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It was north of the border for the latest rounds of the 2008 Hi-Q MSA British Touring Car Championship and the fabulous circuit, Knockhill.

After the frustration at Oulton Park, Alan Taylor arrived at the track where he made his BTCC debut in 07 looking to equal the stunning top 10 finish he achieved.  Free Practice and Qualifying were no problems and Alan completed over 70 trouble free laps of the 1.3 mile Fife circuit and would end the 3 sessions 19th in FP1 21st in FP2 and for Qualifying Alan would line up 22nd.

Unusually the rain that was predicted for race day never came and in fact it was bright and sunny and with a big crowd the 3 BTCC races plus all the Support Races were going to be great.  Race One Alan just wanted to get the car home and build on it from there.  As the cars left the pits there was one car missing, Alans car refused to start and after a quick battery change by the Robertshaw Racing team alan was able to join the back of the grid on the 2 green flag laps (due to the shortness of the track) and was able to take his place on the 11th row.  As the lights went out Alan made a good start and held his position whilst others were squabbling for position as the field rounded the first lap.  At the end of the lap Alan was up to 19th place after the demise of Martyn Bell, Chris Stockton and a spin by Steven Kane at the Real Radio Hairpin.  As the race progressed Alan was running well in 15th after 4 more drivers had problems including Alan's team mate Harry Vaulkhard whos Chevrolet was spun out by the BMW at the Hairpin.  More the remainder of the race Alan was still in 15th and more importantly 10th in the Independants section and that meant he would finally get his first point of the season.  As the flag fell thats where Alan finished to the delight of the team.  " I am really pleased the car is back in one peice and I got my first point of the year."

Race 2 saw Alan line up 15th on the grid and with the likes of Darren Turner and Matt Neal lining up right behind him the pressure was on.  As the lights went out Alan let Matt and Darren through but the plan to stick with them went horribly wrong.  As the field charged in to the hairpin Alan lost 5 places as he was forced wide and unable to slot back in to the queue Taylor was down to 22nd.  This was ok as Alan was able to hang in there with the pack and able to have a great scrap with Martyn Bell in his repaired Astra.  by lap 12 Alan had moved up a spot after the demise of Micky Doyle in his Honda with Gearbox Issues and thats where he would stay right until the last lap when he was able to benefit from the problems John George was having and that promoted Taylor in to the top 20 as the flag fell. 

After 2 Finishes Alan was looking for the Hattrick which he had never done bofore in his BTCC career and for this race Alan was going to push for positions and try and break in to the top 15 on merit.  As the lights went out Alan instantly made a couple of places but lost them on the run to the first corner but that was ok as like the second race Alan held his own and was looking at building the pressure on the cars infront of him.  By lap 8 Alan was 19th and going well and again was having a great battle with Martyn Bell but then problems set in.  On approach to the hairpin the gears were refusing to downchange and this was costing Alan a huge amount of time and he started to drop back from the rest of the field.  As the race wore on the problems were getting worse and despite passing John George who went off at the hairpin the TH Motorsport driver was soon back passed Taylor at SEAT when Alan's gears would not select the required gear.  Alan was still 19th and on the last lap was literally coaxing the car home and that is what he did and finished a slightly dissapoint 19th. 

"I'm Pleased to have finished all 3 and get my first points but the gearbox caused me a massive problem in the last race so I am not happy about that but hey thats racing.  Also I would like to wish Bob Knightly who kidley supplies me with photos for my site a speedy recovery following a reoccuring back injury, Get well soon mate."