By Mick Palmer

At an altitude of 856ft on the start/finish straight, Knockhill has the highest point above sea level of any part of any circuit on the 2023 TCR UK calendar. The Scottish venue is twice as far above the ocean level than the next highest sites where the championship races. We’re not talking Mexico City here. This isn’t like F1 in the 1980s where turbos were starved and power was down, but it doesn’t mean that Knockhill – Which TCR UK visits for the first time since a reverse round in 2018 – isn’t unique. Because it is.

The just over one mile track has a topography unmatched when it comes to Touring Car venues. The rotley repeated ‘rollercoaster’ phrase does get a bit boring when you hear it every year when the BTCC lands, but it has earned it’s reputation as a track with a couple of launch pad places.

Track limits has been a key discussion in motor racing in the UK over the last few months, and TCR UK has seen its fair share of penalties dished out within that remit. Penalties that have changed results at the top end of the field, and as it stands has had an effect on the TCR UK championship points table (points lost for second place Carl Boardley being the obvious hit.) The thing about Knockhill however is that the uniqueness of that ‘rollercoaster topography’ has been a selling point, and for the moment it looks like something that fans travel exclusively to see could be reigned in.

Duffus Dip and the chicane. Even with new kerbing to discourage launches, the spectacular selling point of the track looks like it could be neutered. It’s almost a right of passage for Touring Car fans to see cars get that 45 degree angle at turn one, and in effect ignore the apex of the uphill chicane later in the lap. One place in the country were spectators truly do revel at the ability Touring Car racers could be dumbed down, but the saving grace is that neither spot is really an overtaking place. If you want to see the real door-to-door action (and stay dry if it gets damp) McIntyre’s and the Hairpin is where the moves for position will be made, and those moves at this point in the season could be crucial in determining who will be fighting for the title in the home stretch.

With Knockhill being a three race weekend there are a lot of points up for grabs. For championship leader Bruce Winfield, hampered by a 40kg success penalty after Oulton Park, it will mean he might be in a points collecting mode. His nearest rivals will try to make up ground, but for three pre-season favourites it looks like a make or break race meeting. Chris Smiley, Brad Kent and Callum Newsham have all been beset by woes this term. Incidents on track, tech penalties and reliability issues have conspired against the trio to leave them languishing around the edges of the top 10 in standings, when they were all considered a shoe in for at least one win each by the halfway point of the year. There are half as many races this coming weekend as there is at the remaining three rounds of the year, so tripping up here will have a huge effect on the leader of the series, or those trying to make inroads to catch the tail of the championship battle.

For Winfield’s nearest challenger Carl Boardley the chance to cement his title tilt is really on the table. While Winfield has only really attacked the circuit on two wheels, the Cupra Leon racer has a couple of years of BTCC experience around the track to refer to. Any self respecting racer would try to negate that as having an advantage, but even with two days of testing for some ahead of the meeting, it still doesn’t make up for the foibles that this track only offers up during races – at that point it is a very different situation. With a 29 point deficit to the top and 40 on offer for a win (plus qualifying and fastest lap offerings) there could be a very different look t the table on Monday morning.

As for the rest of the top 10 the aims will differ, but not by much. Brad Hutchison doesn’t have the car to go for the crown, but canny points gathering will be thrown to one side if there is a sniff at victory. Like Boardley the Audi racer has a decent back catalogue of tricks from racing in the Mini Challenge at the venue, and if the weather deteriorates and the playing field is levelled he is not a man to count out. Astra competitor Darelle Wilson finds himself in a similar situation. After his race two Oulton podium he said he felt that it sets him up well for Silverstone and Donington, but he wasn’t so sure about Knockhill.

Alex Ley is in a similar boat to Smiley et al in that he needs a result to fire up his campaign. The young Hyundai racer has also seen some luck, and at Oulton a tyre stack, place themselves as obstacles to be negotiated. For RBR (Rob Boston – not Red Bull – racing) duo Jac Constable and Joe Marshall there must be a disappointment that in the new Audi only a single victory has come the way of the team this season with both the pace of the machines and drivers falling short of expected results with a smattering of reliability problems and the odd nerf halting progress.

The most interesting aspect of the weekend will be the performances of Adam Shepherd and Jenson Brickley. Shepherd has had some finance issues but the performances keep delivering reasons for partners to support him. The obvious speed that was there last year is, despite lacking a win this year, being honed. His skillset is developing consistency when it’s needed, speed where it’s required, and the ability to consider all that’s happening around him when battling for podiums. Brickley has come to life over the last two rounds and seems to have made a significant step after his Croft win. Despite his youthful age there is no fear of getting elbows out, and in this first year of Touring Car racing after a stellar time in Fiesta Juniors you get the impression that we’re witnessing a solid Tin Top racer of the future is making a name for himself.

Knockhill might be up a height when it comes to geographical features, but this weekend there will be some drivers leaving the track feeling like they’re at the bottom of the mountain again, while others will be readying themselves to plant their 2023 championship flags at the peak.

And of course a fully detailed account of the weekend will appear in issue 2 of TC – Touring Car magazine.