With the dust now settled on the first round of the Celtic Speed Scottish Mini Cooper Cup, it can only be viewed as a weekend of highs and lows.
Qualifying was completed in extremely tricky conditions. Early morning mist and overnight drizzle had left the track treacherously slippery, not helped by a car in the previous group qualifying grenading an engine and dumping oil all over the racing line for half the circuit. 5th place was a decent start to the season and a place Malcolm hoped to build on for race 1.
Race 1’s conditions were not much better with most of the grid electing to run a wet set up as the track still looked greasy. Half way round the out lap, we all knew we were wrong, the track would have suited an almost dry set up. Off the start Malcolm managed to avoid a first corner spin moving him up in to 4th and then the Minis had that rarest of events, a processional race.
Race 2 saw Malcolm start 4th, getting a great start and jumping ahead in to 3rd for the first corner. A tap in to the second corner turned the car in to a spin and he was happy that entering the gravel trap sideways at over 60mph didn’t produce a roll! The red mist came down at that point and although he battled back to 9th, he took a reprimand for passing under waved yellow flags after an incident on lap 2 left 2 cars stricken just off the circuit, walking away with formal caution and points on his racing licence.
Regarding the infraction, Malcolm was frank, “The marshals are there to keep us safe and the rules about passing under flags are there to keep them safe. Red mist or not, there’s no excuse for that behavior, I deserve the punishment I’ve received.”
The top 5 cars from race 2 were reversed for race 3, so it was Josh Baird on pole. A big sideways moment at Clarks on the first lap saw him lose positions and Malcolm was able to slide past in to the hairpin. By the final lap Malcolm was in a 4 way tussle for 3rd place with the 4 cars entering the hairpin for the final time 2 by 2. In the drag to the finish he wound up 6th with just 0.18 seconds covering 3rd to 6th in a photo finish!
