CSCC Knockhill 3rd & 4th July 2021

[Malcolm Smith]

CSCC have their first visit to Knockhill, racing clockwise on Saturday and anti-clockwise on Sunday.
Spectators allowed, although total may be limited to 1,000, and no pit access.


Link to entry list:

https://68403ce7-faa5-44b9-9ba0-313b...907bd614e2.pdf

[Paul D]

I'm in!

Although, I fear I may now be the only one on the forum doing it, as I think a couple of others on here who were hoping to do it have possibly withdrawn for various reasons.

Looking at the provisional entry list, the numbers do seem to be a little disappointingly low. I guess it's simply too far for many who are based way down south, but I think the club were hoping that the nature of the meeting - being a double-header and with the chance to try the circuit in both directions - would be enough to tempt a few more into making the journey.

But unless there's a late rush of entries (unlikely I guess), then it's looking like fairly low numbers in many of the races. So, from a purely personal perspective, this makes it more appealing to tick that particular box because, if the club don't at least break even on the meeting, then I imagine it's likely they won't return to the circuit for some time. Which means this may be the only chance to race there with CSCC for a long time to come. And as I've never raced there yet, I'm looking forward to giving it a try.

Now we just have to hope the weather gods smile on us...

[coppice]

Disappointingly thin , if not as sparse as I had feared . Well done to all those making the effort - but it is such a shame that , like Cadwell, so many stick to the usual suspects . I will be a steward and I hope life is as quiet as it was in Lincolnshire...

My first visit to Knockhill , and I am looking forward to it . Anglesey was even better than it looked on TV and I hope the same can be said of Knockhill

[Lancsbreaker]

As far as I know we're still doing it - I was speaking to my race partner yesterday and he seemed positive about it......I'm busy asking one of my mates who runs an Alfa GTV in swinging sixties, and has raced there 40+ times, for tips

One of the things he's said is that if its wet - its normally overnight and as we are first practice we might have a "damp" track......however we are also first race, just before lunch, so we'll be all done and dusted by lunchtime both days.....we can be spectators!

[Lancsbreaker]

Might now have a potential issue courtesy of Wee Nippie and the ban on travel to and from Scotland for certain inhabitants of North-West England - as my race partner lives in Greater Manchester, on the banned list from yesterday....

[Lancsbreaker]

Gets worse - milady has tested positive so we are definitely out.......

[Malcolm Smith]

Originally Posted by Lancsbreaker

Gets worse - milady has tested positive so we are definitely out.......

Very sorry to hear that, hope Mrs. M. recovers quickly.

[justracing]

I had hoped to spectate at this meeting but a change of plan to visit my son in Dunkeld now means I'll have to settle for the clubbie on the 18th July. To anyone who has not attended before it's well worth the effort, spectacular views right down to the Forth bridges, weather permitting!

[Malcolm Smith]

Paul D about to race at Knockhill.

[Gerard C]

Is Paul a passenger? Go, Paul, go and have fun!

[Lancsbreaker]

Saturday went OK for Paul - finished 3rd overall in Future Classics, second in class. Sunday, reverse direction, wasn't as fortunate as he'd dropped some 25 seconds on one lap, then Safety Car was triggered whilst he was on his pit-stop, and race eventually red-flagged after 25 minutes, with Paul pretty much last in Future Classics.

[Gerard C]

Well done for Sat', Paul.

[Paul D]

Thanks everyone!

We had a very enjoyable weekend up at Knockhill, and were blessed with pretty decent weather for the most part.

And good also to meet up with Malcolm to put a face to the name of another Tenther!

The only let-down from the weekend was, as already mentioned, a somewhat disappointing second race: had a huge spin early on at the chicane (downhill going anti-clockwise) from which I was lucky to emerge unscathed, but it did cost me at least 25 seconds.

Then when I pitted a few laps later, I had to serve my winner's penalty, so the total time lost at that point was enough to put me at the back of the field. But I was confident that, in the second half of the race, I'd be able to claw back a good few places and have a bit of fun in the process.

Sadly, it wasn't to be, as I only got one flying lap in after leaving the pits before the SC was deployed for a TVR that had gone into the tyre wall at the exit of the hairpin. Then things seemed to get a bit haywire as we were left cruising around behind the SC for about 10 minutes, with seemingly random decisions being made about whether or not to wave cars past and try to pick up the leader, as well as, initially, not much appearing to be done about clearing the TVR to get us racing again. Then, after wasting 10 minutes of the race with us all following the SC, the decision was suddenly made to red-flag it! By which time, there was only about five minutes left on the clock, so it was declared a result!

Had it been red-flagged straight away, there would have been around half of the race to go, and we could have had a re-start and a chance to make up some of that lost time. The meeting was running ahead of schedule at that point, so the time to re-start it was available. Anyone who was a second driver in any of the cars never got a single flying lap in - all they got was six or seven laps behind the SC. Understandably, a few people weren't too happy at the decisions made.

Me? Well... it would have been nice to have had the opportunity to go chasing after some of those lost positions, but with a total of around 50 seconds lost due to the spin and then the winner's penalty in the first half of the race, it was never going to be my day was it? So maybe that makes it easier for me to be philosophical about the fiasco that ensued in the second half of the race?

Still, an enjoyable weekend overall, and I still came away with an award for second in class and a podium finish in the first race.

[Gerard C]

Well done Paul, you had fun, finished and didn't wreck the car (good looking by the way). What did you miss on Sunday? A long while driving behind the SC which sounds like a wedding car procession!
We had a lot of interest following our mates at Bugatti this weekend. Trick of the day was to define when you've better enter the pits during the mandatory window: during a FCY or during a SC period? Fact is they had FCY then SC during a 2 hr race!!! Headache for sure…

[coppice]

I very much enjoyed my first trip there and so did everybody else I spoke to who were also there for the first time . Great viewing , friendly locals and helpful and responsive officials.

[Malcolm Smith]

Had a very enjoyable weekend, great to see cars that had not raced in Scotland before.
Pleasure to meet Paul, he put in very respectable times for someone who had no previous experience of the track before Saturday qualifying.
Like him, I found the seemingly random permission for some competitors to pass the safety car in his second race baffling.
The result was that the clear leader prior to SC, who also had an efficient pit stop, declared third at the finish.
Of the other races, I particularly liked Swinging Sixties. The performance of Simon Bennoy, Hillman Imp, winning in the rain, was exceptional.
Hopefully the CSCC will deem the event to have been successful and will return in future.

[Lancsbreaker]

Thanks to Paul for more detail - sorry I thought the SC was out during his pit-stop - the Speedhive app wasn't as easy to follow as the TSL timing that I'm used to


Some suggestion on the CSCC FB page that they were unhappy with driving standards under the SC, but I've no idea what that was about, unless it was people who had been waved past - which I've always found a difficult concept to get my head around......


Great shame that the dreaded virus caused us to miss our first visit to KH - I'd like to think CSCC will return, but with the levels of support, I doubt it. The racing fraternity does seem to be heavily biassed to the "anything north of Donington is the badlands, and even Donny is a bit far North" mindset....

[Paul D]

Having reviewed my in-car video from the second race, I can now see that the TVR was just going into the wall as I exited the pits - I can just see it unfolding on the video. Seems like he locked up in a big way under braking - there was another car close and I can't tell if there was contact, but the TVR gets half way round the hairpin then just goes straight off into the tyres.

Half way around that lap (at the entry to the chicane), the yellows & SC board were out - so I didn't actually get a flying lap in after my pit stop.

We then passed the scene at least twice before there was any sign of activity and around five minutes passed before the first response vehicle (doctor's car) arrived. Next time around a pickup truck had arrived, but didn't seem to be doing anything. A couple more laps went by with nothing much happening, then the recovery truck appeared - must be about eight minutes after the incident by now. Then a couple more laps and it was red-flagged, probably 10 or 11 minutes after the incident.

Cant speak for anyone else, but once I was waved past the SC, I drove most of the ensuing laps at around 75 - 80% of race pace (as I understand it, once waved past, we're supposed to keep up a safe but fast pace to close up any gaps in the snake), except when passing the scene, at which point I slowed to below 50% race pace and kept my car tight to the opposite side of the track from where the marshals were working. I saw no evidence of anyone being put in any significant danger, but would add the caveat that I cant say how others were driving past the scene.

[Malcolm Smith]

Photos from Knockhill:

[Malcolm Smith]

Photos 2:

[Malcolm Smith]

Photos 3:

[coppice]

Lovely shots, thank you. Highlights for me were the sight and sound of the silver grey Tuscan squirming under power out of the hairpin in anti clockwise mode and the glorious howl of TR5s and TR6s accelerating out of the hairpin clockwise, especially when running together .

A week earlier I'd ben watching a full grid of F355/430/458/488s in FOC meeting at Croft . And they sounded as awful as Ferrari V8s always do . Pretty damn quick though.

[E.B]

Originally Posted by Malcolm Smith

Photos from Knockhill:

Hehehe the Winfield (oops sorry Win*****) Godzilla/GT-R R 32 looks a little familiar to those from my part of the world.

As does the Diet Coke BMW but I'm sure the one raced by Brabham jnr. / Frank Gardner's team was not the only Diet Coke liveried examples on the planet

[Gerard C]

What a nice piece of plumbing this Nissan! Cant imagine the power. Thanks for sharing.

[andy97]

Originally Posted by Lancsbreaker

I'd like to think CSCC will return, but with the levels of support, I doubt it. The racing fraternity does seem to be heavily biassed to the "anything north of Donington is the badlands, and even Donny is a bit far North" mindset....

I had to withdraw as I am working on a project in Devon that is proving very demanding of time and energy, and has been extended to August ( have also had to cancel at rally entry at Anglesey). I, too, hope that CSCC will,return to Knockhill some time soon.
People happily travel to Spa but find jaunts in the U.K. to Cadwell, Anglesey, Croft or Knockhill to be a pain.