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Round Nine, Knockhill, 18/19th August 2001 - Former Ladies Rally Champion Barbara Armstrong made an impressive circuit-racing debut in her homeland with a clean-sweep of third-place podiums in Round Nine of the Michelin Porsche Cup at Knockhill last weekend. Nicknamed "Brilliant Barbara" by the PowerTour commentary team, Armstrong exploited all her rallying experience to confirm her newfound status as a front-runner in the fiercely contested championship. Despite atrocious conditions she was consistently one of the fastest drivers on track and was genuinely unlucky not to achieve her first second-place finish.

Although Knockhill is her "local" circuit, Barbara had not raced there previously, so had yet another totally new track to learn. She used official Friday practice and some additional tuition from Ian Forrest, the circuit's professional instructor, to improve her circuit knowledge. Qualifying, however, proved to be a frustrating half-hour for the Scot, who found herself stuck in traffic and unable to get a clean lap. "Then I came in before the end," she explained. "I saw a group of cars heading for the pitlane, so I followed them in. I thought I'd missed the flag." As it turned out, she'd just aborted her fastest lap. "That last flying lap would certainly have been her best," admitted Paul Robe, team manager at Parr. "She'd have been fourth without a doubt, but Craig Rapp just pipped her at the close."

Sprint Race

Barbara lined up fifth for the Saturday Sprint race. "I was quite pleased with that, really," she said. "Fifth put me on the inside line for the start, and that stops you getting shoved out at the first corner." She made a good start in the slippery conditions, moving ahead of Rapp as they came up the hill towards Duffus Dip. "Craig must have been snoozing again," she said with a grin. She tucked down the inside to begin the descent to Butchers.

The rain had eased off but it was still a while before the tyres reached temperature. "I took those first few laps quite gently," she said. Even so, she was pulling away from Rapp and not losing much ground to the leading three. Adrian Slater, just ahead of her, was pushing hard, but Barbara was close enough to benefit from his first spin at the hairpin. He recovered quickly and latched onto her tailpipes. "Adrian could have pushed me off a few times," admitted Barbara afterwards, "but he didn't. I was pleased about that," she added, with typical understatement. Their’s developed into a tight battle, with Barbara holding off Slater's advances for three laps before he got back ahead. "I could see he was pushing too hard," she said, "and was sure he'd make another mistake." He did, spinning a second time at the hairpin, but this time slipping back several places. This gave Barbara breathing space, and though she was closing on Nigel Rice, running second to Chambers, third was now safely hers.

"It's a really good result," enthused Paul Robe. "She never looked like losing the position after Slater went off the second time. This gives her third place on the grid for the Feature race, which we're pleased about." It's another inside line slot, and gives her a good run into the first corner from the longer race's rolling start.

Knockhill Photos HERE