Scottish Independents
Gordon Shedden may be making another strong title challenge this season, but he won't be the only driver racing on home soil at Knockhill this weekend. We take a look at the season so far of three Scottish drivers in the Independents category.
18th Dave Newsham ~ 26 points
Knockhill may be Dave Newsham's local circuit, but it is still a two and a half hour drive from his home in Inverness.
This year Dave has switched to the AmD Tuning team, racing a Ford Focus, but has so far failed to recapture the form he showed in 2012 when he took two race wins.
His best result so far this season came at Donington Park where he finished 12th in race one, followed by ninth in race two. But was out of the points in race three after going off at Redgate.
Dave, who celebrated his 100th BTCC race start at Croft in June, believes the key to turning around his season is qualifying: “It’s key that we improve our performance in qualifying as our race pace is right up there and we have shown we can run with the guys at the front."
"We have to try and qualify higher up the grid and then stay out of trouble in the first two races and see if we can benefit from the reverse grid to try and make a push for the podium."
19th Glynn Geddie ~ 15 points
Glynn Geddie made his BTCC debut at the start of this season, with a team that was also new to the championship United Autosports.
But that doesn't mean Glynn, son of veteran racer Jim Geddie, is new to racing. He's the reigning Dutch Supercar champion and has previously raced and won in the Porsche Carrera Cup and British GT Championship.
He's also no stranger to racing at Knockhill: “My first car race was not surprisingly at Knockhill in 2006 when I contested the Scottish MINI Challenge and I’ve probably raced there in excess of 20 times. It’s been pretty much a happy hunting ground for me having won around 12 Mini or Porsche races."
Glynn's best weekend of the season so far was last time out at Snetterton, finishing 14th in race one followed by 12th in race three, but he hopes the best it yet to come: "I really hope my ‘home’ track is a changing point in my maiden BTCC season – it’s been a hard first year to date. We’ll need some luck in qualifying with more than 30 cars on a tight circuit.”
29th Aiden Moffat ~ 0 points
This weekend it is the first anniversary of Aiden Moffat making his BTCC debut. One year ago at Knockhill he became the BTCC's youngest ever driver, aged 16 years 10 months and 28 days.
In his first full season in the UK's top championship he has failed so far to score a point, however that doesn't reflect a lack of talent. Mechanical problems have halted development of the car and limited-testing opportunities mean every race weekend has been a learning experience.
_I'm coming to Knockhill on a high_
The family-run Laser Tools Racing team has recently teamed up with Cicely Racing, who run Adam Morgan's Mercedes Benz, and Aiden's been receiving driver coaching from former BTCC race winner Tom Onslow-Cole.
"Snetterton was a good weekend overall," says Aiden. "We made bold moves in changing our team setup but it proved a wise move! The car felt amazing thanks to our Cicely partnership and it was great to be working with Tom again.
In the Dunlop tyre test held at Snetterton following the last race, Aiden ended the day second fastest. "I got a lot more confident with the car and pushed more. We also made some changes that really helped us. I’m coming to Knockhill on a high and what a weekend it would be to produce a great result. It’s a circuit l know so well and l’ll be out to do my very best for all the Scottish fans.