Round 7 of Time Attack UK this year saw a return to Knockhill, Scotland’s hidden gem of motorsport - and what a circuit it is!
Back to Full Power – The K20C Lives On
Starting off with Time Attack, Dan’s trip to Knockhill actually started not long after we left Brands Hatch at Round 6, with a near certainty that the head gasket had failed on the K20C - after some diagnosis, and a trip over to KTech Performance, the car’s now back up to full power!
Friday Trackday – Getting to Grips with the Knockhill Rollercoaster
We headed up for Friday to hit Knockhill running, on a pre-event trackday - seems we weren’t the only ones too, as seemingly most of the Racing Hondas grid were out, along with a few Time Attack cars such as Aleksandr Volkov’s blisteringly quick R35 GT-R!
A few laps gave Dan a good idea of where the track was, being a newcomer to the coveted 1.3 mile ‘rollercoaster’ just north of Dunfermline, and crucially gave confidence that the car was well and truly back to full health.
Finding the Limit
Roll on Saturday morning, and the warm up session saw Dan trying a few different lines and pushing braking points - fortunately the locals welcomed Time Attack back with a range of Single Round Entry drivers showing the rest of us how it’s done!
Attack 1 went well, with a bit more confidence, Dan went out and hit a quickest Clubman class lap, with a provisional class record of 57.2; there were hopes for rain, but the car was absolutely perfect!
Rolling into Attack 2, the rain we were forecast for lunch never came, leading to an improving track yet again and an even faster 56.7 lap - not even a million miles away from some of the bigger classes! The session ended P2, just behind Annie Thompson in the Lotus Exige, managing an awesome 56.1!
Final Attack Drama – Rain, Rivals and a Flat Spin Finish

And then it all came down to the main event - Final Attack! In typical fashion, the biblical downpour we’d been promised for hours finally came 20 minutes beforehand, bringing a new level of technical challenge to the already challenging Knockhill. With traction control off, the Dan was holding the class lead until two quicker laps from rivals Thompson and Hopwell (in an AWD Golf R) - leading to a bit of a moment when Dan’s push lap took a little too much curb, resulting in a flat spin; fortunately without any contact, but ending the day.
Stopping Power Sorted – Dixcel RE Pads Shine in the Wet
Dan did however mention that the last time he’d driven the car in the wet in anger, last season, there were countless issues with brake lockups and ABS issues - these weren’t a problem with the Dixcel RE Type brake pads, which were specially developed to work with modern ABS systems and still provide high performance braking up to huge temperatures!
Snetterton 200 Awaits the Season Finale

As we approach Snetterton 200 on October 19th, a circuit which certainly favours power and low weight, we’re looking forward to seeing what we can finish the year with!
Bonus: Racing Hondas Double Win for Barron with Dixcel RA Type Pads!
Whilst we were up in Scotland, our friends over in the Racing Hondas series were having a great time, despite Liam Collins’ unfortunately missing the round. Bob Barron took home the wins for both Round 13 and 14, with his K-Swap EG running on a set of Dixcel RA Type brake pads. Round 14 also saw a battle damaged Fraser McNeill taking home 4th on Dixcel’s RA Type pads, after an off in qualifying saw his EG Civic lose its splitter - only making it out for Round 13 following a monumental rebuild effort from the team.
Both cars ran, and crucially stopped, very well all day and we look forward to seeing them both at Snetterton!