Remembering Lindsay’s championship victory

A certain Fife racer, Lindsay Wilson, does with pride after leading then losing out to Harry Burgoyne but then taking advantage when the latter’s gearbox packed up within sight of the chequer flag.

That year the Saloon Scottish Championship turned out to be one of the better ones and treated the fans to some exciting racing.

There was hard luck and joyous shouts at the end of the race and as usual as Lindsay Wilson, with a sterling drive went on to a late win and earned the right to display the Saltire on the roof of his car for a year.

“I was racing a Sierra, one of the few to do so, but had built it around the “Shovit” chassis that was so popular,” said Wilson.

“The car had been going well and it worked well for me. The car was reliable and I was on form and had picked up a lot of good results.

“When we arrived at the track there was the usual buzz that was associated to a 90s Saloon meeting, especially a big one.

“We all wanted to win the Scottish and with the likes of Harry and Ernie Burgoyne and Gordon Alexander racing you knew it would be a show and a very hard race.

“There were 30 cars on the grid and included the return of Barry Jones who was using the car of Jock Maxwell.

“I can’t remember exactly where I was on the grid but I knew that I had to survive the early laps and if you got to the half distance unscathed then you were in with a chance.”

When the flag dropped Jim Bell was the first to show but his time at the front didn’t last long before the action happened.

Willie Campbell was spun and hit a marker tyre whilst Ray McManus was spun before being collected by a few cars that were running in close order.

The race was suspended to clear the track and already six cars were on the sidelines. when it restarted Bell again led the field away with Neil Williamson and Paul Ford coming together with the latter having to retire.

On the next lap Steven Clark took over at the front of the pack leading from Derek Taylor with Raymond Gunn not that far adrift but had Wilson reeling him in.

Bell drifted wide with Kenny Purdie retiring with a broken drive shaft, and just managed to limp into retirement. Gunn moved into second, Ross spun whilst Sandy Allen was forced wide and into the wall

“It was heart in the mouth time when I took the lead, the adrenalin was pumping and I was beginning to think that a win could be on the cards.

“I had Harry then Ernie Burgoyne behind me. I thought my chances of a win were gone and was thinking that a third would be a good result. I had built my own engine but it wasn’t as powerful as those of the Burgoynes.”

The cars lined up behind Wilson who now had Harry Burgoyne, Graham Leask, Ernie Burgoyne and Gordon Alexander next in line.

When the race started Leask was sent straight on into the wall and had to retire as Ernie Burgoyne moved into third place.

Wilson came under pressure from Harry Burgoyne although it took him a couple of laps before the lead changed hands.

Just after the half distance Ernie Burgoyne sent Wilson wide and down into third making it a Burgoyne 1-2.

“The race hadn’t long restarted when I was shunted wide and lost the lead and then Ernie moved me over and by the time I got back onto the racing line I was third.

“My car was still good so I just hung in there hoping that the two ahead would start dicing and I could close the gap.”

Ernie began to close the gap to his brother Harry and soon they were nose to tail.

Whilst they were fighting for the lead Wilson was able make up ground and began to close the gap.

With the laps beginning to dwindle the leading duo began to encounter back markers and this allowed the lead to change hands but only momentarily.

Harry responded by clipping the tail of Ernie’s car to send him wide and he nipped through to retake the lead.

Wilson also benefitted from the action ahead and he eased his way through into second spot as Ernie struggled to regain control.

It looked as if the 68 car was heading to victory then suddenly Harry encountered gearbox troubles on the turnstile bend and in a flash Wilson dived through to lead.

Once there Wilson eased away before charging through to take the chequered flag and his first and only Scottish Championship with his Sierra.

“When the chequer dropped I was over the moon. In these days there was no one better to beat than the Burgoynes. It was an absolute fantastic feeling to have won the Scottish Championship and the grin on my face must have said it all.”