October 2001

Les Shand - Scottish Champion

Today at Knockhill in a thrilling days racing Les Shand secured both the Scottish and Regal Championships.

The day started with practise which went well. Les was in good spirits but nervous, there was a lot riding on the days results it was not impossible that a mechanical failure or an incident on the track could have left him with nothing to show for the year of hard work.

Race 1 - Heat 1 for the production race. Les had to qualify on the GSXR 1000 (Kindly loaned by Bob Henderson) in the production entry, he did this comfortably qualifying in 4th place.

Race 2 - Scottish Championship (Wet Race) It had been raining for a while so it was a very wet track. This was the race that would decide the Scottish Championship. At the start of today Les was leading the championship by 14.5 points with Craig McLelland 2nd. For Les to be guaranteed the championship he had to finish above 5th in the race. Les got a reasonable start and was initially in 4th place the wet conditions were not conducive to racing but Les held on to fourth for most of the race without taking any unnecessary risks, he rode a tactically perfect race and finished in 3rd place securing the Scottish Championship.

Race 3 - Production Les went out again on the GSXR, he had a steady ride and secured 5th place against some top competition.

Race 4 - Regal Championship Les was leading this championship and needed to score good points in both Regal races of the day to secure the Championship. Another decent start and Les started to make his way through the field, he was doing well when on lap 6 a rider who was not contesting the championship forced him wide onto a damp part of the track, due to loss of traction les dropped the bike into the gravel trap. This left Les with no points for this race. The winner of the race was the second placed rider in the championship and this left Les 7 points behind. He would now have to win the next race and providing the leader finished 3rd or lower the championship would be his.

Race 5 - Production Another outing on the GSXR let Les show his skills on any bike, he had a reasonable start and was in eighth on the first lap, he steadily moved through the field pulling some breathtaking manoeuvres to eventually finish in a very creditable 2nd place. Not bad for the first meeting on this bike.

Race 6 - Regal championship (judgement day) Les had to win this race, nothing else would be good enough. Les turned the "red mist" on and went for it, was clear from the start that he meant business, he made short work of the first few laps and led the race with the main rival for the championship Torquil Paterson in fourth. The front three came upon an incident with yellow flags just after the hairpin and slowed up for the hazard. Torquil took this as an opportunity and passed all three. Les regained his lead despite this and as expected Torquil was disqualified for passing under yellow flags and les went on to take the championship.

I can't begin to explain in these few paragraphs the excitement and tension at the race track today. Everyone was cheering Les on and his pit crew were as professional as any of the top teams in racing, they had everything ready for Les at all times and they followed his instructions to the letter. On the day they were the best team.

Les' comment: My team has worked hard this year and I'd like to thank them all, especially Dave, Craig and Richard. Thanks to all my sponsors and to all the supporters who have followed me come rain or shine throughout the season. I hope the two championship wins go some way to thanking you for your support. Last but by no means least, special thanks go to my Fiancée Coni, I couldn't have done this without your support. If I've missed thanking anyone it's because I've been under a lot of pressure today I'll be in a better condition after a good nights sleep. Thanks again Les Shand (Scottish Champion 2001)

PR Comment: The season is almost over, Les now has one meeting at Donnington next weekend to finish off. He goes South as the "Scottish Champion" and who could wish for a better ambassador for the Scottish riders.