CLASSICRACERANGLO-SCOTTISHPRO-AMCHALLENGE
78 ClassicRacer
of the 2016 encounteratSilverstonewhereby
he wasdeterminednot to fall offonthe
opening lap again.Pro-Amoriginals Corner,
GeoffFowlerand Curt Langan gave the
English teamsomecredibility, bolsteredby
MarlboroproddyracersMuggleton, Dave
Crampton and Robinson whileGraeme
Mitchellwas coerced into battle, mainly
because his elderbrother Kevin wasone of
thestars of theoriginal show.
Thebanter started in the build-upto the
event,which onlyaddedtothe occasion and
rivalry. Nevershort of acontroversial word
or two, Carter wasfirst to spoutoff when he
declared:“The planissimple, we are goingto
take Mackenzie and his Scotsto the cleaners.
We won’tbetakingany prisoners,as we
English are aproventeam led by me andI
still consider myself to be worldclass. Unlike
theScotsweare all fromthe Pro-Ameraand
we’ll soonget up to speedand showthem
theway roundtheirown track.”
Captain cool,Mackenzieretorted: “There’s
no waythe English will get asniff,aswe’ve
assembled the best Scottish teamwhich
were still alive and available.Lookingback
at historyand the last timethe Pro-Am
wasrun at Knockhill wasbackin1982and
Iwon it. Carterwasnowherefromwhat I
recall and when youlookathis performance
at Silverstonelast year,itwasn’t very
encouraging.I’m fully expecting aScottish
win, whichwill silencethem.”
With acombined age conservatively
estimated at 870 years,giving an averageage
of just over54, the ageing juvenilesgathered
on the Scottish mountainsidebeforethe
establishedPro-Am ritual of the key drawtook
place. All bikes were identical,but justsome
fasterthan othersand it turnedout that poor
McLeod, as muchremovedfromhis Dalmac
Racing and Silverstone Armstrong days as he
couldeverbe, had drawn aduffer.
Testosterone levels suitably toppedup
as the smellofliniment wafted aroundthe
paddockand outwobbled the gladiators,
somein ill-fittingleathers, forFriday’sfree
practice. It saw‘Fearless’ MacPherson top
thetime sheets withabestof66.404sec,
only 18sec alap slowerthan Shakey Byrne’s
BSBlap recordheset last year aroundthe
1.3-mile Fifetrack overlooking the panoramic
Firth of Forth.
Mackenzie,inyoungest sonTaz’sMcAMSleathers andfittinghim likeaglove,was
second quickest aheadoflankyYorkshireman
Corner withMorpethpropertydeveloper
Robinson and formerDoncaster minerLangan
insidethe topfive,just ahead of part-timerally
driver and builderCrawford, makingit three
fromeachnation insidethe top six.
Meanwhile, McLeod, on his duffer, was
16th and last, nearly nine seconds backof
MacPherson,andlapping at an average
speedofasmidgeonover60mph. Carter
and hishenchmendeniedanyskulduggery
in loosening the plug caps of the #62
machine (to correspond withMcLeod’sage,
incidentally), althoughthis wouldn’t be the last
of the accusationsoffoul playasitturnedout.
Qualifying followedasimilarpattern late
on the Saturdayafter aday of delays with
retainedfirefighter MacPherson(his daytime
jobpost racing) once againtop of the sheets
somehalf asecondquicker than he’d gonein
practice,proving that the allegedsightingsof
himtestingatKnockhill maynot have been
afigment of Mackenzie’simagination, as he
constantlymaintained. Cornerset the second
fastesttime,just overa10th behindhis
Scottish rival, with Mackenziethird.
Crawford, Muggleton and Robinsonwere
on rowtwo withLangan, Carter and Christieon row three.Mitchell, Morrisonand
DDDuuuffffffuuusssqqquuuaaallliiifififieeedddooonnnrrrooowwwfffooouuurrraaahhheeeaaadddooofff
Toner,Crampton andFowler, with Donnie,
havingswappedtooneofthesparebikes,
pullingthekeysoutofyetanotherduffer
ashewaslastagain,foursecondsadrift
ofFowlerinfrontofhimashesplutttttered
some 8. 6 secbehindthepole-settttter.
Witheachteamresortingtodiffffferent
cornersofthebartotalktacticsthat
evening,agoodnight’ssleepheralded
glorioussunshineonracedayandwithit,
amassivecrowdtowitnesstheclashof
thetitans,nottomentionthattherewerea
coupleofBSBracesonthecardtoo.
Withthreeracesundertheorganiser’s
beltsonSunday,thepitwalkcleared
intimefortheinauguralAnglo-Scottish
Pro-AmChallengetotakecentrestage.
Theclocktickedontowardsthe 12. 20
starttimeandslowlybutsurely,theriders
madetheirwaytothegrid,ornotasthe
casemaybe.Corner,Muggletonand
Langanalltooktheirdutifulplacesonthe
gridbutMackenziehadacunningplan.He
andmostoftheScotshungaleftthrough076 Pro Am_SEP.indd 78 27/07/201709:08:21