Super Lap Scotland Round 6- Reverse Direction, Anti-Clockwise! The final round or the 2015 season, and many championships still to be decided. Steve Warman and Mark Dawson were tied for the King of The Hill championship at the end of round 5. There was one new competitor for round 6.

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. By round 6 most of the drivers will be familiar and comfortable with the reverse layout. Track conditions were dry with a mild temperature.

Group 1 - Classes D and E: Adrian Milne (D) didn't get the memo about taking it easy and set a new P.B. and fastest time of the session on his 4th lap. Matt Collins (E) chose to do 15 laps during the session, making use of seat-time rather than practicing 1 lap sprint pace. In third was Paul Tough (D), consistently at the top end of the time sheets all year, in every session.
Group 2 - Classes Pre, A, B and C: David Brown (B) sent an early message to the rest of class B with a mid 55s lap despite having coolant issues. Adam Kindness (B) and Andy Napier (Pro) were 0.7s behind in their Imprezas, with just 0.008 splitting the pair. Kindness also had issues out on track and came to a halt just after the hairpin.

The top three times in the Pro/A/B/C session were set by Brown (Elise - 55.499), A.Kindness (Impreza - 56.279) and Napier (Impreza - 56.287).
The top three times in the D/E session were set by Milne (EVO - 59.337), Collins (Cayman - 59.641) and Tough (M3 - 60.032).

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.

Class E had 3 of the usual suspects setting the pace. Matt Collins took top spot again, improving his Warmup time to set a new lap record. Yumen Lai took 2nd, with a very respectable 60.698s lap and a new P.B. James McEleny rounded off the top 3, just 0.07s behind Lai. Three VERY different cars - Porsche Cayman, Renault Clio and Subaru Impreza.
Class D was all about beating the pace setting Steve Warman. Nobody could match him in this session, but Viney Chan came close (0.3s) with series newcomer Fred Walton a further 0.3s off Chan. The top 4 cars were all under 60s.
Class C saw the return of George Rigby (competed in 2014), taking the top spot in class by almost 1sec. Showing his hand too early? Hamish Gordon took 2nd in his Ultima and Henry took his Astra VXR to 3rd in class. No points for this session but some clear markers laid down.
Class B - David Brown kept his 1 second margin to Adam Kindness in 2nd, despite both drivers improving their warmup times by 1sec. Fiona Kindness took 3rd.
Class A only had Greame Jeram, but he was still giving it his all to beat the other cars in the same session.
PRO - Matty Lawson took top spot with a 55.4s lap, a good time for only his second attempt at the reverse direction. Paul Rankin and Andrew Napier took 2nd and 3rd but times indicate they were holding a lot back.

The top three times in the Pro/A/B/C session were set by Brown (Elise - 54.587), Lawson (EVO - 55.441) and A.Kindness (Impreza - 55.670).
The top three times in the D/E session were set by Warman(EVO - 58.815), Chan (M3 - 59.145) and Collins (Cayman - 59.219).

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 mixed for classes D and E with a light rain shower. They track had dried by Pro, A, B and C's session.

Class E

With 13 competitors challenging for the win in Class E it was always going to be interesting. Collins took full qualifying points with a sizable gap to Phillips in 2nd. Phillips needed to score big points to keep his title hopes alive. His closest rival, James McEleny, finished one place behind in 3rd. Keith Cowie came close in 4th, and Dave Acton showed continued improvement to come in 5th. Yumen Lai had alternator issues preventing his title challenge from gathering pace.

Class D

Steve Warman took 1st place in qualifying with style with a 1.2s margin to Chan in 2nd. Milne again set a new P.B. to take 3rd - new wheels and tyres working well!

Class C

Hamish Gordon proved the Ultima was very quick with a blistering 55.5s lap to take full points. 22B sprint series regular, Rigby, took 2nd with an impressive 56s lap. Martyn Henry took 3rd, showing how reliable his Astra VXR can be with its second competitive event in as many days! Mark Dawson consolidated his championship position with a stable 4th.

Class B

David Brown set the bar even higher, taking top spot with a low 54s lap. Disaster struck on the second flying lap though, and Automek Elise suffered supercharger failure. A.Kindness took second, but not without drama. His best lap (55.2) was disallowed for an infringement of track limits at the chicane. Officials notified competitors that they intended to be strict on track limits, and they were. David Long rounded up the top 3.

Class A

Graeme Jeram again improved his time - 56.107.

PRO

It had been a quiet day for Andy Forrest to this point. He was sharing Paul Rankin's car due to his own being shipped to Australia to compete in the World TimeAttack series, and driving it on track for the first time, so some acclimatisation was to be expected. Forrest took 1st with a very narrow margin over Napier. This 0.075s gap would prove very important to Forrest. Rankin took 3rd, showing good pace and a seasons best in the car.

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 dry, but there had been an earlier oil spill in the braking zone for the hairpin.

Class E

Matt Collins finished the day as he started, topping the timing sheets for each session. The gap was smaller this time round, showing the Porsche needs multiple laps to set its best times. McEleny took an important second, and Phillips 3rd. Very narrow margins between the two. Disaster struck for Yumen Lai - after fixing the alternator issues, his time in the final was disallowed for track limits. Had the time stood, it would have given him second place.

Class D

Warman continued to dominate Round 6 with a 1st place in the final. Milne took an impressive 2nd with another P.B and season best finish. Chan finished in 3rd. The top 3 drivers all setting sub 59s laps. Fred Walton didn't set a time after a dramatic spin entering the hairpin.

Class C

Hamish Gordon continued the form he showed in qualifying and won class C with a low 56s lap. Dawson had steadily improved all day and finished in second, with Henry third.

Class B

With David Brown having engine issues, Class B was there for the taking, with all for of the other drivers capable of setting a winning time. Adam Kindness took the win, just 0.5s in front of his wife Fiona. Archie Bain took a deserved 3rd after struggling with teething issues for the last few rounds. He narrowly edged out David Long from the podium. David Brown deserves a mention for limping the N/A Elise home to 5th and securing the points required for the championship.

Class A

Greame Jeram took full points with a low 56s lap.

PRO

Andy Forrest improved his qualifying time to take top spot from Paul Rankin. This must be a first for SLS... the same car setting the 2 fastest times of the day! Andy Napier finished 3rd, with Russ Paton 4th. Matty Lawson through caution to the wind, turned up the boost and went for it... but lost rear end under braking for the hairpin. He managed to get it tout of the gravel and set a time to score points.

Full class honours are as follows:

	Pro Andy Forrest - Impreza (1st) Paul Rankin - Impreza (2nd) Andy Napier - Impreza (3rd) Class B Adam Kindness - Impreza (1st) Fiona Kindness - Impreza (2nd) Archie Bain - Impreza (3rd) Class C Hamish Gordon - Ultima GTR (1st) Mark Dawson - Corrado (2nd) Martyn Henry - Astra VXR (3rd) Class D Steve Warman - EVO (1st) Adrian Milne - EVO (2nd) Viney Chan - M3 (3rd) Class E Matt Collins - Cayman (1st) James McEleny - Impreza (2nd) Allister Phillips - Prelude (3rd)

Fastest laps per session:

Speed Traps per session: