Photo credit to; @torquetalkwitherin
Liam Kelso Sweeps The Newcomers And Martin Wijetunga Secures His First Overall Win!
The Scottish Mini Cooper Cup proved yet again why it is considered one of the best single make racing series in Britain with a fantastic showcase of racing on the Saturday of Knockhill’s Caterham Festival weekend running the anti-clockwise layout before the Scottish C1s took the track on Sunday on the “normal” clockwise layout.
Race One
Race one saw Jack Irvine take his first of 2 wins for the weekend while Liam Kelso came from 9th to finish 6th and best Presley Barrett to the newcomers win. Lap 4 saw the safety car deployed after a crash between Chad Little and Martin Wijetunga between Taylor’s Hairpin and Hislop’s which sent Little into the wall on the left hand side of the circuit which bounced him back onto the track directly onto the racing line with several drivers – primarily Michael Williams – having to take avoiding action with thankfully nobody making contact with the stricken and extremely damaged mini. The race resumed on lap seven with Jack Irvine running away for the win whilst Chris Cockburn, Martin Wijetunga, Michael Williams and later on James Hitchen were all left battling for P2, including a 3 wide moment coming out of Taylor’s Hairpin. On the same lap Hitchen and Cockburn attempted to go side by side down the Blackcircles.com Chicane resulting in Cockburn bailing out and running down the grass dropping to P5, whilst he started the lap in P2! In the end Irvine would take the win, followed by Williams in second and Cockburn in third to round off the podium, with Liam Kelso winning in the newcomers class. Wijetunga was given a 30 second time penalty along with 3 penalty points after the earlier incident with Chad Little, dropping him to the backend of the field
Race Two
After race ones fireworks race two would see reigning champion Chad Little – who suffered major damage to his car after the earlier incident – with the battle wounds of the 25 car clearly visible out on track – and Martin Wijetunga start from the back of the grid, with a mighty task ahead of the drivers they wished to salvage something from the final two races of the afternoon. The race started cleanly with Little and Wijetunga making moves throughout the field and a huge moment for both Presley Barrett and Chris Cockburn at Clark’s on the second lap of the race, with Barrett hitting the inside sausage curb flying up onto two wheels and into the side of Cockburn, sending Cockburn wide and off the track. Coming out of McIntyre’s on the same lap Barrett ran wide bouncing over the grass dropping two places but just covering off Barry Holmes coming onto the start finish to hold P6, going onto lap three Barrett, Holmes and Liam Kelso would all run 3 wide into Taylor’s Hairpin with Kelso on the inside line pulling off a double overtake and moving up to P6 also taking the newcomers lead at the same time, Kelso when asked about the three wide moment said “It wasn’t my initial intention to go three wide, but Barry obviously had the speed to get beside Presley, and I had the speed to get beside both of them. All three of us had a drag race that was as even as can be but I braked earlier to try and keep the inside. It didn’t matter though as both of them went wide, giving me two free places in one go.” At the end of Lap three at Leslie’s Holmes had a trip of the track luckily avoiding the barriers but dropping to last in the process. The race ran with battles up and down the field with Wijetunga and Little keeping each other and the crowd entertained. On the final lap James Hitchen attempted to make a move for P2 on Michael Williams, however this proved unsuccessful with Jack Irvine grabbing the win rather untroubled with Williams finishing second and Hitchen rounding off the podium in third with Kelso again winning the newcomers class.
Race Three
The race three draw saw Martin Wijetunga line up on pole position with Chad Little alongside, coming out of Taylor’s Hairpin on the first lap Wijetunga would keep the lead but behind him Little, Michael Williams and Jack Irvine would run three wide all the way through Hislop’s with Irvine hanging it around the outside which would then become the inside down into Clark’s helping him to take third but not without pressure from Williams into the Blackcircles.com Chicane. Lap two saw Irvine make his move on James Hitchen for P2 at Taylor’s Hairpin, running side by side through Hislop’s and into Clark’s where Irvine and Hitchen would remain side by side until the Blackcircles.com Chicane where Hitchen had to bail out over the grass and Irvine would slide through into P2, meanwhile during this battle Wijetunga would continue to pull out a gap at the front of the field. On lap three Hitchen would make battle with Williams, with Williams overtaking into Clark’s but Hitchen taking the place straight back at the Blackcircles.com chicane, with Little and Chris Cockburn battling behind them with Barrett leading the newcomers following behind the pack. Little had a look on lap four almost making it 3 wide into Taylor’s Hairpin with Hitchen and Williams with Williams pulling ahead into P3 at the Blackcircles.com Chicane whilst behind them Cockburn would make almost the same move for P5 on Little. Cockburn would move into fourth on lap five at Taylor’s Hairpin overtaking Hitchen. Meanwhile towards the front Wijetunga had Irvine all over his mirrors as they head onto lap six, with Irvine having a look at Taylor’s Hairpin whilst behind them Cockburn finds his way up battling for third place with Williams. There was small contact between Wijetunga’s rear bumper and Irvine’s front bumper as Irvine was almost shoving Wijetunga through Taylor’s Hairpin, however Irvine was unable to make the move into Clark’s, while the mid-pack continued to keep the crowd on their feet. Heading onto the final lap Irvine and Wijetunga battled it out through-out the entire lap, with Wijetunga dipping a wheel off the road on the exit of McIntyre’s giving Irvine a run on him, with the two having a photo finish with Wijetunga taking his first win in the Scottish Mini’s by 0.017s! There was confusion as the rest of the field crossed the line and Liam Kelso out of nowhere toke the newcomers win, with Barrett coming in 8th and Chris Cockburn nowhere to be seen. The reality of the confusion was that on the final lap into Clark’s Barrett and Cockburn made contact, with Barrett able to continue on to finish while Cockburn was unable to finish
Overall Standings – After Caterham Festival;
1st – Jack Irvine | 288pts
2nd – Chad Little | 218pts
3rd – Michael Williams | 196pts
4th – James Hitchen | 179pts
5th – Martin Wijetunga | 153pts
6th – Chris Cockburn | 152pts
7th – Barry Holmes | 124pts
8th – Presley Barrett | 97pts
9th – Liam Kelso | 89pts
10th – Campbell Scott | 47pts
11th – Robbie Dalgleish | 40pts
Newcomers Standings – After Caterham Festival;
1st – Presley Barrett | 232pts
2nd – Liam Kelso | 221pts
3rd – Campbell Scott | 116pts