News Archive » A Flying Lap of Knockhill

By Lindsay Morle
May 13, 2005, 17:00

A flying lap of Knockhill Circuit with Scuderia Ecosse driver, Andrew Kirkaldy

The British GT Championship arrives at Knockhill in Scotland next weekend and the Scuderia Ecosse team is looking forward to racing on home turf. The Scottish pairing of Nathan Kinch and Andrew Kirkaldy has won two out of two races so far and they are aiming for the hat-trick this weekend. Their team-mates, Chris Niarchos and Tim Mullen have so far finished second and third; will this be the event where they reach the top step of the podium? Join us as Andrew Kirkaldy takes us on a flying lap of the Knockhill track:-

“As we come over the start/finish line we’re going over 150mph in fifth gear and braking hard for the right-left Duffus Dip. We go into the right in third gear, taking it at 85mph, using the inside kerb then all of the road to the left; then you have to ease yourself carefully into the left kink and stay left for McIntyres.

“Down into second gear, braking to around 65mph for the apex of McIntyres and trying to miss the inside kerb before grabbing a bit of the exit kerb in order to carry as much speed as possible into the chicane. We exit McIntyres in third gear then accelerate out onto Butcher’s drop, building the speed up again to 105mph before a slight lift through the chicane which is blind and a particularly tricky part of the circuit.

“You have to use the kerbs on both sides but don’t use too much or you’ll fly! It’s a fine balance to get good exit speed without taking off and losing time.

“Then it’s back on the gas, accelerating up to 120mph in fourth gear in the run up to Clark, a right-hander. This is another blind corner so you must make sure you get the apex spot on and use the inside kerb only; steer well clear of the outside kerb on the exit. We come down a gear to third for Clark and start to feed the power in at the mid point to get the best possible run out of this slightly uphill corner.

“Finally it’s up to 135mph and fifth gear for the run up to the hairpin, braking as late as possible and going through the gears all the way down to first. It’s a slow corner, about 50mph, with a bit of a bump on the apex; it’s very important to get a good exit as it’s a long drag up the hill to the start/finish line and another lap. We are now carrying the maximum load of success ballast (60kgs) which will hamper us, along with the fact it is such a short lap, but we’ll be giving our all for the home crowd this weekend and hoping for another great result!”

ENDS

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