Knockhill Racing Circuit In the 1970’s the owner of the then sheep farm known as South Lethans Farm, Knockhill, Near Saline by Dunfermline, Fife was Tom Kinnaird himself a great motorcycle racing fan who enjoyed visiting various amateur race meetings all around Scotland. These were as a rule held on loaned land for one or a few events per year and typically were on ex-wartime RAF airfields or Council public parks which had service roads used as the track. Back at Knockhill Tom sat on the hillside one sunny day and looked over his land of 200 acres and dreamed of adapting the existing resources plus extending to create Scotland’s first full time all year motor race venue.

By linking a narrow service road to a disused railway line and returning it to the service road a demanding layout of twists and turns drops and climbs made it a natural road circuit style of track 1.3 miles long (2 km) and 10 metres wide. The Knockhill Circuit is 800 feet above sea level and has 200 feet variations in its topography, Tom used an old mechanical digger and Ford Thames tipper lorry to scrape out and shape the foundations of the track, pit lane and competitors paddock.

After more than two years the first layer of tar was laid and the first motorcycle race event was held in the autumn of 1974. A record crowd turned out causing road chaos - a great sign for the future at a venue of this type! After one year of operating the track and offering midweek and weekend testing for bikes and cars - a meeting was held between a business man car team owner and Tom Kinnaird.

A year of highs and lows This business man was Denis Dobbie who operated a F3 car team - D.A.R.T. Dobbie Auto Racing Team. Dobbie saw the potential in Knockhill and had resources both in people connections and finance. A years lease was agreed with an option to buy. Dobbie drew up grand plans based on extending the track to 2.3 miles, adding 40 pit garages, a hotel, chalet lodges, kart track, 4 x 4 track, pony trekking etc. etc. The ultimate goal was to host a Scottish F1 Grand Prix.

Contractors were instructed to install security fencing, put a second layer of tar on the track, build a Race Control Building, Medical Centre and spectator footbridge etc.

Despite the optimism of the plans it failed by the end of the year with debts of £250,000 and Tom Kinnaird as landlord took over the keys to the premises again. Over the next seven years or so he leased out the venue on a year at a time basis to race fan businessmen who kept the track open and running but because they had their own businesses to run by day and Knockhill at weekends its on going development was in limbo and only a care and maintenance programme was done on an as need basis and generally the overall condition deteriorated.

Who’s Derek Butcher? From the start of Knockhill opening in 1974 to its purchase by Derek Butcher in September 1983 he had been racing motorcycles at Knockhill and various other tracks in Scotland and North England. In all he had competed in over 100 races on a wide variety of machines from 125cc Bultaco to 975cc Rob North Tridents and laterally with 250cc Armstrong and 350cc Yamaha TZ machines. In 1983 he started to race cars with a Lotus Caterham 7, followed by Reynard FF1600, FF2000, Cosworth Group A and Toyota Group A saloons. Currently he is racing Formula Ford Zetec.

Also during this time he had started in 1974 with the grand sum of £400 Fife Alarm Services the first in the county of Fife for burglar alarm systems. Starting slowly then growing fast over 2000 systems were installed and serviced by the now larger operation with 23 staff and 14 service vans.

In 1983 Honeywell Shield were opening up in the UK by acquisition as a fast track way to gain an operation countrywide. Fife Alarm Services were approached and a deal done to sell the business. It was with this capital sum that Derek Butcher purchased outright Knockhill and continued the dream of Tom Kinnaird to create a permanent commercially run motor sports enterprise.

From 1984 onwards numerous improvements have been made to track safety buildings and services. Some several million has been spent over the years of Derek Butcher’s ownership to make it Scotland’s National Centre and a seven day week operation with over forty full time staff and up to 100 part time at peak events.

In 1992 it held it's first British Touring Car Championship event and has been popular with drivers and fans ever since. It had a brief sabbatical in 2003, but new series director Alan Gow reinstated Knockhill to the 2004 calendar and everyone was treated to some spectacular racing in August of that year.

For 2006 the track has been widened along the pit straight and down through the first corner Duffus Dip or 'SEAT Curves' as it's now known. This is expected to make lap times tumble considerably.

External links

• Knockhill Race Circuit home page