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SEAT Cupra Championship:
KNOCKHILL 27-28 August 2005
Chris Egginton reports:
This was my very first visit to Knockhill. It is a very impressive track that requires a lot of commitment and precision. With the kerbs newly painted for the SEAT sponsored race meeting it was going to be an interesting weekend!
The testing on Friday was dry and went well and we managed to slowly improve the car through out the day. Looking at the speed trap data it was evident that I was not getting the best drive out of the hairpin and was a little slow over the chicane.
The qualifying on Saturday was also dry. The first session was a little disappointing, I pushed really hard but could only manage 10th place, in the second session I went slower but managed to qualify 9th. I was really struggling with getting the correct lines in a couple of places - and no one was willing to show me! |
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Race 1:
The weather forecast for Sunday was very wet - and it was!!! The rain and wind did not let up all day. We were the first race of the day at 9am. The conditions were really bad, heavy rain, standing water, low cloud and a lot of spray off the other cars. It was a battle to stay on the track let alone race. |
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For most of the race I was behind Adrian Churchill, I tried to pass a couple of times but could not quite get up to mount a serious challenge. With a few laps to go I followed Adrian into the Scotsman corner too fast and we both spun out. By the time I rejoined I was so far behind there was no chance of catching Adrian or Harry Vaulkhard before the end of the race. I finished a lonely 7th after 20 laps of nose to tail with Adrian Churchill.
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Race 2:
The conditions for the second race were slightly better; I could actually see the lights on the start line. I had a good start and by the end of the second lap I was in 6th position.
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I held this until Alan Blencowe pressured me into a mistake at the Chicane which eventually gave him the run on me into the hairpin. Jonathon Young also made the most of this opportunity and cut back up my inside - I lost 2 places in 1 corner. Alan and Jonathon had the pace of me and I could not hang on to them. I eventually finished 8th. All things considered I was glad to have finished both races and the weekend without any serious incidents.
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