CHASE Equipment Historic Modsports & Special Saloons Knockhill 16th & 17th May 2026
MORRISON'S MIDGET MAKES WAVES IN KNOCKHILL RAIN
The second meeting for the CHASE Equipment Historic Modsports and Special Saloons of 2026 took the competitors to the Scottish Motor Racing Club’s home circuit of Knockhill, the series forming part of the roller coaster venue’s ‘Champions of Scottish Car Racing’ event over the weekend of the 16th and 17th of May.
Following the hugely successful 50th Anniversary festival last year, the ‘Champions of Scottish Car Racing’ event featured appearances from a large number of champion drivers from Scottish motorsport in the last 50 years. Star cars and Superkarts would be on display and would also participate in on-track demonstrations. The career of the late David Leslie was honoured along with Duns farmer and Special Saloon ace Doug Niven, who would be on hand to present a new trophy named after him to the aggregate winner from the CHASE Equipment Historic Modsports and Special Saloons.
Preview: Three entries were received for the CHASE Equipment Historic Modsports and Special Saloons element of the two SMRC Classic Sports and Saloons races. David Morrison’s MG Midget suffered engine issues during the first event at Silverstone which prevented Morrison from racing his Modsport after a fine qualifying performance but the little sports car should fly on the sinuous Scottish circuit. The Midget would be running with its 1460cc spare unit installed after Morrison found a 3mm hole in the block between bore 2 and 3 on his number one motor. Morrison also received his 2025 Class B top performer award at the weekend. Myles Castaldini debuted an attractive Davrian at Knockhill and the diminutive coupe should be a boon on the restless venue, Castaldini having substituted for Steve Barnard in the spaceframe Mk1 Escort with great success at Silverstone. The double-winner on the Grand Prix circuit would be at the wheel of a 998cc Imp-engined Mk5 model that Castaldini had recently acquired and featured the windscreen from one of 'works' Davrian pilot Pat Longhurst's machines! Andy Wilson has restored the spectacular ex-Tony Hazlewood/Alan Minshaw DAF 55 V8 superbly into its Demon Tweeks guise but the March-suspended Special Saloon has fought its owner every step of the way, which unfortunately led to the charismatic machine’s withdrawal in the lead up to the weekend.
The second meeting for the CHASE Equipment Historic Modsports and Special Saloons of 2026 took the competitors to the Scottish Motor Racing Club’s home circuit of Knockhill, the series forming part of the roller coaster venue’s ‘Champions of Scottish Car Racing’ event over the weekend of the 16th and 17th of May.
Following the hugely successful 50th Anniversary festival last year, the ‘Champions of Scottish Car Racing’ event featured appearances from a large number of champion drivers from Scottish motorsport in the last 50 years. Star cars and Superkarts would be on display and would also participate in on-track demonstrations. The career of the late David Leslie was honoured along with Duns farmer and Special Saloon ace Doug Niven, who would be on hand to present a new trophy named after him to the aggregate winner from the CHASE Equipment Historic Modsports and Special Saloons.
Preview: Three entries were received for the CHASE Equipment Historic Modsports and Special Saloons element of the two SMRC Classic Sports and Saloons races. David Morrison’s MG Midget suffered engine issues during the first event at Silverstone which prevented Morrison from racing his Modsport after a fine qualifying performance but the little sports car should fly on the sinuous Scottish circuit. The Midget would be running with its 1460cc spare unit installed after Morrison found a 3mm hole in the block between bore 2 and 3 on his number one motor. Morrison also received his 2025 Class B top performer award at the weekend. Myles Castaldini debuted an attractive Davrian at Knockhill and the diminutive coupe should be a boon on the restless venue, Castaldini having substituted for Steve Barnard in the spaceframe Mk1 Escort with great success at Silverstone. The double-winner on the Grand Prix circuit would be at the wheel of a 998cc Imp-engined Mk5 model that Castaldini had recently acquired and featured the windscreen from one of 'works' Davrian pilot Pat Longhurst's machines! Andy Wilson has restored the spectacular ex-Tony Hazlewood/Alan Minshaw DAF 55 V8 superbly into its Demon Tweeks guise but the March-suspended Special Saloon has fought its owner every step of the way, which unfortunately led to the charismatic machine’s withdrawal in the lead up to the weekend.
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Qualifying: The withdrawal of Andy Wilson meant that just a pair of cars remained to qualify. The threatened showers failed to arrive in time for qualifying so the 1.266-mile circuit stayed dry. The 15 minutes of qualifying was David Morrison’s first experience of the undulating Scottish circuit but he soon got into his stride. The MG Midget didn’t quite break the one minute barrier as Morrison learned the circuit and the leading CHASE Equipment Historic Modsports and Special Saloons contender would line up on the second row in fourth overall. The Davrian Mk5 of Myles Castaldini didn’t go out on track during the session, with a suspected water jacket gasket/wills ring problem preventing its participation. Castaldini and his helpers torqued up the cylinder head tighter in the hope of keeping the cooling water where it should be in order to complete his compulsory three laps to qualify on Sunday morning. Castaldini was forced to return back to his awning from the assembly area to change the Davrian's tyres when he was about to head out after one of his slick tyres went down, which proved to be timely in light of incoming rain. It was very wet when Castaldini eventually ventured onto the track and his issues continued after the car misted up severely and it was decided they should remove the rear window in time for the races. Overall, the rapid Morgan +8 of Stewart Robb secured pole position by 2.063 seconds from John Marshall's immaculate BMW M3 E30. The appropriately named Mario Ferrari set the third-fastest time with his 308 GTB despite a fluid leak and he would be joined by the aforementioned Morrison on row two. Less than a tenth behind the Midget came Ewan Anderson's MGB GT V8 in fifth, who was only another 0.109 seconds up on Colin Calder's Ginetta G4R in sixth. Alastair Baptie's spectacularly driven Fiat X1/9 headed the fourth row from Adam Kinmond's Rover Vitesse, with Jimmy Crow's Reliant Scimitar and John Kinmond's Mini completing the top ten.
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Race One: Race day saw bright spells interspersed with heavy showers, which mostly affected the CHASE Equipment Historic Modsports and Special Saloons races that ran alongside the SMRC's Classic Sports and Saloons. The exposed hilltop circuit often attracts inclement weather and a hailstorm fell just ahead of the lunchtime public grid walk for the two mixed categories, which meant that the track would be wet for the opening race that followed. David Morrison had fitted two new wet tyres down the nearside but the MG Midget slipped to sixth behind Alastair Baptie's Fiat and Adam Kinmond's Rover on lap one. Morrison gained a place when Kinmond spun the Vitesse on lap four then caught and passed Baptie's X1/9 for fourth on lap five. The Midget was close to catching Ewan Anderson's MGB GT on the final lap but V8 power told on the run to the line so Morrison finished where he started in fourth overall. Myles Castaldini had moved up five places by lap two but had a lonely race thereafter as he took the Class MA win on his Davrian's debut, despite having to pump the brake pedal, and he was pleased to avoid being lapped by Morrison before the finish. In the race overall, poleman Stewart Robb and sixth-fastest Colin Calder missed the lunchtime grid walk but were able to join the grid from the pitlane and take their original positions. Mario Ferrari's Ferrari was missing from third on the grid after the Italian sports car's qualifying water leak. John Marshall's BMW M3 led the opening lap but the polesitting Morgan +8 grabbed the lead on lap two and eased away to win by more than eight seconds from Marshall. Ewan Anderson completed the podium, just ahead of leading CHASE Equipment Historic Modsports and Special Saloons runner Morrison. Baptie's Fiat was fifth, with Alasdair Coates 'Sunoco' Mk1 Ford Escort RS2000 in sixth after Adam Kinmond retired his Rover post-spin. Colin Calder's Ford-engined Ginetta made good progress in the top six but skated off at the Hairpin after a brake fluid leak emptied the reservoir and the pedal went to the floor when challenging Anderson.
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Race Two: Lightning struck twice for the combined CHASE Equipment Historic Modsports and Special Saloons and SMRC Classic Sports and Saloon fields as heavy rain again fell just ahead of their race start, with the surface becoming very wet for the second encounter that wrapped up the weekend’s action. Front-running CHASE Equipment Historic Modsports and Special Saloons contender David Morrison got involved in an early battle with Alastair Baptie's Fiat X1/9 but spun on lap four when they were joined by the delayed Stewart Robb's Morgan +8, the little MG having touched the grass and round she went. Morrison recovered from his gyration to rejoin in tenth overall, just ahead of the second Historic Modsport and Special Saloon car driven by Myles Castaldini. The Midget drew away from the Davrian again over the following laps and Adam Kinmond’s Rover Vitesse had parachuted between them when Castaldini stopped at the Hairpin in the dying moments to bring out the red flag. The Davrian’s gearbox had been slipping out of second and third gears before an electrical gremlin caused the Imp engine to cut out. In the race for overall honours, opening race winner Stewart Robb had to readjust himself for Race Two after lapping his Judd V10-engined Pilbeam Hillclimb/Sprint single seater in a rapid 47.1 seconds during an afternoon demonstration. The lead contest was three-wide off the line, after a flying start from Ewan Anderson’s MGB GT V8 on the second row saw him go between the front row pair but John Marshall’s M3 managed to attain the lead from second on the grid. The BMW driver's rallying experience showed and he simply romped away to victory by a smidge under 22 seconds. Anderson held second place early on after poleman Robb looped into a spin during the opening lap but the Morgan +8 pilot got his head down after his rotation and flew back to the runner-up spot on lap nine, where he remained. Anderson’s MG took third ahead of Thomas Owen’s Peugeot 205 GTi that revelled in the testing conditions. Colin Calder got his Ginetta back out after his opening race incident and mounted a fine charge through the field to fifth, despite grappling with failed windscreen wipers and a badly misted screen. Typically, the weather cleared into a beautiful evening as the packing up took place.
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Doug Niven Trophy: The Modsport and Special Saloon categories have had a long association with the Scottish circuit, along with the defunct Ingliston track on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Some notable cars and drivers from north of the border have competed over the years, including Walter Robertson’s Chevron-based Skoda special saloon and later the ’DFVW’ coupe, the Drambuie Imp of Ian Forrest plus the Formula Two single seater-based Renault 5 and Lancia Beta Monte Carlo clones of James McGaughey. Ron Cumming’s stunning Lancia Stratos and AC 3000 ME silhouettes were also successful, with the former chassis present over the weekend but clothed in the latter's bodywork. Another of the band to race in the category was Doug Niven, for whom a brand new perpetual award was put on by the Knockhill circuit in recognition of the Border Reivers racer. The cousin of three-time Formula One World Champion Jim Clark raced some spectacular machines in Special Saloons both in Scotland and further south throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s, including a Mk1 Escort ‘Boss’ V8, the ex-Colin Hawker DFV Capri, which housed the running gear from the Escort, and the famous F5000 Trojan-based VW Beetle put together by Mick Hill. Niven was in attendance to hand over his eponymous trophy for its inaugural presentation, which David Morrison had the privilege of receiving for the first time. Morrison had close to one minute in hand from Myles Castaldini after Race One and the Chesterfield native survived a mid-race spin to bring the Midget home to become the first name to be engraved on the brand new award. In addition to the honour of being the cup winner for 12 months, the victor would also receive a replica trophy to keep as a permanent reminder of the achievement along with a tipple from the Black Shuck Distillery.
Alasdair Baptie received the concurrent ’David Leslie Trophy’ in honour of the late BTCC race winner and Ecurie Ecosse Group C2 star. The trophy was presented by Jillian Shedden, the daughter of long-time circuit owner Derek Butcher and wife of triple BTCC champion Gordon Shedden.
Alasdair Baptie received the concurrent ’David Leslie Trophy’ in honour of the late BTCC race winner and Ecurie Ecosse Group C2 star. The trophy was presented by Jillian Shedden, the daughter of long-time circuit owner Derek Butcher and wife of triple BTCC champion Gordon Shedden.
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After racing at the UK’s furthest north venue, the CHASE Equipment Historic Modsports and Special Saloons now head down to one of the most southerly circuits at Thruxton in Hampshire. The series will be appearing at the high-speed track’s ‘Thruxton Retro’ showpiece over the 4th and 5th of July weekend.