Super Lap Scotland set another record, with the series' largest entry to date. Round 2, the first Anti-Clockwise event of the year, had over 40 cars entered across all classes. Sadly some did not make it on the day, but the turn out was very good none the less. The weather was good, the paddock was busy and due to other circuit commitments the timetable was very condensed. This meant competitors had to be ready at all times, and spectators got none-stop action.

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, 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 whilst scrubbing tyres or finding out more about the track conditions. With a lot of new faces to SLS this year as well as motorsport in general there were a few timing issues early on due to transponders being positioned behind metal or in heavily shielded locations. There were also a number of drivers taking on the Anti-Clockwise Knockhill layout for the first ever time.

The top three times in the Pro/A/B/C session were set by Brown (Elise - 55.204), Dorward (EVO - 56.243) and Forrest (Impreza - 56.722).
The top three times in the D/E session were set by Tough (M3 - 59.452), Warman (EVO - 60.941) and Greenan (Civic - 61.301).

Practice

The drivers now started to push on, with some practicing 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. Understandable for those that had never driven the reverse circuit.
The changes to the classes and one testing location seem to have had the desired effect. Some close battles were starting to develop in most classes. The top of Class D was separated by just 0.2s, and E by 0.3s - Ali Mowat showing some good pace in his near standard M3. Class E also shows the diversity of the classes - M3, Prelude and Impreza taking the top 3 spots respectively. PRO was anything but close in the morning, with Andy Forrest blasting out a 51s lap to take him 5s clear of the competition. Showing again that the AFP Impreza had some serious pace. An early casualty was Andy Grady, who retired with gearbox problems.

The top three times in the Pro/A/B/C session were set by Forrest (Impreza- 51.856), Brown (Elise - 54.085) and Napier (Impreza - 55.850).
The top three times in the D/E session were set by Warman (EVO - 58.626), Tough (M3 - 58.836) and Mowat (M3 - 60.944).

Qualifying

Qualifying is scored, so the pressure is on to perform. Drivers get two chances at two flying laps, this give practice on cold tyres for the 1 lap 'Super Lap' Final.

Class E

Ali Mowat again showed his pace by narrowly beating SLS regular Allister Phillips by just 0.054s. These two were going to be hard to beat. Yumen Lai did well to take 3rd in his Clio, with James McEleney suffering from apparent braking issues.

Class D

The battle for the top spot in D intensified in qualifying with Adrian Milne joining the others under the 60s bracket, and leapfrogging David Greenan. Steve Warman took 1st spot just 0.6s ahead of Tough, who only used one of his attempts at qualifying.

Class C

Craig McCready was missing from Qualifying with electrical issues, but that didn't stop Stuart Walker taking all 15points in Class C. Stuart is a track regular, with racing experience. He was straight on the pace in his 997 Turbo S. Mark Dawson did well to take second with a large power and machinery deficit. TimeAttack competitor Martyn Henry took 3rd spot in his Astra VXR.

Class B

Class B proved even more competitive for Round 2. There were 3 new drivers (Brown - Elise, Gordon - Ultima GTR, Bain - Impreza) in 3 very well prepared and high power cars. David Brown used his experience to take top spot in the Automek built Elise S2, again proving that you don't need a 500hp 4wd car to do well. David Long took second, and Hamish Gordon third. Times across B showed a low 55 or 54s lap was required to win. Archie Bain's true pace wasn't being show with some interesting braking characteristics hindering his performance.

PRO

Andy Forrest again proved untouchable, setting a lap record and taking top spot in PRO qualifying. The car had suffered power steering issues <lack of>, so must have been very challenging to drive on its wide tyres. Andy Napier took second with a narrow gap over Eric Holmes in the EVO.

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 good - dry and warm for Knockhill.

Class E

Allister Phillips upped his game and took his Honda Prelude to top spot, narrowly edging out SLS debutant Ali Mowat by a mere 0.041s. Yumen Lai took a deserved 3rd spot.

Class D

Steve Warman improved his time (57.765) to beat the very consistent Paul Tough (58.634). These two had been close all day, and last round. Adrian Milne scored good points for the day by taking third. That is two wins in a row for Steve Warman, can he be beaten?

Class C

Stuart Walker again took first to take full points for the day. His time was over 1s quicker that Mark Dawson in the VW Corrado. Martyn Henry took 3rd to match the results of qualifying. The speed trap data shows the 997 of Walker has a massive advantage on the straights due to its torque and seamless gearbox.

Class B

David Brown had dominated class B all day, and took the win in the final. The Elise proving that lightness is as important as power. Colin Dorward returned to the podium to take another second place finish. David Long took 3rd, just 0.151s behind. Bain and Kindness both suffered technical issues.

PRO

Andy Forrest took 1st with a 51.745s lap. This was completed with no power steering, but still took a 2.9s margin over the rest of the field. Napier took second in the RA Motorsport Impreza, whilst Russ Paton stole 3rd from Holmes (both EVOs) by just 0.018s.

Full class honours are as follows:

	Pro Andy Forrest - Impreza (1st) Andy Napier - Focus RS (2nd) Russ Paton - EVO (3rd) Class B David Brown - Elise (1st) Colin Dorward - EVO (2nd) David Long - R400 (3rd) Class C Stewart Walker - 997 (1st) Mark Dawson - Corrado(2nd) Martyn Henry - Astra (3rd) Class D Steve Warman - EVO (1st) Paul Tough - M3 (2nd) Adrian Milne - EVO (3rd) Class E Allister Phillips - Prelude (1st) Ali Mowat - M3 (2nd) Yumen Lai - Clio (3rd)

Fastest laps per session:

Speed Traps per session:

Super Lap Scotland comes back to Knockhill on the weekend of 25/26th July for the Motors TV televised rounds 4 & 5. Make sure you book tickets 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 1 Pictures please visit - Power-Images or Flat Out Photography

Results:

Full Results