Good results for Ashleigh at Knockhill

Ashleigh's Report:

It was race weekend once more and mum and I were doing it all over again, without The Boss for a second time this season! Prior to heading off, Dad and I had made a good few changes to see if we could pick up the pace, setting up the car from scratch and making the necessary changes we thought would help.

I had a hectic few weeks on the run up to this event so I was lucky enough to have Dad home, even though he wasn’t going to make the race weekend itself. He got every last thing ready for me which meant all I needed to do was roll the car off the trailer when we reached the circuit! Mum and I took off after my work on Friday, again they were very accommodating and I am extremely grateful of this! We arrived quite late compared to normal but merely half an hour prior to our arrival at Knockhill Racing Circuit, we received a message from Cliff and Allison Harper – This was them letting us know they had just arrived there themselves and they would wait for us to get there to help us get unhitch and keep a spot clear. Pulling up to the entrance, I could see where they were sitting, but that’s as far as we got… the gates were closed therefore we were locked out! What’s worse? The Harpers were locked in!! After a scramble to find someone who could help, we were fortunate enough to have found a man with the key – Who ever that was thank you very much, you saved us!

Bizarrely this early in the year, we were able to have a long lie on the Saturday morning – which mum took full advantage of! Once up and about, we did the necessary – pack up, do a fuel run and head to Baxter’s for a gigantic pancake! In May, we normally have four sessions for testing which I must admit, this time out I needed. However, due to a full days testing planned later on in the year, we were only getting the afternoon out of it and this meant 2 sessions for testing. This was a bit disappointing but we devised a plan nonetheless.

Team Clark were helping us again this weekend, and they all had the patience of a saint!! In session one I felt the car understeering a fair bit. I couldn’t settle in but persevered for a few laps to see what I could do. I came in a few of times for Steven Clark to make a couple of adjustments but 20 minutes was done an over with before we knew it. I relayed information back to the “Gurus” as best as I could and again it called for significant changes to the car. In session two I headed out with a couple of things to, firstly scrub in new tyres, then adjust to the new break settings. Team Clark knew I would appear back in for tweaks and that I did. I definitely had more pace but as we adjusted the settings and tried new things we were still not 100% sure what the best options were. We took the positives out of this session though and decided some fine tuning with the set up would help in preparation for the early qualifying on Sunday morning.

Saturday night was spent wondering what to do (and wondering where our food was!) While I went on an airport run to Edinburgh to pick up my boyfriend Ewan who had been at a stag doo in Liverpool, the Gurus formed a plan for me – And I was sticking to it!

We awoke to a bright and sunny Sunday morning, one of the team maybe not feeling quite so bright as the rest of us (Ewan… ) and headed up to the track! After a much-needed stern talking to from Steven Clark in the assembly area I was ready to go! We were the second of the seven qualifying sessions out and quickly saw the changes made to the car, make all the difference according to lap times! Mid-way through the session I looked up at the pit board and saw P10. I thought we’d cracked it so I kept pushing but not long after that I felt the car was a bit unpredictable which made it a bit harder to drive - drifting round Clarks wasn’t the best way to put in a fast lap! Other drivers improved as my quickest time remained the same which meant I dropped four places and would start P14. As I have said before qualifying isn’t my strong suit but I really didn’t think I’d end up there!

Frazer Huntly picked up pole position with Dave McNaughton in P2 and Grieg Sutherland P3. The Champion Gary Clark got caught in traffic which meant he had his work cut out for him, starting 6th on the grid!

Gearing up for race one, we changed the tyres, weighed the car and topped it up with fuel. Starting 14th wasn’t what I had intended but it would seem I like to make things difficult for myself at times! Nevertheless, I had to get on with it. I lined up next the Andy Mackie in car #53. I had seen the green waved flag behind me once everyone was in position so readily awaited the start! Now… from 14th on the grid the only thing I could see was the lights, not the officials post below it. The lights came on, and Andy and I prepared to take off as soon as the lights went out. When they did, we both left our grid positions as we thought the race was starting. The twelve cars in front of us however remained stationary… We both quickly reacted to this realising something was wrong. I stood on the brakes and rolled back into my grid position. A marshal was kind enough to let us know it was a delayed start then proceeded to let us know when the one minute board came out. Perhaps we should have known not to take off but completely unable to see the post our first instinct was to go as soon as the lights went out. Luckily, we were not penalised for this! When the lights went out for the race to start it’s a miracle we made it off in once piece as pole sitter had his car in reverse. Never the less I made it safely round turn one and as ever Andy Mackie #53 was in my sights, with Stevie King #7 just ahead. Race one was slightly uneventful for me although elsewhere on the grid I’m lead to believe it wasn’t, with good racing all round. However, track limits and its penalties were imposed on those who exceeded them. This meant the finishing order in which cars crossed the line in was not going to be the starting order for race 2. I hadn’t gained any places on this occasion but didn’t lose any either. However on the last lap, only meters away from the chequered flag McNaughton’s car came to a standstill with engine failure. This meant I moved up the 13th!

Crossing the line first was Greig Sutherland in #97 followed by Frazer Huntly who was not awarded 2nd as he jumped the start and was given a 10 second time penalty. The second step on the podium therefore went to none other than Gary Clark who made up for qualifying 6th. Completing the podium was Steven Goldie in his car #40!

In between races we got the car organised and ready to go, mum even treated #77 to a wash! The car looked magic, and as ever we hoped it would stay that way! When washing it we realised I’d lost a bit of trim, so I’m hoping we come across it somewhere soon! We were able to use the tail gate of Team Clarks big rig as a watch tower and see the first of the mini race without having to leave the paddock, it was great! I hadn’t been feeling well all week with a sore throat and bad back, the weekend wasn’t any better, so some family time and an ice cream was needed to make things all better!

As I noticed the schedule running early I was eager to get out for race two. We were called to the assembly area and I sat in 13th position. With the warm up lap complete I was paying extra attention to the officials post and reminded myself of Paul Clark’s predictions... Normal starting procedure was underway and as expected Dave McNaughton, who had to start from the back after his race one drama, was away like a bullet from a gun!

I needed to get my foot down and follow him, and make up for the place lost by turn one! Not three corners in an avoidable incident saw John Robertson from Blackout Window Tinting end up in the gravel where unfortunately for him, his car stayed and for the rest of the race as he watched from the banking. I diced with Andy Mackie AGAIN in race two! Lap one was a bit hairy with the commotion ahead, with cars running wide to avoid what had happened ahead of us. Car 53 was off into the gravel coming out of Macintyre’s so I darted to the inside of the track. Once back on the track Mackie had nowhere to go and no other option than to go over the grass at the outside of the chicane as cars bunched up. This gave me the chance to chase up towards Clarks corner.

We entered the corner just inches from one another shoulder to shoulder but he got ahead coming out of it, so my next chance to get by was at the hair pin! Following Stevie Kings line in I passed Mackie up the inside! One lap later he got me around the outside at Duffus – Only after watching this on the camera has it made me wonder where my confidence has gone, I used to do that!! Next time round we were side by side out of the hairpin as the battle continued. As car #23 soldiered on, we caught David around the back of the circuit where you could hear the odd pop and bang. He pulled over to the inside of the track but when I met him at Clarks I had no option other than to go around the outside of him, perhaps using too much of the run off and losing momentum causing the gap between Mackie and I to increase. I chased hard and when I was on his tail once more he lost it at Macintyre’s! I took advantage of this then hunted down Stevie King #7. As I closed the gap a bad accident at the chicane meant the safety car was deployed – I’m unsure of what happened but Liam McGill #62 looked to be in the tyre wall, we hope he’s okay! After a short safety car period and bad restart I was quickly under attack from Jake Hutchison #10. I tried to fight back but again he was away in the straights! Little did I know he was a lap down due to a puncture! I had caught up with Stevie King again and I had only two laps left to make a move! I wasn’t able to but crossed the line in P8!!

There was a rumour that one the drivers was excluded from the second races results… which would therefore mean I got 7th!! This position was confirmed!

Back on the top step was Gary Clark, after a race long battle for it with Greig Sutherland who crossed the line behind him! Following them and making it two in a row was Steven Goldie! Our congratulations go out to all of them!

With the race over, I got a phone thrown in my face. It was my dad. Having not heard from him all day it was good to get a chat with him and tell him about how I got on! After all the troubles, we had getting the set up more suitable for me he was really happy with how the day went, and although I wasn’t happy with race ones outcome, race two certainly made up for it with excitement and results!