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    Knockhill, Sunday 4th of May
Qualifying went reasonably well. The track was drying rapidly with a dry line appearing, but
wet tyres were the only choice to make for the 7 minute qualifying session, barely enough for 7 laps, but 4th on the grid
with a 58:03 was enough for the front row.
Race 1
The lights went out, the bike bogged down, and 3 riders passed me on the line! Not the best
start to a race!
I dropped into Duffus Dip at the start of lap 1 in 6th place behind Les Shand, passing
him into McIntyres, then set off in pursuit of Brian Duncanson. I squeezed past Brian into the hairpin and finished lap 2
in 4th place. Next up was Ryan Gibb into Duffus on lap 6. On lap 7 I managed to outbrake Willie Monie into the hairpin,
taking him on the inside and robbing him of 2nd place by the time we crossed the line, but this was as far as my charge
through the field went due to the red flag being brought out after a crash.
I have to say that I'm happy with my performance in this race. The places I made up were hard
fought and all down to the effort and hard work I put in, but I just need to get those starts sorted out!
Race 2
An equally bad start in race 2 was a hint at the disaster that was about to unfold. 6th place
again at the end of lap 1 as I struggled to get to grips with wet tyres on an almost dry track, but overcaution got the
better of me as I tried to avoid an early exit in the less than ideal conditions, but after being pushed offline into McIntyres
and running wide onto the kerbing, clearly painted in Dulux MegaSlip paint, opened the throttle and . . . Bang! Game over!
I highsided on kerbs that were as grippy as wet ice and found myself upside down on the grass and heading for the
tyre barrier. I have to say, I've looked better.
Despite the DNF in race 2, there are positives to be taken from the weekend. The bike feels
good, and I feel good on it. It's not the best start to the championship, but there's a long way to go and I'm currently in
6th place.
Next round is on the 25th of May at Knockhill again. Hopefully I'll be smiling a bit more after
that one.
Scott #5
Sunday 30th September 2007, Knockhill
Jock Taylor Memorial Meeting
A problem with the slipper clutch wasn't enough to stop Scott
from qualifying in third place for today's racing with a 53.728 second lap, and thanks to global warming, those races were
held in glorious sunshine instead of the usual rain, wind, and snow, that the Jock Taylor meeting usually suffers from!
Sunday - Race 1
After a decent start, Scott and the rest of the field pulled into the
pits after rider #18 Clint Walker crashed and brought out the red flag.
A good restart found Scott in 4th behind Lewis Farrow at the
first corner, only to be block-passed into Scotsman corner by the returning Craig McLelland, keen to defend his
slim championship lead.
On lap 3 Scott passed Bryan Duncanson at Seat curve and set about closing
down the 4 second gap to Penicuik rider Lewis Farrow in 3rd, but with the race reduced to 8 laps, time was running out
and Scott had to settle for 4th, half a second behind #68 Farrow, #71 McLelland, and race winner David Paton Jr #65.
This win by Paton closed the championship gap to only 1 point with one
race to go.
Sunday - Race 2
The run into the top of Duffus Dip on lap 1 found Scott in 4th behind championship
leader Craig McLelland #71 and narrowly in front of British Superstock regular and TT rider Les Shand (no relation) #75.
At the front, Paton and McLelland swapped the lead again and again, with both riders knowing that whoever won the race
also won the championship.
On lap 7 Scott ran wide at the hairpin allowing Les Shand to pass him
on the inside of the corner, but both riders had to avoid the spinning Kawasaki of McLelland who lost the front on the exit
of the hairpin and was out of the race. Scott immediately passed Les Shand at the top of Duffus Dip to retake 3rd and managed
to fend off Les to the flag to take a hard fought 3rd place behind Lewis Farrow and race winner and new Scottish Champion
David Paton Jr.
This result gave Scott 3rd overall and also his fifth podium in a row.
It also moved him into overall 5th place in the Championship which, considering that he missed the first 8 rounds, is a fantastic
result.
Congratulations to David Paton Jr on a well fought championship.
Sunday 15th September 2007, East Fortune
Scott added a fourth podium in a row to his
streak of good form at East Fortune circuit on Saturday.
A qualifying lap of 62.99 seconds of the East Lothian track was
good enough to put the SDS Racing Yamaha R6 on the second spot on the grid for the weekends races.
Saturday - Race 1
Race 1 began in conditions that were neither
properly wet nor properly dry, which made tyre choice extremely difficult. After much discussion and wringing of hands, we
opted to race on full wet tyres as the track, at that moment in time, was damp enough that dry tyres would have been at best
a gamble, and at worst a mistake.
A good start saw Scott hit the first corner
in third place behind long time rival Lewis Farrow #68, and Virgin R6 Cup racer David Paton Jr #65.
Scott passed
Farrow on lap 4 at Hannahs Chicane and then steadily pulled away from the JLR Honda rider but by this point in the race a
dry line had developed, giving the riders who gambled to start on full dry tyres a distinct advantage. One of those
riders was Derek Glass #33 who passed Scott into the hairpin on lap 6.
On overheating tyres, Scott managed to keep
an increasingly unstable bike behind Triumph Daytona 675 rider Glass, and eventual winner Paton, to take a strong
third place, moving himself into eighth place
in the championship in the process.
Championship leader Craig McLelland #71 returned
to racing to try and defend his slim lead even though he is still on crutches! A fine 8th place was his reward, but an
11th place finish for Lewis Farrow leaves him now 21.5 points behind Mclelland.
The championship now looks like it's going to be a straight fight between
McLelland and David Paton Jr who is now only 6 points off the lead and really on form. Watch this space!
Sunday - Race 2
We awoke on Sunday to a wet and windy track.
So wet in fact that the organisers, the Melville Cub, had no choice but to cancel the meeting on safety grounds. The
right decision.
We'd also like to say a big thank you to Torquil
Paterson and his lovely wife Erin, who very kindly let us borrow one of their children to keep Butler occupied so that we
didn't have to talk to him!
We owe you one, Torquil!
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Knockhill, September 9th 2007
Scott continued his impressive run of front-row starts
on Sunday by putting the SDS Racing Yamaha R6 on 4th spot on the grid with a 54.162 second lap during a qualifying session
that was shortened to only 5 minutes due to a sidecar accident in the previous session.
Sunday - Race 1.
A poor start saw Scott drop to 5th place at the first corner of a hectic
first race. Class newcomer Alex Gault hit the front with championship contender David Paton hot on his heels and Lewis
Farrow in 3rd. This left Scott to battle (once again!) with Suzuki rider Clint Walker over 4th place until the Suzuki rider
ran wide over the kerbs at Carlube Corner, allowing Scott to get his R6 in front on the run down to the Real Radio
Hairpin. Scott would then maintain 4th place to the chequered flag.
1. David Paton #65 - Yamaha R6
2. Alex Gault #71 - Kawasaki ZX6-R
3. Lewis Farrow #68 - Honda CBR600RR
4. Scott Shand #56 - Yamaha R6
5. Clint Walker #18 - Suzuki GSX-R600
Sunday - Race 2.
Once again Scott found himself battling Clint Walker #18 into the first
corner, with Scott losing out to the Suzuki rider on lap 1. After passing Walker at SEAT Curve on lap 3, Scott set about closing
down 2nd place rider, Lewis Farrow #68. After managing to get the gap down to under a second, Scott came off worse when passing
back markers into the Real Radio Hairpin on lap 7, allowing Farrow to stretch the gap to almost 3 seconds. Once again Scott
got his head down and tried to close the gap once more, but had to settle for 3rd place at the flag.
1. David Paton #65 - Yamaha R6
2. Lewis Farrow #68 - Honda CBR600RR
3. Scott Shand #56 - Yamaha R6
4. Clint Walker #18 - Suzuki GSX-R600
5. Bryan Duncanson #10 - Suzuki GSX-R600
With Craig McLelland sidelined with a broken
femur from the East Fortune meeting, David Paton made hay while the sun shone and closed the championship gap to only 23 points,
and Lewis Farrow trailing McLelland by only 17.5 points. With McLelland expected to miss the East Fortune round on September
16th, the championship is closing up at the top!
Scott's two top five results gave him 3rd place overall for the meeting
and another strong podium.
"We made some modifications to the front suspension last week to give
me some more feel in the corners, and it seems to be working. We've seen good improvements with every step we have made, and
my fastest lap was set in the second race with a 53.756 sec lap. That's the fastest I've been on this bike, and is right up
there with the championship leaders." - Shandy #56
18th & 19th August 2007, East Fortune
Circuit.
Saturday - Race 1.
A rain soaked qualifying session saw Scott line
up 3rd on the grid for the first championship race on Saturday. On a track that was damp with a dry line developing,
a less than perfect start saw Scott slip to 4th place behind rider #14 Steven Currie only to repass him on lap 7 of the
10 lap race. Unfortunately the race was red flagged on that same lap after championship leader #71 Craig McLelland crashed
his Kawasaki ZX6-R heavily at Snake corner and was taken to hospital by the paramedics with a suspected broken ankle. This
meant that the race was declared from the previous lap, giving Scott a final position of 4th.
Sunday - Race 2.
Torrential rain threatened to call a halt to the meeting
on Sunday, indeed many racers thought that it should have been cancelled, but Scott finally lined up on a very wet grid in
the afternoon. A decent start saw Scott enter turn one, Pates corner, in 4th place. On lap 2, pole position rider #68 Lewis
Farrow, lost control of his Honda CBR600RR at Snake corner, colliding with the tyre barrier but able to continue further down
the field. This let 18 year old David Paton Jr #65 inherit the lead. By lap 5 Scott had fought through his misting visor problems
to an excellent 2nd place behind Virgin Yamaha R6 Cup racer Paton, a position he would hold to the chequered
flag.
These two results gave Scott 2nd place overall for the two days of the meeting.
"This has been an excellent
weekend for me. A 2nd place finish is a great result given that it's only my second meeting on this new bike. I'm now in 9th
place in the championship and moving up, even though I missed the first eight rounds! We're making good progress, and that's
exactly what we wanted." Scott #56.
Knockhill, July 15th 2007.
Race 1:
Scott left himself a lot of work to do after a poor start saw him complete the first
lap in ninth place. After a few laps to familiarise himself with a new and completely different bike, he started to make steady
progress through the field, having a good battle with Bryan Duncanson (#10), towards a well deserved fourth place.
1: Craig McLelland #71 - Kawasaki ZX6-R
2: Lewis Farrow #68 - Honda CBR 600RR
3: Bryan Duncanson #10 -Suzuki GSX-R 600
4: Scott Shand #56 - Yamaha R6
5: Jon Frost #66 - Honda CBR 600RR
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| Scott battling Clint Walker. |
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Race 2:
Race two was more of the same as Scott's P4 grid start saw him fall back to sixth at
the end of lap one. Another race long dice saw Scott swap position with Clint Walker (#18) again and again. Eventually
Scott's hard work and the team's preparation were rewarded with an excellent third place when the race was red flagged
on lap 8 after Lewis Farrow (#68), who'd been swapping the lead with Craig McLelland (#71) all race, suffered a
heavy crash at Carlube corner (Clarks corner).
1: Craig McLelland #71 - Kawasaki ZX6-R
2: Clint Walker #18 - Suzuki GSX-R 600
3: Scott Shand #56 - Yamaha R6
4: Bryan Duncanson #10 - Suzuki GSX-R 600
5: Robert Wilson #15 - Honda CBR 600RR
"I'm delighted with these results. I'm on a brand new, totally different bike,
and my fitness is not all it could be, but to come away with a third overall for the meeting and a podium first time out is
more than I had expected at this point. There's definitely still more to come from both myself and the bike, but I really
need to work on my starts!
This is the first 600cc bike that I've ridden in anger since my Yamaha FZR600!" - Scott.
After just one meeting, Scott is sitting in 15th place in the championship out of a field of
32 riders. Our goal is to finish inside the top ten by the end of the season.
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