Car Racing
Car racing photos
Car racing videos
2019 Season
The overall summary is that I finished third in the championship!
At one point it looked like I might win it, but I didn’t handle the pressure very well in July, and wasted the opportunity of three races without Jack (the eventual winner) and a disastrous corner in September finished it off.
To save you going through all the videos, I have made a compilation of the best (and worst bits) of the season
SMRC Meeting, Knockhill 06/10/19
Race 1
The rain was so heavy that we had a Yellow Weather Warning from the Met Office warning about driving conditions, and we started our race behind the safety car.
The visibility wasn’t great, but it was a lot of fun 
Race 2
Championship decider for 2019! The winner could be any one of Jack, Peter, me or Stewart … Spoiler alert – it was Jack, but Peter took second place in the championship, and I was third – my best result ever. I couldn’t have done it without the support of Paul Curtis and the team at PCR – thank you.
The eagle-eyed among you will have seen the yellow flags after Jen’s car went off – about 5 minutes in – unfortunately I didn’t see them in time, and I was rightly penalised by the clerk of the course after the race. Visibility was poor, but I will do better next time out.
SMRC Meeting, Knockhill 01/09/19
Race 1
Another anti-clockwise race, finished in 6th
Race 2
After a good start, I was hoping this was going to be a better race – but I spent too much time looking at the two cars challenging behind me, and I missed the braking point into the hairpin. Unfortunately, I hit Stewart Scott hard and took us both out of the race – entirely my own fault, and very unfortunate for Stewart who had a great weekend in July.
SMRC Meeting, Knockhill 20, 21/07/19
I was so encouraged by the two race wins in June, that I came home from holiday in Mallorca to take part in the July meeting.
Spoiler alert – I should have stayed on the beach.
At the end of the weekend, i was still leading the championship – but the plan had been to extend the lead, not throw it away
Race 1
I qualified in 6th place for this race, but moved up to 3rd by the first corner. I was briefly in 2nd place at the hairpin, when I took 5th gear instead of 3rd, and lost two places. Steven Gray and Lorn Murray kept the pressure on for the rest of the race, and both went ahead although I took back the place from Lorn.
Race 2
It seems I don’t like the pressure of having to perform well 
Race 3
More of the same
SMRC Meeting, Knockhill 23/06/19
Race 1
My first ever pole position! Followed by my first ever race win!
In some ways, it’s harder to drive worrying about losing the lead than it is to try to win it!
And then my second ever race win!
Race 2
SMRC Meeting, Kirkistown 25/05/19
Race 1
My first visit to Kirkistown. A very different circuit to Knockhill – fast and loads of fun. I had a good start, and ended up with a 3rd place trophy
Race 2
I was in the lead for the first few laps, but a missed gear change at the start of the straight led to one of the other drivers driving into me on the flat out corner at the end of the straight. he thought he was past me – and he very nearly was – but ended up trying to drive through me at over 100mph. The second video is the view from the car behind us.
SMRC Meeting, Knockhill 05/05/19
Race 1
Reverse direction at Knockhill. It was cold, but the sun was shining. Lots of close racing, exciting time had by all.
Race 2
Another frustrating race – I wish I was better in reverse direction!
SMRC Meeting, Knockhill 07/04/19
Rain and fog.
At least Sunday was slightly better weather than Saturday, but visibility was poor and the track was slippery all day.
Race 1 – I qualified in 4th place, just 0.002 behind 3rd place. I had a good start, getting past Peter Cruickshank to the first corner, and then gained another place when Ryan Stirling went into the gravel at MacIntyres. I finished the race in 2nd place, and I was very happy with the result.
Race 2 – I started in 2nd place, after the morning’s race, and managed another good start keeping Stuart Scott behind me for Duffus. A late gear change started a slide which nearly lost everything at Clark’s on lap 4, but I finished in 2nd place.
The camera packed in about half way through, so this one’s a bit shorter.
2018 Season
SMRC Meeting, Knockhill 07/10/18
The sun was shining for the practise day on Saturday, but we qualified and raced in pouring rain on Sunday. It took me a while to build up speed in qualifying – and the session was red-flagged just before I finished what was meant to be my fastest lap – so I started race 1 in 8th place
Race 1 – A good start from 8th on the gird, and finished in 5th. The track was slippy with the rain, but better than qualifying, with a bit of a dry line developing
Race 2 – The worst rain I have raced in, and the track was very slippery. If that sounds like an excuse, you won’t be surprised to see the video is quite short …
Here’s a short clip to show what the visibility is like – even a heated windscreen fogs up, the rain is falling and there’s spray from the other cars. In this clip, we’re approaching the hairpin at over 90mph, and there are cars right in front of me…
Here’s the full race coverage from Edinburgh College TV – SMRC-TV Coverage
SMRC Meeting, Knockhill 04-05/08/18
We were racing over two days, with three races in total. The SMRC-TV coverage has all three races in one place
Race 1 – Qualified in 5th, and finished in 5th – but with some cross-country on the way. I was trying a new approach to Duffus Dip – using 4th gear instead of 3rd so that I could carry more speed, and it worked really well – apart from the couple of times when it really didn’t!
Race 2 – A better race, and another podium finish in 3rd place.
Race 3 – Started 3rd, and finished 3rd. Another podium finish, but a fairly quiet race with a gap ahead and behind.
SMRC Meeting, Knockhill 06/05/18
My first reverse-direction race meeting at Knockhill. Didn’t start well, with a gearbox failure on the first corner of qualifying.
Race 1 – started from the back of the grid, but never made much headway
Race 2 – started a bit further up the grid in sixth place, but still not going well
After the meeting, we discovered that the gearbox failure had damaged the engine, and we needed a rebuild. Hopefully it will be a bit faster next time out!
SMRC Meeting, Knockhill 08/04/18
Race 1 – managed to start in 3rd, which is my best qualifying position. Wayne MacCauley had problems in the race, and I managed to move up to second place for my first podium finish.
Race 2 – started second on the grid, and I was leading the race by the first corner! I need to get better at the hairpin – I let two cars past me there, and missed another podium by 0.001 seconds
SMRC Meeting, Knockhill 08/10/17
The last race of the 2017 season was 08 October. A little cold, but much better weather than September. There was some excitement in the first race, with the drivers first and second in the championship both missing qualifying and starting from the back of the grid. Everyone expected them to get to the front quickly, but they cleared most of the grid within the first lap…
Race 1 – Red flagged after the championship leader was caught up in an incident at Duffus
Race 2 – Much quieter race than the first, with a better start than usual for me!
SMRC Meeting, Knockhill 10/09/17
After a bit of a gap, back to Knockhill
This was a very wet race day, and the track was slippery with spilled oil as well as the water – so everyone was slow, not just me.
Testing – We shared the testing day with the BMWs, so here’s a little compilation of some sideways cars
Race 1 – First time out for a year, and in a different car from usual. I had a good start, but quickly lost any gains I made by being too slow through the chicane (and a few other places)
Race 2 – The track was even more slippery than the first race, and I had a slow start, but it was fun.
SMRC Meeting, Knockhill 01/05/16
The second meeting of the new season was much better weather – although we had snow on the ground!
Race 1 – A bit wet, but not too bad – other than the windscreen
Race 2 – Much better weather, and the race was loads of fun
SMRC Meeting, Knockhill 03/04/16
The first meeting of the new season was wet, and the track was VERY slippery – which is why my first race was very short
Race 1 – Here’s why you should stay off the kerbs in the wet
Race 2 – Started from the back because of race 1, and with a rolling start because of oil on the track!
SMRC Meeting, Knockhill 13/09/15
After some coaching from Rory Bryant – http://www.rorybryantracing.co.uk/ – I managed to knock a second off my lap times, which I’m very happy with!
Race 1 – Mostly dry, and loads of fun.
Race 2 – Mostly very wet, and loads of fun!
SMRC Meeting, Knockhill 21/06/15
Race 1 – A good race in the dry.
Race 2 – problem with the camera, so no video
SMRC Meeting, Knockhill 03/05/15
Race 1 – Lots of rain, and the track was very slippery. This was my first time out in a Fiesta ST, and it was great fun – and I finished in fifth place!
Race 2 – Rain, but mostly foggy, and the race was abandoned when the marshals couldn’t see from one post to the next!
SMRC Meeting, Knockhill 05/10/14
SMRC Meeting, Knockhill 14/09/14
There are a lot of other videos available on YouTube