FEBRUARY 2011 www.smrc-uk.com

2 0 1 1 A n n u a l D i n n e ra n d A w a r d s C e r e m o n y

Mike How star ted the evenings proceedingssaying: “Good evening and welcome to theSMRC Dinner andAwards Presentat ion. Asmost of you are aware this is our secondat tempt to get this off the ground, and you’l lbe glad to see that this t ime we managed toarrange some typical Scot t ish weather ratherthan theArct ic condi t ions we experienced inDecember.”He then introduced his co-presenter whowould be doing al l the interviews. Mike said:“She has done a ster l ing job as the presenterof the SMRC racing on Motors TV, so pleasewelcome the glamorous half of the duo,Sasha Pearl .”

Mike then said: “Scot land has a his tory inmotorsport that is unmatched by any othercountry of our size.“We have produced the winners of f iveFormula 1World Championships , 66Formula 1 Grand Prix, f iv e Le Mans 24Hours and now three Indianapol is 500’s . Bywinning the Indianapol is 500 for the secondt ime and becoming the f irs t Scot , and indeedthe f irs t Bri ton, to achieve this feat , DarioFranchi t t i has made himself a huge part of ourgreat motorsport his tory.”Dario Franchi t t i , and his wife , Ashley Juddthen entered to warm applause fol lowing‘Roddy the Piper ’ into the room and tooktheir place at their table . Hugh McCaig thenwent on stage to say Grace.To cut down on the length of the formali t iesthe trophies for the 6 Scot t ishChampionships were presented between thecourses during the meal .Mike then asked TedAkil and his wife ,Susanne, the bosses of our Legends CarsChampionship sponsor, Specsavers , to comeup and present the awards for the Scot t ishLegends Championship.

Sasha interviewed Colin, who said:”I wasreal ly chuffed, I never thought I’d do i tespecial ly on the budget I have. I’d l ike tothankAly ( Hunter) for running theChampionship. I t ’s me and my 15 year old son

All the winners from 2010

An excel lent turnout saw over 370 members and their guests enjoy the club’s gala night . In a change from tradit ion Championshipawards were interspersed with the servings of the 4 course meal , and compare Mike How worked hard along with the knowledgeablelady in red, Motors TV interviewer and Knockhil l instructor Sasha Pearl .

Hugh McCaig lights up Mike How’s speech Ted Akil (left) with Colin Atkinson and Susanne Akil

Scott ish LegendsChampionshipsupported by SpecsaversWinner - ColinAtkinson2nd -Ross Mickel , 3rd -Alisdair GauldLegends RookieAward - Craig Mitchel lTeam Trophy - Ben & Ell iot Mason

SMRC AGMTuesday 29th March, 7.30pm Dakota Hotel , South Queensferry (off A90 by Tesco’s) . Current members only.

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who does i t a l l .”Mike then thanked Ted and Susanne forpresent ing these awards and Specsavers fortheir support of this year ’s LegendsChampionship.After the star ter ALMS LMP2 Champion,Marino Franchi t t i was on stage to present thenext couple of awards.Sasha spoke to Marino who said: “I s tar ted inFormula Ford at Knockhi l l something I’mvery proud of . The nat ional scene in Scot landis s t rong and I love to go back asI’m a formeremployee of Knockhi l l .”

Sasha interviewed Garry,who said: “Theidea was to go out and push the turbo cars , andsee if they could do their pace al l season, andthey couldn’t .”Sasha asked what i t was l ike to race aWestf ie ld against the saloons, hecommented: :You are qui te focused onracing, but at one race, I was at Duffus andsaw a 20 inch wheel from a Porsche spinninground right next to me.”

Sasha spoke to Tim saying: “You lookeddominant ear ly and late in the season butwhat happened in the middle?”Tim repl ied: “I t ’s tough to keep focused al lyear and Peter Cruickshank knows how todrive these cars , he’s been doing i t for 30years ( to laughter in the audience) .”Tim then said: “One of my highl ights was tobeat my brother in Minis and I’ l l be enter ing

the Mini Cooper Cup in 2011.”Mike then thanked Marino for present ingthese awards.After the main course Mike and Sashareturned to the stage. Mike introduced JaneLesl ie ( widow of David) and asked her tocome up and present the awards for theScot t ish Formula Ford Classic Cup.

Sasha interviewed Craig saying he was hernephew. Craig said: “13 podiums, 8 wins, i twas beyond my wildest dreams to get up hereand to be champion is just fantast ic .” Craigalso revealed that i t was a bi t of a struggle toget a l icense with diabetes .Mike then asked the Head of Motorsport forYokohama Tyres , Mark Evans, to come upand present the awards for the Scot t ish MiniCooper Cup.

Sasha then interviewed Mark not ingYokohama are sponsoring manyChampionships in Scot land.Mark said: “Scot t ish motorsport is importantto Yokohama, Minis , Classics and XR2s areexcel lent .”He also thanked Ronnie Thom ofWheelsAround for their help and support .Sasha then spoke to Champion Oly Mort imer,commenting: “I’ve done so many interviewswith you this year, you’ve won a lot of races .Oly said: “I t ’s t rue we’ve had a few good

interviews (for TV) apart from Croft wherewe had a bump.”Oly and Sasha chat ted about Minis and theirthird race grid draws then Oly said: “That’sthe good thing about Mini Coopers , i t a l l addsup.”After the desser t , Mike asked Ronnie Thomof Yokohama andWheels Around to come upand present the awards for the Scot t ishClassic Saloon & Sports Car Championshipsupported by Yokohama Tyres .

Sasha then interviewed John not ing he wonthe t i t le in the last race of the championship.He said: “The star t of the year we got stuck onhol iday, then got disqual i f ied, af ter that i tscatch up. At the last race meet ing I needed laprecords in the morning and afternoon. I did i tin the morning and thought I’d broken i t bytoo much, but things worked out in the end.”Sasha asked about John driving in bothClassics and Legends . He said: “What theytaught me in Legends has helped in Classics .Stan (Bernard) is not the youngest man on thegrid but he’s good, and at the end of the year i tworked out well . I l ike to race were there arelots of cars on the grid, and my goal was tocatchAndy (Smith – the Morgan +8 racer ) .”Mike introduced the Club Chairman, SandyDenham, and asked him to make his address .(See Page 6) .Mike then introduced onto the stage clubPresident Allan McNish.Allan firs t ly read out a short le t ter from PaulDi Resta which said - ‘I am sorry not to be ableto at tend tonight n. My dad Louis and familywil l be there . ’He noted that i t was a busy t imein Formula 1 and congratulated everyonewho received an award from SMRC. Paul’sle t ter then said ‘I wish you al l a successful2011 and hope to be with you in December.’Allan then said how good it was to see 377people at the dinner and thanked Sir JackieStewart for his presence and his inspirat ion .Allan talked about how Lewis Wil l iamsonhad won theAutosport award and said ofGordon Shedden: ‘You’ve proved Plato wil lhave to watch his backside.”He congratulated Marino, but then asked himin fun to please slow down at Sebring. Allansaid, : “Dario well done for Indy , and i tsfantast ic to have another Scot t ish driver inF1 with Paul .”He spoke about Cel t ic Speed racing downsouth and said that he was at Speedfair wherethere was ‘ close racing and good grids’ . He

Scott ish Saloon & SportsCar ChampionshipWinner - GarryWatson(King Hussein Trophy & John NicolsonTrophy for Top Sports Car)2nd -Mark Robson (AdamWylie Trophy)3rd - Peter Taddei (H&G RobinsonTrophy)

Garry Watson with Marino Franchitti

Scott ish XR2 Championshipin associationwithYokohamaTyresWinner - Tim Sleigh(The Sandy Forrest Trophy for theNewcomersAward & The Hamilton &Inches Quaich)2nd -Charlie Cope 3rd - PeterCruickshankFiesta ST Cup -Rory Bryant

Tim interviewed by Sasha Pearl

Scott ish Formula FordChampionshipsupported by CRSWinner - Craig Brunton(John Romanes Quaich & The JockMcBain Trophy)2nd -Kenny Thirlwall (plus NewcomersAward) 3rd -Alistair Dow

Craig Brunton takes the FF silverware from Jane Lesley

FFDR Scott ish Mini CooperCup inassociationwithSTVjobs.com andYokohamaTyres andSuperchipsWinner - Oly Mortimer(Lombard Trophy)2nd -Victor Covey Jnr 3rd - David SleighLadies Award - Carol BrownNewcomersAward - Kenny Brewster

Mark Evans of Yokohama Tyres with Oly Mortimer

Scott ish Classic Saloon &Sports Car Championshipsupported by Yokohama TyresWinner - John Marshall (Doune Cup)Saloon Car Cup - John Marshall2nd -Stan Bernard, 3rd -Andy Smith

Ronnie Thom congratulates John Marshall

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said that he agreed with Sandy’s commentsthat we must go forward. He noted that thecommit tee worked hard and kept entry costsdown.Allan said: “Do you know Scott ish Minis gethigher viewing figures than anyone else onMotors TV.” He thanked GP Racewear fortheir support of the club ( discounts offracewear) and then praised Scot t ishMarshals .Allan said: “Thanks to John Doran from theScot t ish Sun for reminding readers that weare much more successful at motor racingthan we are at footbal l .”Allan than went on to say he was a bigsupporter of the safety car, ‘ i t keeps racesf lowing’ and he fel t we should look at other

safety i tems l ike the Hans device. Heconcluded by saying: “We are a pret ty goodwee club and we al l have a part to play in i t .”Mike announced that there would beinterviews on stage byAllan McNish, withSir Jackie Stewart , John Cleland, DarioFranchi t t i and Marino Franchi t t i .Sasha asked Dario if there was something inthe water in Bathgate . He said: “2010 wasone of those years you dream about . Marinoand I won our Championships on the sameday.”

PRESENTATION OFSPECIALAWARDSOwing to Sir Jackie having to catch anevening fl ight Mike asked him to presentwhat are normally the f inal two trophies ofthe evening early. The Patron of the Scot t ishMotor Racing Club, Sir Jackie Stewartcongratulated the Chairman and thecommit tee for keeping the club in front formany years . He spoke of the happy years ofPaul Stewart racing Dario winning the F3Championship. Sir Jackie noted that i t hadbeen a tremendous year and remembered howScott ish companies supported Paul StewartRacing . He said the whole country should beproud of i tself , and that we have a great toolin the SMRC and because of this success youshould encourage Scot t ish business tosupport you. Sir Jackie thanked Sasha and‘the wonderful col lect ion of people heretonight to celebrate Scot t ish Motorsport . ’

Sir Jackie then presented - The John Romanes‘Swif t ’Trophy. This beaut i ful t rophy wasdonated to the Club some years ago by DorisRomanes in memory of her late husband,John, who was a stalwart of the Club for thebest par t of 50 years and, of course, ran

Ingl is ton in i ts ear ly days. Mike How said:“Doris , as always, is with us tonight , and hercontr ibut ion is hugely appreciated. She hasasked that the trophy is presented on herbehalf and we are del ighted that Jackie hasagreed to do the honours .”The trophy is awarded to a Scot for‘Excel lence in Motor Racing’ and there canonly be one winner this year. Not manypeople win the Indianapol is 500 once, farfewer win i t twice. He is the f i rs t Scot , andindeed the f i rs t Bri ton, to achieve this feat .Ladies and gent lemen - Dario Franchi t t i .Dario said that back in 1992 John Romanescompany Lothian Chemicals was one of hisbackers when he raced for Paul Stewartracing.

This medal is presented by Sir Jackie and hisfamily and is awarded for ‘Services toScot t ish Motorsport’ . Mike asked theChairman of the Club, Sandy Denham, tocome up and say a few words about this year ’srecipient .Sandy said: “As chairman of the club one ofthe more pleasurable dut ies is to choose therecipient of this highly prest igious award.These awards are donated by Sir JackieStewart , for services to Scot t ish Motorsport .During my two years as chairman it hasbecome hugely apparent to me that so manydo so much. However one person has stoodout , they have demonstrated enthusiasm,commitment and an abi l i ty to implementinvent ive thinking so vi ta l to you and ourclub. They are, as I l ike to say, a glass is halfful l type of person, in fact every t ime Ipicture them in my mind I see that f inal scenefrom that wonderful f i lm, the Life of Brian.Eric Idle is at tached to the crucif ix andbegins to sing ‘Always look on the bright s ideof l i fe , ’ this to me embodies the greatat t r ibutes of this years winner. Pleasewelcome on stage to receive his muchdeserved award. Chris Edwards.Chris was warmly applauded and said: “I

blame my father for this , he took me toIngl is ton were he was chief crossing marshalback in 1969.”Mike then thanked Sir Jackie for his supportadding: “ I hope he enjoy the f l ight home ashis plane takes off at 11.45pm.”Mike then asked Honorary Member, JohnCleland, to come up and present two SpecialAwards. Sasha spoke with John who was ingood form. Sasha asked what i t was aboutScot land , John said: “ I’ve at tended manydinners but I don’t think I have ever been in aroom ful l of club members that have been sosuccessful , i t ’s probably determinat ion andwe never give up. Plus i ts 300 miles before weget anywhere so we win.”

This beaut i ful hand made si lver quaich waspresented to the Club some years ago byMark’s parents in memory of their son and ispresented to the driver of the Best PreparedClassic Saloon or Sports Car. In the opinionof Rob McKinna, the Chief Scrut ineer for theClassics , the Best Prepared Car was the FordEscort of Keiron Bail l ie .

The Border Motor Racing Club Trophy is oneof the most prest igious awarded each yearand is presented to the winner of the SMRCPoints Championship based on overal l raceresul ts . I t was f i rs t awarded in 1957 and thewinner that year was a 21 year old fromChirnside in Berwickshire cal led Jim Clark.This year the points were level af ter the lastevent but on countback a winner emerged.Mike then asked our Honorary President ,Allan McNish, to present the next fewawards.

The John Romanes ‘Swift’TrophyWinner - Dario Franchitt i

Sir Jackie Stewart presents the Swift Trophyto Dario Franchitti

The Stewart MedalWinner - Chris Edwards

Sir Jackie Stewart presents his medalto the delighted Chris Edwards

The Mark Brennan Ollan-Vil lars QuaichWinner - Keiron Bail l ie

Kieron Baillie receives the Quaich from John Clelland

BMRC TrophyWinner - Oly Mortimer2nd - Ken Thirlwall , 3rd - Andy Smith

Oly Mortimer celebrates his cups

Club President, Allan McNish

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These awards are decided by thecommentators at Knockhi l l and they are al lhere tonight – that’s Garry Stagg, RobJohnston and Duncan Vincent .Unfortunately the recipient of the SingleSeater Award is not here tonight but thewinner is the young Formula Ford driver,Andrew Brennan.The winner of the Knockhi l l Young Driver ofthe Year in the Saloon Car category is heretonight and in the opinion of thecommentators that goes to Mini pi lot ,Kenny Brewster.

Mike How said this is presented to the toplady driver competing in Scot land. She is avery talented driver and had outs tandingsuccess in karts and more recent ly won the2008 Legends Championship. This year sheraced in the Scot t ish Mini Cooper Cup as wellas a few races in Legends, and won the LadiesAward in the Minis . She wins this t rophy forthe 5th successive year and is , of course,Carol Brown.

This award is presented to the top Scot t ishdriver competing in a UK NationalChampionship. This year ’s recipient s tar tedoff his racing career in Scot land racing inXR2’s and has competed nat ional ly for thelast few years in the Bri t ish Touring CarChampionship. He had a real run at the t i t lethis year but a broken drive shaft at Brands atthe star t of the second last race scuppered hischances. Nonetheless 3rd place is a greatachievement and this performance hasensured his seat with Honda Racing for thecoming year. This year the Rothmans Trophy

goes once again to Gordon SheddenSasha then interviewed her boss’s husband.Gordon said: “I can’t wai t to get going, I’mlucky enough to sign with Honda again.”He talked about his day job as BusinessDevelopment Manager at Knockhi l l and saidi t was a great grounding and how he gotunwaivering support .“I ts great to repay people’s confidence,’ saidGordon.

The Club has created a new perpetual t rophywhich was presented for the f i rs t t ime lastyear to David Kerr. This year we havedecided to present the trophy to a team whorepresent everything that is good about oursport . They al l s tar ted racing in Scot land andhave supported SMRC for many years . Thecars are driven by amateur drivers who do avery professional job. The cars are run by ateam of enthusiasts who do a veryprofessional job. They very nearly won theirclass in this year ’s championship. For theireffor ts in the 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup andfor their support of the talented Rory Butcherat Knockhi l l ’s BTCCMeeting this year theaward goes to The Celt ic Speed Team ofTommy Dreelan, George Brewster and BobLyons. Alan Keith receivd the trophy on theteam’s behalf .Mike then asked Chris Edwards to come upand present the SMRC Driver of the YearAward.

Chris said i t was picked by the marshals andtop nominees were, Ross Marshal and OlyRoss, but the award goes to Scot t Fraser.Sasha spoke with Scot t , saying: “You won theXR2 championship then had some goodshows in Formula Ford this year.”Scot t said i ts was awesome to win: “We’re al lhere for some fun , but my highl ight of theyear was winning the Sir Jackie Stewart

t rophy, that was mega, and thank youeveryone.”Mike asked former club chairmanWalterRobertson to head to the stage to present theaward given in his name.

This carr iage clock is given to the recipientto keep and is awarded to someone whogeneral ly works behind the scenes and puts ahuge amount of effor t in to the sport . Thisman has worked endlessly over the lastcouple of years on his beloved Classic Saloon& Sports Car Championship and making themsuch a popular class both with thecompeti tors and spectators . This year ’srecipient of the Walter RobertsonAward isStan Bernard.Stan wasAustral ia so his sonAdam collectedtheAward on his behalf .Mike then welcomed Committee Member andthe Patron of Ecurie Ecosse, Hugh McCaig,to present the Ecurie Ecosse Hub Cap to thisyear ’s winner.

This wheel spinner from an Ecurie EcosseJaguar D-type, affect ionately known as the‘Hub Cap’, is presented each year to anouts tanding up and coming young Scot t ishdriver who has shown enormous potent ia l .This year therewas one outs tandingcandidate to receive this his tor ic t rophy andfor his achievement in f inishing 2nd in theUK Formula Renaul t Championship andwinning the hugely prest igious 2010McLarenAutosport Award, the EcurieEcosse Hub Cap and a cheque for £500 goes toLewis Wil l iamson.Sasha spoke with Lewis who said: “ I’d l ike tobe in Formula 1 in 5 years , every opportuni tyyou get you must make sure you maximise i t .”Mike next welcomed our 2-t ime Indy 500winner, Dario Franchi t t i to present the nextfew awards.

This t rophy is given for the best performanceby a Scot t ish driver in a Sports Car anywherein the world. The winner has performedmagnif icent ly in the United States and was amajor contr ibutor in the Highcroft Teamwinning theALMS Championship this year.Mike asked Dario to please hand over thetrophy to your brother Marino Franchi t t i .

Edinburgh StudentsCharit ies QuaichWinner - Carol Brown

Allan McNish with Carol Brown

Rothmans TrophyWinner -Gordon Shedden

Touring Car star Gordon Shedden with Allan McNish

SMRC Special AwardWinner - Celtic SpeedTeamTommyDreelan, George Brewster&BobLyons

SMRC Driver of the YearWinner - Scott Fraser

Sasha interviews Scott Fraser

TheWalter RobertsonAwardWinner - Stan Bernard

Ecurie Ecosse Hub CapWinner - LewisWil l iamson

Lewis Williamson receives the Hub Capfrom Hugh McCaig

Wil l iam Lyons TrophyWinner - Marino Franchitt i

Alan Keith receives the award on behalfof the Celtic Speed team

Knockhil l Young Driver ofthe YearAwardsSingle SeaterAward -AndrewBrennanSaloonCarAward -KennyBrewster

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This awardwent to a Scot t ish Drivercompeting in an Internat ionalChampionship. Mike said: “This year hasseen him emerge as one of Mercedesfavouri te sons under the wing of MotorsportsDirector, Norbert Haug, and now confirmedas the next Scot in Formula 1 with ForceIndia . He had a fantast ic second half to theDTM season and became the firs t Scot to winthe highly competi t ive DTM Championship.Unfortunately he is not able to be heretonight as he has F1 commitments but wewould l ike his Dad, the inimitable Louis , tocome and col lect the award on his behalf . Thewinner is , of course, Dario’s cousinPaul di Resta .”Dario said: “A lot of people in this room oweLouis a lot , this man bought me my firs tracing car.” Louis thought he’d probably beat Paul’s f i rs t GP, i ts a fantast ic feel ing andi ts got closer with the launch of the car. “Weknew on Chris tmasEve but couldn’t te l lanyone. I’d l ike to thank everyone for al ltheir texts and thoughts over the last fewdays.”

This trophy is given in memory of Duncanwho competed at Ingl is ton in the 70’s and80’s i t is awarded to an enthusiast who istotal ly commit ted to his favouri te sport ofmotor racing and invariably does most of hiswork behind the scenes. Their effor ts areusual ly seen by few but appreciated by manybut in this case his effor ts have beenappreciated most of al l by his son. Mikenoted: “ This guy has put his hear t , soul and aconsiderable amount of cash into get t ing hisson to the top level of our favouri te sportthrough Kart ing, Formula Renaul t andFormula 3 and has been ably assis ted by hisrelat ion who is standing next to him. Theyare related, as Louis’s great grandfather andDario’s great grandmother were brother and

sis ter. For his total commitment tosupport ing his son Paul and helping himachieve his ul t imate goal of F1, this year theDuncan Fisher Trophy goes to Louis di Resta .

These two awards are supported by moneygiven each year by theWhyte & Mackay Trustand again this year by addi t ional money fromthe Club. At this point Mike thanked DavidBrown of Whyte & Mackay, whowas with us,for supplying everyone with the miniatureson the tables .The awards go to two outstanding youngdrivers competing in SMRC Championshipswho have star ted circui t racing in the lastcouple of years , shown great ta lent andabi l i ty, and could well move on to greaterthings within the sport .

The Shei la Whyte Trophy comes with acheque for £500 and was awarded to a driverwho has impressed everyone with his dr ivingin the past 2 years in the Formula FordChampionship which culminated in himwinning this year ’s Championship. Theaward went to Craig Brunton.Sasha interviewed Craig who said: “My testin Formula Renaul t was phenomenal , i t wasl ike being a professional for the day.”

The Hart leyWhyte Trophy comes with acheque for £750 and went to a young man whototal ly dominated the XR2 Championshipand won a round of the ul t ra-competi t iveMini Cooper Cup at the only meet ing hecompeted in. Congratulat ions to Tim Sleigh.Tim said on stage when asked about nextseason: “ I’ l l compete against my brother inMinis , i t ’ l l be good fun and hopeful ly we’l lkeep the cars apart .”Well done to Mike and Sasha for handl ing theproceedings which went smoothly.

Kevin Pick

The Franchitti brothers

Cal lands TrophyWinner - Paul di Resta

Duncan Fisher TrophyWinner - Louis di Resta

Louis di Resta receives his award from Dario

HartleyWhyte & SheilaWhyte TrophiesHartleyWhyte - Tim SleighShei laWhyte - Craig Brunton

Craig Brunton wins the Sheila Whyte Trophy

Dario with Tim Sleigh and the Hartley Whyte

• N E W S N E W S N E W S •SMRC AGMTuesday 29th March, 7.30pm at DakotaHotel , South Queensferry (off A90 byTesco’s) . Current members only.

Fiestas - RaceiversFiestas XR2 / ST drivers i t is mandatory thatyou have a raceceiver for al l races atKnockhi l l . Contact Mike How to get yours .Email m.how@smrc-uk.com

2011 Regulations andEntry FormsNow all on the club’s web si te . Make sure youare famil iar with your championshipregulat ions. Amendments from last year areshown in bold type. Any queries contact yourChampionship el igibi l i ty scrut ineer. Awayround entry forms wil l be put on the si te andgiven to drivers representat ives nearer thet ime for their events .

Mini Coopers andClassics join the BTCIn September these classes wil l be part of theKnockhi l l support package, as have Legendsand FF in the past . Mini Coopers wil l havetwo Championship rounds while Classicswil l have two non-championship races , asComp Secretary Chris Edwards said: “Thischampionship has great support and wewould probably have to spl i t the grid,whichisn’t possible at BTC so its f i rs t come firs tserved with entr ies . We did not want topenal ise regulars who couldn’t get in so wemade i t non- championship.”

Knockhil l Apri l 10thThe season star ts in Fife . All SMRCchampionships wil l race with new carsexpected in Classics and new drivers inFormula Ford, Minis and XR2s. I t promisesto be a great year. Wil l anyone retain theirChampionship, not one driver did so in 2010or wil l some previous champions reclaimtheir t i t les . Test ing Saturday 9th 2-6pm.

2011 Championship SponsorsAbig thankyou andwelcome to al l of oursponsors for 2011including our newMiniCooper sponsorsCel t ic Speed andCrossf lags Minis andnew Classicssponsors , Waterevolut ion together with thecont inued sponsorship fromYokohamaTyres who aresupport ingMini Coopers ,Classics andFiesta XR2s.

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Sandy Denham welcomed everyone thensaid, : “Fol lowing tradi t ion i t is my duty tof i rs t ly welcome al l our honorary membersand then our guests and announce anyapologies .Before I do this , in the past we haveapplauded everyone individual ly, we a longevening ahead so to keep on schedule can youplease al low me to announce everyone, thenapplaud . thank you.Patron Sir Jackie Stewart OBE, our PresidentAllan Mcnish, Dario Franchi t t i , JohnCleland, Bernard Buss, and now our guestsand ladies f i rs t . Doris Romanes, Jane Lesl ie ,Ashley Judd, Marino Franchi t t i , Louis deResta , Mike Tosh (FFDR), John MaguireTOCA technical commissioner, John Doranof the Scot t ish Sun, Mark Evans head of UKMotorsport for Yokohama, Ronnie Thom ofYokohama Tyres , Kim Holl ingsAJKTelevis ion, David BrownWhyte and Mackay,TedAkil , J im and Jacquel ine Mart inregional adminis t ra tors from Spec Savers ,J im Moir our SMRC photographer.Appologies , Paul di Resta , DavidCoulthard, Ronnie Klos FFDR, Ian Scot tWatson, Robin Liddel , Graham Gauld &Betty Craig.ChallengingIn my second year as chairman of thisfabulous club I have yet again found i tchal lenging and ever more t ime consuming.As always thanks to everyone on thecommit tee who has contr ibuted to give theirt ime, effor t and energy. as well as theirassis tance in implementing change. We haveimproved the product we produce andprovide for you the competi tors and ourcommercial par tners , or as I l ike to know you,our customers . To ensure you enjoy yourmotorsport with the SMRC.And no evening such as this would becomplete without thankingWalter Robertsonand family for the pies .May I take the opportuni ty to thank both myson Thomas and my long suffer ing wife Tinafor their unst int ing support and assis tance,during my many years on the commit tee . Yourclub has through troubled economic t imesmaintained i ts heal thy status . We haveenjoyed record entr ies throughout 2010, andalso retained the level of commercial supportthat is so vi ta l to our cont inued success .Meaningful ChangeTwo years ago when I took up off ice I did notoffer change as a slogan, I offered realmeaningful change. We must cont inue as aclub to embrace invent ive thinking, andaccept that changes to what we do to improveour product and business model , are vi ta l toensure success for us al l in the years ahead.In motorsport going backwards has neverbeen a tremendously successful s t ra tegy.”Sandy then asked everyone to look at thescreen behind him.He said: “These groups of individuals andcommercial par tners who are so vi ta l to us,without them we would not enjoy the successwe do as a club, I would now like to thankthem.Knockhil lKnockhil l , again another great year working

hand in hand with Ji l l ian and her team at thecircui t . We are very fortunate to enjoy a greatbusiness relat ionship with the them. On thesubject of Knockhi l l , I ask you afford themthanks for embracing that wonderful andvery important MSA ini t ia t ive, GoMotorsport , led so enthusiast ical ly inScot land by Knockhi l l employee DuncanVincent . Can I ask you al l to consider whatyou can do to assis t Duncan in his quest tospread the word throughout Scot land, hecannot do i t on his own, please help, this isimportant . The SMRC wil l be assis t ing.The aim is to at t ract people , not just to race,we are trying to at t ract them to a leisurepursui t that gives enjoyment andsat isfact ion. There is l i t t le point in trying tobring new people to our sport i f they are metwith ant ipathy and host i l i ty. We wil l losethem before they have got s tar ted.The SMRC TeamChris and Gil l ian Edwards, Chris ourcompeti t ion secretary has again thrownhimself into this role , how he maintains hisenthusiasm is something I cont inue to f indamazing. Kevin Pick for his product ion ofWheelspin, and what must be the worst job inScot t ish motor racing, producing ourregulat ions. All our volunteers , marshalsand off ic ials .Commercial PartnersAll our commercial par tners FFDR,Yokohama, stv jobs .com, Superchips , SpecSavers , Beatson Building Supplies , specialmention toAndrew Kirkaldy of CRS for hisgenerous award of a ful l days test ing anddriver coaching in the 2010 FormulaRenaul ts at Valencia in Spain, for the overal lScot t ish Formula Ford champion and the topnewcomer in the ser ies , las t year.Our PresidentOur president Allan McNish who has assis tedgreat ly in our club business , and has spent agreat deal of t ime working with us, the MSAand government including working to obtainassis tance for motorsport development , herein Scot land. Your support and enthusiasm aregreat ly appreciated by your club, MrPresident .Drivers’RepresentativesIn the last month Vic Covey, Chris Edwardsand I have been successful in placing ourScot t ish Minis and Classics on the programfor the BTC meeting. at Knockhi l l .Each class has what is known as a drivers’representat ive, these people play a veryimportant role , and they are, Mr Mini , VicCovey at the helm for 8 years and st i l l Spa laprecord holder in Metros .Formula Ford, Graham Brunton, ClassicsStan Bernard, XR2 Charl ie Thornton, ST IainCowie, Sports and Saloons David Headon,Legends Gerard McCosh and alsoAlyHunter and Stevie McCall . ’Sandy then said: “Tonight’s extravaganzahas been the joint effor ts of Mike How andHugh McCaig, I am sure you wil l join me inexpressing our thanks to them for theireffor ts” and they were warmly applauded.AFamilyAffairThe club chairman then went on to say:”Wesee ourselves as a family club, there always

seem to be a great family tradi t ion of andfathers ,sons, daughters and brothers , inmotorsport , espcial ly here in Scot land. Lookat this year and the past , such as,Oly and GlenMort imer, Covey senior and junior, EricLiddel l and Robin Liddel l , Bi l l Dryden andMark Dryden, the Birrel ls Graham and Gerry,and you must include Jenny, Stewarts J immyand Jackie and son Paul . Louis and Paul diResta , Graham and Craig Brunton, John andJamie Cleland, George Brewester and sonsSteven and Kenneth, Hugh andAlis ta i rMcCaig , Tommy and Gemma Dreelan,Andrew and Esmond Smith. and of courseDario and Marino Franchi t t i and George andof course from the home of Scot t ishmotorsport the Butcher family.”They’l l be missedSadly now we have to remember some of ourown who are no longer with us.Tonight I ask you to remember Richard Carr,who passed away in September, son of Bil land Sal ly a long standing SMRC family, and Iam sure you are al l del ighted to see them bothhere with us this evening. Graham Harper,many years ago Graham was the major playerbehind Citreon 2 CV racing coming toScot land. J immy Girvan Scot t ish ral lychampion. Bernard Hunter, a long t imemember competi tor and supporter of theSMRC, not of ten does someone such asBernard come along, when they do yourecognize i t , but when they go you real ly dorecognize i t . J im Dryden, proprietor of theLundie motor company and long t ime specialsaloon competi tor.Final ly TomWalkinshaw. Tom’s careerencompassed success as a driver, 1969Scot t ish Formula Ford champion, and manyother nat ional and internat ional successes asa driver, including the ETC ti t le , then thecreat ion and growth of the TWRempire ,culminat ing in that fantast ic victoryat Le Mans for Jaguar, then further sportscarand saloon success and ul t imately to F1, atrue legend. They wil l a l l be missed.International SuccessScotland has again had a great year on thenat ional , internat ional and world scene.Dario Franchi i t i wins 2nd Indy 500 and 3rdIndy car championship. Paul di Resta F1test ing and winning the DTM and nowconfirmed as a ful ly f ledged grand prixdriver with Force India . Allan McNishcont inued hard charging in his AudiSportscars . Marino Franchi t t i ALMS LMP 2

C h a i r m a n ’ s S p e e c h Club Chairman,Sandy Denham

7

champion. Gordon Shedden 3 rd in BTCC inthe FFDR Honda Civic . Lewis Wil l iamson2nd UK Formula Renaul t and winner of theMclarenAutosport award, he fol lows from aScott ish perspect ive our previous 4 winnersDC, Dario Franchi t t i , Andrew Kirkaldy andPaul di Resta . Dave Newsham dominates andwins Bri t ish Renaul t Cl io championship.Andrew Smith 3rd fastest at the Goodwoodfest ival of speed in his C2 Ecosse, and forset t ing fastest lap ever at the Goodwoodrevival meet ing in his father Esmonds LolaT70 Spyder, previous joint lap record holderspr ior to the circui ts closure being J Stewartand J Clark. Cel t ic Speed for theirt remendous effor ts in this years UK PorscheCarrera Cup, Tommy Dreelan team patron,Bob Lyons and of course t i t le chal lenger inpro am2 class George Brewster,a l l led by agood old SMRC manAlan Keith, from a basein Scot land.It’s not just the winning. . .Tonight is not just about the winners ,because I bel ieve we are al l winners , i t isabout today, tomorrow and yesterday. Lastyear I said I bel ieved we were the best l i t t lemotor racing club in the world, I have noreason to change that view fol lowing thegreat season we have enjoyed, as a club and anat ion. All over the world clubs are holdingtheir annual dinners , how many though areholding them in their capi ta l c i ty, in a f ivestar hotel with 370 people in at tendance,…not many.I bel ieve there are three important t imes inmotorsport , the present we al l have a grasp ofthat , the future , we al l have our views andaims on that . And the past , and this isimportant , as members of our club and alsoour nat ion.From a sport ing perspect ive westr ive for success , in many sports , on manyfields , a l l round the world as Scot land or

Scot t ish.Before rugby and footbal linternat ionals we sing our unoff ic ial anthem,within i t is a l ine, but we can st i l l r ise and bethe nat ion again . Well , ladies and gent lemenfrom the perspect ive of motorsport , f romclub racing, to nat ional racing, internat ionaland world level , we have risen and there wehave remained, and we must cont inue to doso. And it s tar ts here , with you.We are one ofthe most successful nat ions in motorsport ,ever.Success StoriesHere are some examples . in this very room.John Cleland 2 t imes winner of the Bri t ishTouring Car championship, Allan McNishwithout doubt the no 1 sportscar dr iver in theworld, Dario Franchi t t i 2 t imes winner of theIndy 500 and 3 t imes winner of Americaspremier Indy Car championship. BrotherMarino winner of LMP2 sportscarchampionship in theAmerican Le Mansser ies . Gordon Shedden 3rd in the 2010Bri t ish Touring Car championship in theFFDR Honda Civic . There is great saying, putyour money where your mouth is . Well thisman certainly put his considerable weal thwhere his considerable mouth is , HughMcCaig patron of Ecurie Ecosse Scot land’smost successful racing team ever. Hugh tookthem from obscuri ty to winning a worldchampionship in sports cars in 1986, howgood is that . Sir Jackie Stewart OBE, 3 t imesworld champion wins 27 grand prix from 99star ted, the number one champion of safety inmotor racing and road cars since 1965success in al l sor ts of formula in racing.Creator with his son Paul of a team that wasthe last new star t to win a grand prix, a teamthat funni ly enough went on to become RedBull racing, they did ok last year.Paul di Resta , who won the 2006 Euro F3series , now who came second, Sebast ian

Vettel .Paul has just won this years DTM and now forFormula One. Lets also remember oursuccess in ral lying, LouiseAitkenWalker,J immy McRae, Andrew Cowan and of coursethe late Colin McRae, motor bikes , J immyGuthrie , Bob McIntyre , Steve Hislop, NialMcKenzie , Jock Taylor, and of course manyothers who are no longer with us, names suchas Innes Ireland, J immy Stewart , NinnanSanderson, Ron Flochart , Gerry Birrel l andof course Jim Clark, to many the greatest ofthem all .Now if the past , the present and the futuremean something to us as a nat ion, can I askyou to return your at tent ion to the screen,here is a great example, on there is a picture ,i t was taken in 1965 at Indianapol is the driverJ im Clark in his winning Lotus 38. Now wemove to 2010 same car now at Goodwood,dr iver Sir Jackie Stewart , again 2010Indianapol is and this t ime Dario Franchi t t iand look at the at tent ion to the detai l he wentto ful ly enjoy the moment driving his hero’scar, the overal ls the helmet even thegloves.One of the greatest Lotus racing carsof al l t ime, only driven by 3 drivers ever andal l Scotsmen and 2 of them here tonight inthis room. If that doesn’t say i t a l l aboutScot land and motorsport , then I don’t knowwhat does.Here’s to 2011Ladies and gent lemen, this club has knowndiff icul t t imes before and we wil l surelyknow them again. What see us through, whatalways sees us through is our strength, ourresi l ience and our unyielding fai th thatsomething bet ter awaits us , i f we summon thecourage to reach for i t . Thank you for yourat tent ion, I hope enjoy your evening, and Ialso wish you a wonderful 2011 season.”

Sandy Denham

Firs t ly I want to thank al l the marshals ,off ic ia ls , scrut ineers and al l a t Knockhi l l formy racing year, 2010! What a fantast ic year Ihad, the Ray (FF) was on the but ton i t nevermissed a beat and everything came togetherto give me the Scot t ish Formula FordChampionship, and The Prize Test put up byAndrew Kirkaldy’s Team CRS.Seems like so long ago, and the new seasonsnearly here. Had some mega bat t les in2010 with Kenny Thir lwal l , Scot t Fraser, JoeTanner and my team mateAlly Dow. Rightfrom the outset I had my eye on the test dr iveprize up for grabs, as I’m sure most of theother dr ivers did too. A lot of t ime and effor tgoes into i t behind the scenes, but i t real lymust be said, a massive thank you toAndrewKirkaldy and al l his team at CRS. When Ifound out i t was to be in Valencia , I knew itwas just going to be mega!Not sure about Kenny but I cer tainly found i ta daunt ing thought , heading to the airportwith ki t bags etc , f lying to test the FormulaRenaul t , a proper sl icks and wings racing carat Valencia knowing the F1 guys would bethere in a few weeks to star t their season. Noamount of youtube surf ing could real lyprepare me for what lay ahead, but a bi t on the

PS3 did help with corners! I suppose i ts a kindof shot at being a professional racing driverfor a day.The nerves obviously bui l t up as my day grewnearer, I guess they were ramped up by thefact I was running alongsideAdam Carrol l ,GP2 race winner, A1GP champ and Indycarracer who was their to carry out developmentwork for the team.The level of professional ism shown by the

team must be commended again, each car hasa mechanic , there were 3 data Engineers onhand andAdam Carrol l ! Who was able to giveme loads of hints on technique. Informationoverload was the key phrase here. After the1st session I was a bi t lost , especial ly as i twas wet! However as the day dried out and theSpanish sun brightened up I had one final drysession (out of 4 x 50 minute sessions) inwhich I got to sample small set-up changesand some newer sl icks . The grip offered was

unreal , i f only we could run these in FF1600!I got surpr is ingly close toAdams times andaccording to the data I was only losing out onthe faster corners , on the technical inf ie ldsect ion our spl i t t imes were very close! Withal l the data being relayed after every session,i t was good to be able to overlay tracesbetween me, Adam and Kenny. Althoughcomparing data logging on my Ray FormulaFord doesn’t seem quite as cool now!What an absolutely mega prize to be offered,surely one of , i f not , THE biggest pr izesoffered in club motorsport . I ts value ismassive not only in monetary terms but alsoin experience terms. I feel I’ve improved as adriver no end, as you are able to revieweverything you’ve done on track, one to one,minutes af ter the session. The t ime spentwith driver coach Tim Mullen was a massivehelp on the day. Unfortunately i ts probablythe closest I’m going to get to the top, but i tsnot for the lack of trying.If this pr ize is carr ied forward to the 2011championship, I’m sure i t wil l be just as hot lycontested as previous years! HUGE thankyou to everyone involved in making i thappen, team CRS, team GBR, Dave Forster,a l l my sponsors , Knockhi l l , the SMRC,Scot t ish marshals , Scrut ineers , DiabetesUK, hope I haven’t missed anyone!Yours in sport ,Craig Brunton,2010 Scot t ish Formula Ford Champion.

Craig in Spain

Visit our website on www.smrc-uk.com Photos by Jim Moir Tel: 0131 552 8817 Printed by The Waverley Press Ltd. Tel: 01224 775 000Wheelspin designed by Vince Towns Graphic Design Tel: 0779 2050 786 Web: www.vincetownsgraphics.co.uk

Sandy Denham 0131 334 2000(Chairman - email: s.denham@smrc-uk.com)

Mike Gascoigne 01383 735308(Vice-Chairman - email: m.gascoigne@smrc-uk.com)

Chris Edwards 01577 830133(Competition Sec - email: c.edwards@smrc-uk.com)

Kevin Pick 0131 332 8287(Wheelspin Editor - email: k.pick@smrc-uk.com)

Vic Covey 01875 340616(Mini Cooper Coordinator - email: v.covey@smrc-uk.com)

Mike How 0131 339 3876(Club Clothing - email: m.how@smrc-uk.com)Bernard Buss 01361 882322Nick Clarke 0131 441 2698Andrew Fenwick 01577 830162Adrian Hamilton 07801 911300Kate Haston 01324 556541Hugh McCaig 019686 76406Brian Sarafilovic 0141 956 4385

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COMPETITION

Hi Kevin ,An excel lent Wheelspin as usual which Ialways read from cover to cover. Hencespot t ing the al l too famil iar Bent ley instant ly -without of course needing the clue!I used to go with my Dad to the Ingl is tonmeet ings ( just 13 years old in 1965) and theywere great fun. I f my memory serves me wel l ,you s imply turned up and joined ascrut ineer ing queue. Assuming you passedscrut ineer ing you were then ‘al located’ whichrace you’d be taking par t in . I ’m sure theBent ley was qui te of ten out against the l ikes ofImps and Minis and Spri tes .One enduring memory is the s ight of my Dadplus about 4 others s i t t ing in a c i rc le in thecat t le /sheep pens (which served as ‘pi ts’)s tar ing intent ly a t a small ish ‘box’ . This ‘box’turned out to be a c igaret te case but with adifference. Someone had given my Dada cigaret te case with a t imer on i t . Thosestar ing at i t had al l run out of c igaret tes andwere desperately t rying to get the t imer tospeed up and open the case!My sis ter, Sue, now owns the car which shenow ral l ies f rom t ime to t ime and sometimesraces a t the annual Bent ley Drivers Clubmeet ing at Si lvers tone.The car is what is known as a 3/4½, i .e .or iginal ly a 3 l i t re Vintage Bent ley but la ter onfi t ted with a 4½ l i t re engine. This was/ is qui tea ‘common’ adaptat ion. The car was “created”by a man cal led Gordon Macdonald in the la te1950s. I t does not adhere to a number ofor iginal par ts and design; for example, i t hashydraul ic shock absorbers and i ts body islargely of a luminium. Gordon Macdonaldbui l t i t so that i t would be a competi t ive race

car and also easy and fun to dr ive on theordinary roads - and he achieved both. My Dadbought i t in the mid-60s. I am not sure ofexact ly what race victor ies Macdonaldachieved but I know that in both his hands and(I think) my Dad’s the car won the RichardSeaman Memorial Trophy race held annual lyat one of the VSCC meet ings, qui te of tenOulton Park. With Macdonald at the wheel i ta lso completed 108 miles in one hour a t theMonthlerey circui t in France. My Dad had another Bent ley, a lso a 3/4½,which he’d bought just af ter the war and inwhich he used to do hi l l c l imbs and the odd racemeet ing - I ’m sure he took i t to Charterhal l inthe Borders . I have dr iven YF 15 on the ordinary roads andraced i t a t Oulton Park and Knockhi l l . I t ’s apleasure to dr ive/race and, bel ieve i t or not ,handles just l ike a modern car - l ight on thesteer ing, excel lent brakes and very ‘neutral’in i ts handl ing. Gerard McCosh.

Hi KevinI think the competi t ion answer is A K McCosh,father of Gerard. I t ’s a Bent ley of some sor t Ithink!David GuildEdinburgh

This issue, who is driving this carand what is it? Clue - it’s Knockhillin 1985, and he’s still racing today.Answers to your editor, e mail k.pick@smrc-uk.com oransaphone 0131 332 8287. Entriesclose on March 31st 2011.Theeditor’s decision is final.

Every year as a thank you to the marshals , the 40marshals with the highest a t tendances during theprevious season are t reated to a day of thr i l ls andspi l ls organised by the SMRC at Knockhi l l . Thistook place in November.The day fol lowed the usual format of a session onthe skidpan, won by Dougie Mc Night .Unfortunately one of the cars hi t the barr iers andhad to be ret i red for the day – sorry Knockhi l l .This was fol lowed by the Smart Pursui tChal lenge – a kind of autotest held in Paddock 2,great fun providing you can get the car into gear.This was won by John Bushby.Then onto the t rack where the Marshal’s dr ivingwas assessed by the Knockhi l l inst ructors over 3laps – won by Dougie Mc Night again. This wasfol lowed by le t t ing the marshals out for a few

laps in a Legend, again generously suppl ied byAlly Hunter. Thanks Ally and sorry about theLegend that was so covered in mud i t had to beret i red to get hosed down. Then circui t r ides werekindly provided by Stan Bernard, Raymond Boydand Keiran Bai l l ie in their own cars – a lways afavouri te amongst the marshals .Final ly, or so we thought , there was the kar t ing.Run over 4 heats with the fastest 2 going into thef inal . This was also won by Dougie Mc Night whowil l be get t ing a weight penal ty for next year.Just when we thought i t was al l over GrahamBrunton very generously la id on his 2 seaterracing car for 8 lucky marshals , thanks Graham.Thanks once again to a l l the above mentioned andto the SMRC for arranging the day.

Andy Fenwick

MM aa rr ss hh aa ll ’’ ss FF uu nn dd aa yy 22 00 11 00

Hello KevinI would like to thank Sandy our Chairman forawarding me the Sir Jackie Stewart medal at theclub's excellent dinner and awards ceremony. It was acomplete surprise, and I am honoured to receive sucha prestigious award. It was made extra special by

having Sir Jackie present it to me. I am very pleasedthat I won it for doing a job I love, and would alsolike to wish everyone a great season. See you all at Knockhill.Regards Chris Edwardsle

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