United Autosports Glynn Geddie admits that Knockhill is a ‘happy hunting ground’ for him, as the Scot gears up to make his first home appearance in the British Touring Car Championship this weekend.
Geddie, who was born and lives in Aberdeen, contested his first-ever car race at the Fife circuit and admits to having plenty of experience of the 2.04 km circuit.
“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 – the last time in 2012 in a Porsche,” said Geddie. “It’s been pretty much a happy hunting ground for me having won around 12 Mini or Porsche races.”
The Scot has had a difficult maiden season in the BTCC to-date, however, with 12th placed finishes at Oulton Park and Snetterton being his best results so far. Geddie is currently down in 19th in the championship with 15 points to his name.
“I like the track although it’s short in length and narrow in width so it’s very tight for overtaking,” added the 24-year-old. “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.”
Richard Dean, Uinted Autosports Managing Director, admits that his team needs to ensure a greater degree of consistency in order to consistently challenge for points-scoring results. The team have finished in the points just eight times in 2014 out of 36 attempts.
“We are really looking forward to heading to Knockhill,” said Dean. “It’s Glynn’s home race so the Scottish race fans will be cheering him on I’m sure.
“As we saw at Snetterton, we have the ability to be in the top half of the grid, we now just need to be more consistent throughout the weekend and maintain those good results.
“James’ car has had a ‘re-shell’ in between Snetterton and Knockhill, so there’s been a lot of work back at our workshop to get his car back to where we want it to be and hopefully he can have a good weekend.”
Cole himself admits that he has not raced ‘north of the border’ since 2009, when he competed in the Formula Ford championship, scoring a podium in the second of three races.
“I’m looking forward to getting back to Knockhill,” enthused Cole. “I last raced there in 2009 in a Formula Ford single-seater.
“It’s a fantastic short track with lots of aggressive lunges. I’m really hoping the twisty circuit will suit the Toyota. I have a new ‘bodyshell’ and engine so I’m looking forward to the next three races on a circuit that hopefully will give us the opportunity to post good results.”