Round 3 News Report

Round 3 hits Scotland's Knockhill !

This weekend saw the GT Battle Round 3 event move-on to Scotland's premier race circuit, Knockhill. Greeted by fresh surroundings and an exciting crowd, the weekend scored highly for teams, drivers and the local supporters of the Europe's best Drifters and Tuners for the special Dusk Stage date in this years calendar.

The Knockhill circuit has great character with its sweeping bends veering on and off camber and the section of track used for D1GB was simply amazing.

The drivers would approach at speeds of up to 110mph from the pit straight, initiating their first drift on the handbrake a hundred yards before the first corner. The first corner ( Seat ) was very scary for all as it trails off steeply down hill which is also a blind bend, with the drivers having to initiate their second transition half way down the hill! As the drivers got familiar with the circuit in practice, a pattern was emerging of those who had the power and determination to tackle the downward slope at 110% to get the best result. In attendance from Japan was Mr Ueno, Top D1GP driver and owner of Vertex in Japan who flew in to judge the event and cast his expert opinion on the drivers and their exploits.

Drivers showing the most speed and skill throughout the day included Mark Luney, Damien Mulvey, Tim Marshall and Ralph Crampton who were all on a charge to see who could take the course the quickest and with the best line with Mulvey making the course look easy. Championship leader Brett Castle had car failure during practice and was unable to continue forcing him to retire and miss his opportunity to increase his lead in the Championship, paving the way for a change at the top of the overall standings.

After qualifying the drivers were paired up according to scores with the weakest against the strongest. The last 4 drivers put on a nail biting fight as crowd pleaser Phil Morrison took on Mulvey for a place in the final. With both drivers pushing to the limit Mulvey eventually ended up the victor and ending Morrisons day with a 3rd place and valuable points. Tim Marshall in the Sumo 350Z was paired up with Stephen Evans in the Autoglym Skyline and with both cars built in the Sumo Power stable, there was a score to settle between the drivers with Evans putting in consistent runs to out drift Marshall who held back to watch Evans take his podium opportunity away and giving another 4 place for Marshall.

The final was Mulvey in the DataCom S13 against Evans in the Autoglym Skyline with Mulvey once again giving clear and consistent runs which Evans was unable to duplicate, giving the lead and 1st place podium to Irishman Mulvey in his blue smoke machine.

As well as podium trophies, the HKS Hard Charger Award was awarded on the day to the driver showing the best determination and ambition, this award was presented to local Scotsman Kieran Cameron who had only just gained his Provisional licence in the morning and went through to compete and finish in 8th place, automatically earning him a full D1GB licence.

D1GB Drivers Points Board after Round 4