|
Ecurie
Ecosse Young Driver MacKay continues winning streak at Knochill
Photograph by Jim Moir.
ADAM MacKay has continued to impress during
the 2nd Scottish Formula Ford 1600 meeting of 2015, by adding yet another
victory to his tally at Knockhill. Meanwhile, fellow Ecurie Ecosse Young Driver
Initiative member Ciaran Haggerty showed flashes of his potential throughout
rounds 3, 4 and 5 of BRDC Formula 4 Championship at Rockingham.
Ellon resident MacKay remains unbeaten this season after a 3rd victory in as
many races during last weekend's rain hit event at Knockhill. Following a dry
practice session on Saturday, treacherous conditions didn't stop the 17 year old
from snatching pole position by a margin of 6/10 in Sunday's qualifying session.
By the afternoon, the amount of standing water on track was so great that it was
decided Race 1 would start behind the Safety Car. The Graham Brunton Racing
driver got off to a fantastic start at the green flag, building a three second
gap by the end of lap 2 and eventually taking the chequered flag over 15 seconds
clear of runner up Jordan Gronkowski.
Unfortunately, the weather won out for Race 2 and the meeting was cancelled due
to fog.
Ecurie Ecosse Young Driver Initiative Ambassador, Dario Franchitti, was on hand
to congratulate the young Scot on yet another commanding victory in the national
single seater championship.
Adam MacKay:- "The race was extremely challenging. Driving in this weather
without making any mistakes isn't easy to do, but thankfully I managed to just
get my head down, put in consistently fast laps and build myself a nice lead.
The car felt great and the guys at Graham Brunton Racing did an amazing job. I'm
delighted that I was able to take another win for them and the Ecurie Ecosse
Young Driver Initiative."
Meanwhile, Ciaran Haggerty had a tricky weekend at Rockingham for the 3nd
instalment of the BRDC Formula 4 Championship.
Saturday's dry qualifying session proved difficult for the young Scot after a
set up change that didn't quite go to plan saw Haggerty qualify 14th for Race 1.
A fantastic start however saw him make up 9 places to 5th by the 1st corner, a
position he maintained until contact with Sebastien Lanzetti forced him to spin
and eventually cross the line in 13th.
Following a somewhat disappointing 1st race, Haggerty was determined to impress
in wet conditions during Sunday morning's Race 2. Another brilliant start saw
him dicing with the leading pack before the Safety Car was deployed. At the
restart, Ciaran clung on to 2nd position before a bold move from Tom Jackson at
Deene hairpin forced Haggerty to retire with a puncture.
Conditions improved for the final race of the weekend, in which the Ecurie
Ecosse Young Driver lined up 10th on the grid eager to improve his luck.
Haggerty made it 3 strong starts from 3, before a brave move at Deene
backfired, putting an end to his race.
In spite of a run of bad fortune, a resolute Haggerty left the Northamptonshire
circuit ready to learn and return to form next time out.
Ciaran Haggerty:- "Overall it was a very difficult weekend but it's days like
these that make you stronger for the future. Luck just wasn't with us at
Rockingham but we'll be pushing hard to be back fighting at the front at
Silverstone. Thank you to the Ecurie Ecosse Young Driver Initiative and all my
sponsors for the support, and Graham Brunton Racing for doing a great job on the
car."
Ciaran's next outing in the BRDC Formula 4 Championship will be May 30/31 at
Silverstone, while Adam resumes his 2015 campaign 21 June 2015, at Knockhill.
|
 |
Ecurie Ecosse takes Avon
Tyres British GT Championship at Rockingham
Photographs by Gary Parravani /
Xynamic Motorsport Photography.
ECURIE Ecosse Powered By Black Bull
produced a dominant display during round 3 of the Avon Tyres British GT
Championship at Rockingham over 2 May to 3 May 2015, where pole position, race
victory and fastest lap were all claimed by the legendary Scottish squad.
A vintage display from drivers Marco Attard and Alexander Sims, as well as swift
pit work from the Barwell Motorsport crew, ensured a clean sweep of honours for
their BMW Z4 GT3 at the Northamptonshire venue.
Their weekend began in perfect fashion when Attard and Sims combined to take
pole position in Saturday's qualifying session.
Heavy overnight rain gave way to sunny mid-morning skies, ensuring that the race
began on a largely dry circuit. Taking the green flag at the head of the field,
Attard maintained the lead into turn one but slipped behind the Aston Martin of
Andrew Howard later in the lap.
Following a brief Safety Car period Attard then went on the attack, seizing the
advantage and passing Howard for top spot 20 minutes into the 2 hour contest.
Now in control of the race, reigning drivers' champion Attard drove a measured
stint at the head of the field, eventually bringing the car into the pits
shortly before ˝ distance to hand over to Sims.
The Ecosse machine was destined to lose the lead in the pits due to an extra 10
seconds on their stop time following a third place finish at Oulton Park last
month.
But having watched his team mate deliver an excellent stint Sims was in no mood
to surrender victory. Exiting the pits in P2, some 10 seconds shy of new leader
Daniel Lloyd, the former McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner produced a series
of fastest laps to quickly close up on the rear of the Aston Martin.
Passing would prove a different affair with the Aston defending robustly from
the Ecosse machine, but after several laps of pressure Sims' work paid off as
Lloyd made a mistake that allowed the BMW to assume top spot. Next time across
the line Sims' lead was a little under five seconds.
That increased to more than nine seconds over the next few laps before a second
Safety Car period wiped out his advantage with 20 minutes left to run. But Sims
was unmatched aboard the Z4. When the track went green again he made rapid work
of rebuilding his lead, producing a stellar 1st lap and edging away thereafter.
His margin at the chequered flag was a shade under 10 seconds, capping a perfect
display from the Scottish squad.
Marco Attard:- "We're really pleased. I went deep at one point and Andrew
[Howard] got past me, but he returned the favour later so I was able to take
advantage. Then I could hand over to Alexander and didn't have to worry about it
because he's just the best!"
Alexander Sims:- "It all felt pretty good in my little bubble! Fair play
to Daniel [Lloyd], he did a really good job defending so the 1st 20 minutes were
great fun. After I got through it was pretty plain sailing, so I just got my
head down and pushed on."
Mark Lemmer:- "It was great to bounce back from Oulton Park with pole,
fastest lap and the win. The fact that it was such a difficult start to the
season pushed us even more to turn it around and I think we really deserve this.
We're very much looking forward to Silverstone now."
Ecosse drivers Attard and Sims now head the British GT Drivers' standings, while
the team assume second in their championship. The Scottish outfit will be
looking for more of the same when the series resumes at Silverstone, on 30 May
to 31 May 2015. |
