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Knockhill 2012 race report



Highland attack for Horton

Clitheroe based Rallycross driver Simon Horton recently made a trip north of the border into Scotland to compete at the Knockhill racing circuit, just north of Edinburgh. For his 2012 British Rallycross Championship campaign Simon has been proudly promoted to car number 8 from his previous number of 22, after his successful 2011 season meaning he finished in the top 10 drivers in the UK.

Prior to this event Simon had endured a very tough opening round to the season at Lydden Hill in Kent, where lady luck was definitely not on his side. “Round 1 was a total disaster with bad luck, racing incidents and small mechanical failures. The preparation for round 2 started the minute we finished the first race meeting as I didn’t want to endure a repeat weekend at the next race, otherwise my championship would have effectively been over before it even started” quoted Simon.

With the whole Hortonracing team re-focused after the round 1 disappointment’s, Simon was quickly out the blocks for first practice proving to himself and the team that they had it within themselves to be a force to be reckoned with during 2012, and promptly set one of the fastest lap times during the practice session. Before Simon could improve any further in practice, the session was red flagged by an accident on track and there was no more time left to complete any more laps before the qualifying heats. On returning to the pits the Clitheroe based driver declared himself happy with the cars setup and was ready to race.

For the first race of the day Simon took his Subaru Impreza to the centre of the front row for the start. As the lights changed the car pulled off the line well enabling him to enter the first corner in second position and allowing him to hold off the rest of the pack for the remainder of the race. This second place result boosted the confidence of Simon and his team for the rest of day and upon checking the timed results confirmed that he had set the third fastest lap of the day during this heat.

Race two was a more tricky affair for the Lancashire based driver who had to fight tooth and nail to cement his position in the final. Simon battled lap after lap with fellow Supercar driver Steve Harris in his x-games winning Citroen C4 which had more pace on the tarmac sectors of the track than the Hortonracing prepaired Subaru Impreza. Simon’s greater driving experience and committed driving style suited the long and loose gravel sections which gave him an added advantage against Harris in what is arguably a superior machine. This mixture of different strengths of both cars and drivers, resulted in lots of overtaking between the two competitors during the race and would be split at the chequered flag by just 0.7 of a second. As the flag dropped, Simon pipped Harris to the line and secured his position in the finals.

In order to preserve the car and reduce the risk of an accident or mechanical failure on his highly strained Impreza, the team took the tactical decision to sit out the final qualifying heat and accept a safe second row start on the final grid amongst the fastest cars of the day.

The final took place just before 8pm as the sun was setting over the Knockhill circuit. Simon made a good start again and held fifth position going into the first corner but was hampered by the low sun and dusty conditions making visibility very difficult from behind the wheel as the pack entered the gravel sector for the first time. As Simon started his second lap he was caught and passed by Devon based driver Andy Grant as the pair of them hunted down multiple British Championship winner Pat Doran in his brand new Monster Energy backed Citroen DS3. As the three drivers battled lap after lap, it became apparent that they were fighting between themselves for fourth place and a possible podium finish. Again the strengths of Simon in his Subaru over the loose gravel sections kept him in contention and enabled him to compete with the top UK drivers making for a nail biting finish to the race. In an almost repeat of an early heat only 0.9 of a second covered the three drivers over the line. This time however and despite his best efforts Simon was beaten to the chequered flag and was classified as 6th over the line.

Even so this was a highly credible result for the Clitheroe based driver and his team this early in the season and was a much needed boost after the disastrous opening race to the season. This result was Simons best ever in the elite Rallycross Supercar class and confirmed that both driver and car after many months of hard work are now on par with the very best in the UK.

Photo's
Flickr Images from the event
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67086095@N03/

Britishrallycross.com high res images
http://www.britishrallycross.com/wp-...5/TW_L6426.jpg

http://www.britishrallycross.com/wp-...5/TW_L5642.jpg

http://www.britishrallycross.com/wp-...5/TW_L6479.jpg

http://www.britishrallycross.com/wp-...5/TW_L6246.jpg
Supercar A final onboard footage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAZOJrayf-U

Video
Supercar Heat 2 onboard footage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoRQXr7UZQQ

Spectator Supercar A final footage (3.00 min onward)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWF86hMVFJc


Motors TV supercar A final footage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3EZV6BVjYc