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.
