George Macmillan to lead home David Polley and Robbie Dawson. The formula has a week off tonight but has a big double header this coming week with a World qualifier at Knockhill on Wednesday before the Scottish championship takes place here next Saturday. One driver suitable impressed by his first visit to Scotland in an F2 was Henry King who had little to show for his efforts but promised to be back to master the track. Henry has had final wins at Skegness and Barford amongst his many successes in his best season to date.

The F1’s had spectacular moments with James Lund rolling his car for the second year in succession. Matt Newson led his rivals a merry dance to win the final at Knockhill whilst World champion Andy Smith won a processional Scottish championship from brother Stuart and Frankie Wainman jnr. The drama came after he crossed the line when he was power sliding his way round the pit bend and had a wheel snap on him which saw him drive round to get his trophy rather red faced. Tonight will be the first opportunity to see Saloon driver Gordon Alexander sporting the black and white checks on his roof having won a fantastic British championship here 3 weeks ago. Best wishes goes to Craig Barnett who will be out for a few weeks having suffered an injury when he clobbered the wall here big time at the British weekend.

The Stock Rods are the third formula on tonight’s programme and having witnessed three runaway successes for Jonathon Lattka last time out, he will start as favourite tonight to supplement that success.

Finally, thanks to my fellow commentator, Scott Keith, who dashed to my mercy last Saturday when the van I was travelling in to Knockhill broke down and he came and picked me up. He and Richard Kaleta are top drawer presenters and it was great working with them. If you are at Knockhill on Wednesday then top southern commentator, Nick Knowles, should be with us and we will get him involved during the night. Before that, Crimond is on tomorrow with the usual start time of 1pm. Now sit back and let the action commence.