Photo credits to; PZ Media
The Scottish Modsports did not disappoint at Knockhill’s Caterham festival last weekend, with action up and down the order and Ron Cumming racing two cars in series on the same weekend! The KMSC Scottish Modsports had four races over the weekend, with drivers such as reigning champion Adam Morrison in class D and Scotland’s first paraplegic racing driver in Ally Chalmers in class G all competing over the weekend!
Saturday – Race One;
Twelve minutes were left to decide race one in race one for the multi-class modsports championship, as the race begin Ron Cummings – in class A1 – and Mark Thomson – in class A2 – raced side by side through Hislop’s until suddenly and dramatically Cumming nemesis left the track and hit the wall at extremely high speed, with Cumming appearing to suffer with a stuck throttle. Thankfully Cumming was able to get out of the car under his own strength and appeared unhurt, however his nemesis was a different story. The nemesis suffered extreme front damaged with the noise cone and front suspension all being written off, writing the car off for the weekend. Seemly ending Cumming’s round early, for now. During the red flag delay, the live BARC stream was having some fun on the pit wall shouting over to Michael Barron trying to grab a quick chat. Rather unsurprisingly. Barron couldn’t hear the presenter although the effort deserved an A*!
There was no pole sitter on the restart after Ron Cummings crash leaving Mark Thomson to inherit pole, although having a poor start losing first, Thomson was however able to regain first position before the first corner in his nemesis. Andrew Patterson – in class E – retired with just over four minutes to go after his BMW 318iS started smoking early on in the race, prompting the number #69 to retire from the race. Craig Houston – in class D – also suffered a mechanical DNF with just under three minutes left, his 91 Lotus Eclat keeping the marshals at Hislop’s busy with the live broadcast showing the car smoking as a marshal attempted to push it down into the rallycross circuit under double waved yellow flags, requiring no safety car intervention to clear the Lotus. The chequered flag brought a bit of confusion about whether Thomson the race leader had crossed the line in time for two laps or just the one, causing confusing with Thomson taking the flag twice, although no action was taken on this.
Winners;
Overall 1st, 2nd, 3rd – Mark Thomson, Paul Smith, Adam Morrison
A1 – Mark Thomson
A2 – Peter Maxwell
C – Paul Smith
D – Adam Morrison
E – Andrew Cowie
F – Andrew Herron
G – Michael Imrie
I’m happy to report that Ian Waterhouse – the BARC presenter – was able to catch Michael Barron after the race after trying to talk to him while he was sat on the grid waiting on the restart, love to see it!
Saturday – Race Two;
Saturday’s final race for the modsports saw no Ron Cummings lining up on the grid after his crash earlier, with Mark Thomson checking our in the lead from the very start, leaving Adam Morrison to fight it out with Michael Barron and Paul Smith for the podium places, until Michael Barron suffered issues coming out of Clarks and pulling of to retire at Leslie’s, an unfortunate end to the day for the quick looking BMW, with four minutes to go Peter Maxwell after looking quick in his Ford Escort Cosworth starting having issues with his car exiting Clark’s pulling into the pitlane, only three corners down the road at McIntyre’s Ally Chalmers broke late and made contact with Andrew Heron sending him off the track on the left hand side, with Heron doing well to avoid spinning but however stopping and taking a while to re-join. Mark Thomson kept his lead all the way to the flag to take both overall wins on Saturday, however on the final lap Louise Strachan in class D broke down after Taylor’s Hairpin
Winners;
Overall 1st, 2nd, 3rd – Mark Thomson, Paul Smith, Adam Morrison
A1 – Mark Thomson
A2 – N/F – No Finishers
C – Paul Smith
D – Adam Morrison
E – Andrew Cowie
F – Andrew Herron
G – Michael Imrie
Sunday – Race One;
The headline coming into Sunday was one of Ron Cumming’s return! Cumming managed to get another car overnight and under 24 hours after leaving the track with a destroyed nemesis he came back with a very impressive AC3000ME in the morning. Mark Thomson – Cumming’s championship rival – was asked about Cumming on the BARC live stream saying “I don’t know where he keeps pulling these cars from!” Thomson was also asked why he races a radical and he simply replied “because their fast!” Cumming was asked about where the car came from and he told the BARC live stream that he’d raced it back in the 80’s at the now defunct Ingliston circuit, he also listed off over ten race cars he has, including two formula two cars and three formula three cars! Cumming also when asked about the nemesis’s condition said that the car “will be” okay but the “chassis has some serious damage to it… nothing we won’t sort”
Onwards to the racing where Ron Cumming in his – very very low to the ground – AC3000ME will line up third while his championship rival Mark Thomson lines up on pole in his radical along side Paul Smith in second! Adam Kindness stalled completely on the grid however everybody was able to avoid the stricken Mini which would get going at the back of the field. Cumming made his way up to second quickly but it became apparent early on that it would be a challenge to catch Thomson in the lead. On lap three Philp Webster – in class D – pulled in and retired with mechanical issues and the rear bumper scrapping along the floor. Michael Barron had an extremely scary moment with just under 8 minutes to go spinning on the entry to the Blackcircles.com Chicane and stopping sideways on the racing line, blind to oncoming traffic! Louise Strachan came up the hill and screeched to a halt locking both tyres but missing the stricken Barron, she makes her way around him and Barron just gets out the way of the next lot of cars in time and pulls off to the marshal post. Two minutes to go and Cumming had closed the gap rapidly to Thomson, with both cars in the same shot and Cumming all over the mirrors of the radical until Cummings spins coming out of Clark’s! Leaving Thomson to grab the win with little to no trouble – Cummings was able to re-join however losing a position to Paul Smith.
Winners;
Overall 1st, 2nd, 3rd – Mark Thomson, Paul Smith, Ron Cumming
A1 – Mark Thomson
A2 – Ron Cumming
C – Paul Smith
D – Adam Morrison
E – Andrew Cowie
F – Andrew Herron
G – Michael Imrie
Sunday – Race Two;
The final race of the weekend sae Mark Thomson lead on the first lap with Ron Cumming in P2 and Ally Chalmers have a very slow getaway, just avoiding stalling the car. Adam Kindness, Michael Barron and Rob Docherty all entertained the fans with a proper ding-song battle for some amount of laps in the mid point of the race, just as Cummings unexpectedly retired from the race due to technical issues. All but sealing four out of four wins for Thomson, a unique stat that he was won two races on two layouts in two days – two wins on each day that is! Rob Docherty ran wide out of Taylor’s Hairpin with around 6 minutes to go letting Kindness through before re-overtaking the mini before having a huge Gordon Shedden inspired moment coming out of the Blackcircles.com Chicane on the next lap! He regathered the car and kept the position on Kindness. Adam Morrison was the next victim of reliability issues after he went off somewhere around the lap he blocked the radiator with grass causing the car to overheat and Morrison to pull off at Clark’s and slam the door in frustration!
Winners;
Overall 1st, 2nd, 3rd – Mark Thomson, Paul Smith, Ron Cumming
A1 – Mark Thomson
A2 – N/F – No Finishers
C – Paul Smith
D – Michael Barron
E – Andrew Cowie
F – Andrew Herron
G – Michael Imrie
Another action packed weekend means that Mark Thomson closes the gap on Ron Cummings in the championship standings after Cummings is only able to finish one race out of four in the weekend. Drama from all corners of the field demonstrating the life of the KMSC Modsports Championship!