(01/08/04) The three-car West Series Team Ecosse operation has had an interesting couple of weeks with contrasting fortunes for all its cars. At Chicagoland, Catriona Rochford's No.11 A-Team Series One DVD Ford Taurus failed to finish after she arrived at the track feeling extremely ill. She valiantly started the race in a brilliant tenth position and ran 83 of the 100 scheduled laps to be classified eighteenth at the finish, visibly drained as she was removed from the car. The still unsponsored No.37 car was driven by 2003 West Series Champion Fred Joseph who had a very solid run to seventh. Michael Hogg's No.10 Knockhill Racing Circuit Ford was all set to follow Joseph across the line in eighth however a nasty crash with Indian driver Sandeep Banerjee on the last lap dropped him to ninth at the flag.

The most recent race was the Missouri 200 at I-70 Speedway and Mats Gustavsson was back in the No.37 for the latest of his scheduled program in the No.37. The car is now resplendent in the bright colourscheme of supermarket chain Lidl who have joined Team Ecosse to be primary sponsor of the car for the remainder of the year. Indeed, Gustavsson gave the new scheme a good first run, just missing the top-five by finishing in sixth place, despite some minor bumps along the way. Hogg and the No.10 team finished in seventh just behind him to complete a good overall result.

Rochford and the No.11 car had a nasty accident only a handful of laps into the event after being struck by the WR Racing No.52 of ex-Team Ecosse driver Ewan Lawson who had suffered a stuck throttle. Both cars were very badly damaged and although Rochford was unhurt she was visibly downcast that her recent run of terrible fortune had continued unabated. "I've had an incredibly bad run of luck in both the West Series and the Alienware Series lately and my motivation is at an all time low - I've only finished where I feel I've deserved to in one of the last ten or so races," she quoted to us. "I just can't catch a break at the moment at all - I'm much more on the pace these days but something almost always happens to me in the races to ruin it."

Soon after she gave that quote, however, Rochford's luck was to take a turn for the better, as she took her first ever top-10 finish in the Alienware Series at Pike's Peak, even leading the field for one lap through a good strategical choice. Hogg finished in 11th place after picking up some engine damage, in what would turn out to be his final race for MAW Motorsports, who had to wind up their team afterwards, due to financial troubles. Hogg is now hoping to find another ride in time for the Sim-Sox 150 at Indianapolis Raceway Park, but Team Ecosse have the still-unsponsored No. 11 Ford standing by to run him if needs be.

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The No. 01 BallRacing Cup team also ran at Chicagoland (in full Mike's Hard Lemonade livery) and despite suffering from a poorly handling setup, Hogg was classified twenty second at the end. The team also made a late entry to the New Hampshire round two weeks later, Hogg and the team being classified twenty-first. The team next hope to field the car at the Brickyard 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on August the 7th.