Tees driver David Botterill made a storming start to the new Northern Saloon and Sports Car Championship season with a second-place finish in the opening round at Knockhill. The Ingleby Barwick driver brought his Porsche 944 Turbo home behind Scotsman Andrew Morrison (MG ZR) in the Classes B, C and D race. Simon Blankley was third in his first race since getting his Peugeot 205 back on the track after a nasty accident nearly two years ago. Darren Flounders of Hartlepool was seventh in his Fiesta XR2, just a second ahead of Seaton Carew's Mick Starkey. Victory in the Classes A, E, F and G race went to Neil Gregory (Spyder) after a thrilling battle with Arthur Robinson (Westfield SE). The championship, which takes in an expanded 13-round programme this year, is decided by points scored in each class. Reigning champion Ian Blacklin (Westfield SE) took maximum points to get off to a flying start. Flounders, his main challenger in the Darlington and District MC-organised series last year, also took a full haul from Class D with Starkey finishing second in class. Morrison finished top in Class B ahead of Botterill, while Blankley took the Class C honours. Hartlepool's Gavin Lee was enjoying a good B, C and D race in his Ford Fiesta until he lost fourth gear - a significant setback on a track such as Knockhill with its fast straights. County Durham's Steven Ferguson had a lucky escape after a high-speed crash in free practice. His brakes failed at 130mph and his Nissan Pulsar launched into the air as he attempted to slow down by diverting on to the grass. His car landed on a Caterham which was also practicing, but fortunately Ferguson emerged only bruised and shaken while the other driver suffered a broken kneecap and it took rescuers more than an hour to cut him free of the wreckage. | 
