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2009 SMRC Championship - Round 1
Ross Marshall takes first overall victory
with a race win and two 2nd places
A much later start than usual but finally we gathered for the first round of the 2009 Championship, this year known as the SMRC Grattan & Hynds Scottish Legends Championship following generous sponsorship offered by the Hynds’ family business. After nearly two weeks of almost totally dry and at times pleasantly warm weather in the lead up to the meeting the forecast was a bit vague. In the event we were fortunate in having a dry first and last race but the middle one just after lunch was on a wet track following a hail/rain shower. And it was not warm! A record entry of 30 translated into a grid of 26 cars with John Jon Higgins and Lee Fitzpatrick electing to ‘save’ themselves for the National round in two weeks time, John Marshall unable to make it and Murray Ford’s car suffering a severe mechanical hitch. We welcomed two southern visitors in the shape of Simon Belcher and Nick Brace, 2009 Legends Scholar, Martyn Lyell, out in the new liveried car 08, Tim Nichol in the identically liveried car 07 and a returning drivers in the form of Ross Mickel, in his trademark black livery, and Lance Gauld in his newly acquired car. Aly Hunter, Andrew Donald, Mark Lees, Frank Ogg, Alisdair Thom, Mike Hogg and Stevie Coull opted to join the "Gentleman’s Grid", these seven forming up behind the main pack but in front of any novices. |
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| Heat 1 |
Having failed to complete 3 laps in practice, both Ali Thom and Scott Hynds had to start from the very back of the grid. Sadly for him Chris Hynds did not make it beyond the pit road for the first race and so 25 cars formed up on the grid. From the front row Lance took up the running before being demoted by Simon Belcher on lap 5. Simon had Ross Marshall for company and these two fought hard to the line with Ross eventually getting the verdict. Ben Mason had moved impressively through the field from the 7th row and was on Simon’s bootlid at the line. Next up was Frank Hynds finishing just a shade in front of Lance. A bit of a gap saw Alex Knight squeeze home in front of Alisdair Gauld. And then came a veritable gaggle of cars with less than 2 seconds seprating the next 7, being led home by Colin Atkinson, not in the best of health but still managing to make his car very wide, from Pat Hynds in 10th. Notable moments saw Ross Mickel’s on-board camera case come loose and knock the gear lever into neutral at Duffus spinning him out of 3rd down to 20th but saw him recover to 11th. And Aly Hunter, after almost 2 years out of regular racing, set the fastest lap of the race. Heat 1 - 8 laps 1st Ross Marshall 8m 31.12 secs (72.12 mph), 2nd Simon Belcher, 3rd Ben Mason, 4th Frank Hynds, 5th Lance Gauld, 6th Alex Knight, 7th Ali Gauld, 8th Tony Caig, 9th Colin Atkinson, 10th Pat Hynds, 11th Ross Mickel, 12th Nick Brace, 13th Billy Wiat, 14th Gerard McCosh, 15th Scott Hynds, 16th Andrew Donald, 17th Frank Ogg, 18th Aly Hunter, 19th Stevie Coull, 20th Martyn Lyell, 21st Mark Lees, 22nd Ericco Palazzo, 23rd Ali Thom, 24th Tim Nichol, 25th Mike Hogg. Fastest lap: Aly Hunter 60.75 secs (75.85 mph) |
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| Heat 2 |
A hail burst followed by steady drizzle and it was ‘wets’ or inflated ‘new’ tyres for this race. Frank hit the front from the off and was never headed in a faultless drive to the flag. Behind him came the two Ross’ who’d been swapping places from mid-race with Ross Marshall just getting the verdict from Ross Mickel. Rather on his own came Simon. Next up was Ben, who’d demoted himself by sliding out of 3rd at the hairpin having forgotten to adjust the brake balancer, in a recovery drive from 8th with Gerard McCosh a shade behind. Tony, whose car was stuck in fourth gear for the last couple of laps, just held of Alex. Nick Brace finished an impressive 9th from 23rd on the grid, a fraction ahead of Aly who had Colin on his bootlid. Heat 2 - 8 laps 1st Frank Hynds 9m 39 secs (63.65 mph), 2nd Ross Marshall, 3rd Ross Mickel, 4th Simon Belcher, 5th Ben Mason, 6th Gerard McCosh, 7th Tony Caig, 8th Alex Knight, 9th Nick Brace, 10th Aly Hunter, 11th Colin Atkinson, 12th Lance Gauld, 13th Andrew Donald, 14th Martyn Lyell, 15th Ericco Palazzo, 16th Scott Hynds, 17th Billy Wait, 18th Stevie Coull, 19th Ali Thom, 20th Mark Lees, 21st Frank Ogg, 22nd Chris Hynds, 23rd Pat Hynds, 24th Ali Gauld, 25th Mike Hogg, 26th Tim Nichol. Fastest lap: Ross Marshall 70.58 secs (65.28 mph) |
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| Final |
Not having had a good day up to this point, Chris Hynds started from pole position and led until lap 6 when Ross Marshall, from the 8th row, came past with Ben, from row 7, on his tail. This pair then battled to the line with Ben getting the verdict by a mere 8/100th of a second. To the consternation of many Frank, who had got up to 3rd from the 8th row of the grid, suddenly slowed on the main straight (it transpired that his gear lever had broken off). This allowed Alisdair Gauld into 3rd place which he held comfortably from Chris. A charging Simon, who’d had a clash with Billy Wait mid race, made it back from 13th to best Scott Hynds to the line. With another impressive drive, this time from the very back of the grid, Nick was home in 7th from Tony, Gerard and Lance. Colin had a spin at McIntyres and Andrew unavoidably ran into the unsighted slow-moving Frank at the exit of the chicane. Ross Mickel was the only non-finisher having acquired a puncture after hitting a hole at Duffus. Final - 10 laps 1st Ben Mason 10m 42.49 secs (71.72 mph), 2nd Ross Marshall, 3rd Ali Gauld, 4th Chris Hynds, 5th Simon Belcher, 6th Scott Hynds, 7th Nick Brace, 8th Tony Ciag, 9th Gerard McCosh, 10th Lance Gauld, 11th Alex Knight, 12th Stevie Coull, 13th Aly Hunter, 14th Billy Wait, 15th Frank Ogg, 16th Ali Thom, 17th Martyn Lyell, 18th Mark Lees, 19th Colin Atkinson, 20th Ericco Palazzo, 21st Andrew Donald, 22nd Pat Hynds, 23rd Tim Nichol, 24th Frank Hynds, 25th Mike Hogg. DNF Ross Mickel. Fastest lap: Ben Mason 61.47 secs (74.96 mph) |
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Honours for the day went to Ross Marshall (570 points) from Ben Mason (520 points) and Simon Belcher (495 points) A very deserving Driver of the Day was Nick Brace. And the Gentleman of the Day Trophy, being awarded to the highest points scorer in the Gentleman’s grid, went to Aly Hunter. We should all give ourselves a huge pat on the back for exemplary driving by all with respect being given and shown one to another. Let’s hope for similar standards throughout the season. The next round of the Championship is on Sunday, 31st May. Before then there is the opportunity to take part in the Stock Car meeting on the evening of Wednesday, 20th May. If you fancy taking part, please let Aly Hunter know. |
Championship Positions
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