Fifers to the fore at Cowdenbeath Racewall

The Kingdom racers recorded clean sweeps and enjoyed a double success in the Formula IIs.

These two dominated the racing which was fast and action packed throughout.

There was plenty of bumper use and as a result there were a few spins and shunts.

In the ORCi Stock Rods there was chaos in the final when Sandy Allen spun on the pit bend and was promptly collected by the pack resulting quite a few cars failing to restart.

Paul Winfield managed to win the Prostock final from Tam Melrose by the proverbial coat of paint with the cars running side by side over the closing few laps.

The Formula II numbers were down on last week with no fewer than eight racing south of the border but on the plus side World Champion Gordon Moodie was on the grid although he didn’t have the best of meetings.

Local drivers in action included Gordon Moodie (Windygates), Dean McGill (Leven), Gregor Turner (Dunfermline) and Paul Reid (Cowdenbeath).

The opening heat was dominated by white grader Mika Millar who went straight into the lead and was never in danger of being caught picking up his second win since he moved from the Ministox.

McGill made a good start and was soon running in second but he was struggling to catch Millar and was running clear of the third placed driver Paul Reid.

At the end of the race Millar won from McGill with Turner bringing his car through into third spot with Moodie fourth and Reid in sixth.

It looked as if heat two was going to be a repeat of the first heat with Millar leading and McGill chasing. Turner spun but restarted at the tail of the field whilst Moodie retired.

At the half distance the lead changed hands with McGill diving inside of Millar to lead and then pulled away. Millar then spun allowing Reid into second but at the chequer it was McGill from Reid and Millar with Moodie and Turner both failed to finish with mechanical issues.

When the final started Millar went straight into the lead with McGill slotting into second ahead of Peter Watt but then retired.

Turner was ahead of Jason Blacklock and closing in on the yellow graders. Garry Sime was leading the red graders chase and he was quickly making inroads through the field.

Turner was pushed off the racing line and dropped back whilst Moodie slowed to retire. Millar was pulling away from the pack at a fast rate and in the end went on to win the final by almost half a lap from Sime and Blacklock whilst Turner was sixth but. Reid failed to start.

Moodie then went on to win the Grand National from Blacklock and Sime but Millar had to retire. Turner finished in seventh spot whilst McGill and Reid both failing to grid.

There was another healthy turn out of Saloon drivers and they revelled on a dry track surface. James Letford and Cameron Innes were having their first Racewall runs of the season whilst local drivers on the grid included Kyle Irvine (Glenrothes), Ross Watters (Kennoway) and Andrew Mathieson (Lochgelly).

Logan Bruce was the first to show when heat one started but he had Innes and Cameron Milne in close order during the early stages.

Ross Forrest was sent wide on the pit bend and dropped down the order. Irvine was clipped and spun at the end of the main straight and restarted as Graeme Shevill and Watters began to make up ground.

There was a race stoppage just before the half distance with the field lining up behind Shevill who had just taken the lead. On the restart Shevill was away quickly, too quickly for the Stewards liking with Watters having Barry Russell on his tail.

Whilst Shevill was first home he was penalised a couple of places elevating Watters to first, Russell second and Shevill now third.

Irvine recovered from his earlier spin to finish fourth while Mathieson was eighth. Innes was the leader when heat two started but he spun on the top bend and was left facing the traffic, stopping the race.

Bruce was the new leader but within a couple of laps Irvine had forced his way through into the lead and on to his first win of the night with Shevill and Watters following him home.

The final was led off by Bruce but was then suspended after Barry Glen was shunted into the top bend wall. Bruce and Milne squabbled over the lead with further back Irvine was running ahead of Watters and were soon making up ground.

The lead changed hands around the half distance with Irvine making short work of getting ahead of the white graders with Watters into second a couple of laps later. Irvine then proceeded to open up a gap and then on to win from Watters and Shevill.

There were twenty-two ORCi Stock Rods in action with John Lee Green and Stuart McKinnon having their first Racewall outings.

Local drivers Sandy Allen (Methil), Stuart McKinnon (Kincardine), Michael Bethune (Kirkcaldy), John Lee Green (Kelty), David Dignan (Methilhill), Steve Gunby (Cupar), Stuart Wedderburn (Leven), Neil Gilogley (Wormit), Sandy and Scott Galbraith (Auchtermuchty) and Keith Stewart (Kennoway).

Gilogley was the first to show when the opening heat started although he had Taylor Borthwick and Darren MacDonald in close order and these three ran in close order for most of the race.

At the close Gilogley was still ahead although MacDonald had held on to finish second with Bethune in third. Sandy Galbraith and Dignan were the only other Fifers to finish in the top ten, in fifth and eighth respectively.

There was an early stoppage when heat two started resulting in Dignan and Scott Galbraith tangling. MacDonald led on the restart from Borthwick and Gilogley with the latter soon through into the lead.

Borthwick though held on and whilst Gilogley picked up his second win of the night but it was a close-run affair from Borthwick and Bethune. McKinnon finished in fifth, Wedderburn in eighth and Green in ninth.

The final was halted almost as soon as it had started after Allen spun and his car was collected by the oncoming pack which eliminated Peter Henderson, Lee Burden, Sandy Galbraith and McKinnon.

There was another stoppage but once the race restarted MacDonald led from Borthwick but making quick progress through the field was Bethune and once he got his nose ahead he eased away. Borthwick got ahead of MacDonald who then lost out to Leon Stewart. Bethune reeled off the laps to win but Stewart managed to get ahead of Borthwick with only a couple of laps later to clinch second. Green came home in sixth while Gilogley was eighth.

The Prostock drivers were in good form with local drivers Ian Christie (Kirkcaldy) and Darren Rae (Lochgelly).

Tam Melrose won the opening heat from Rae and Ross Stewart with Melrose again the winner in heat two from Rae and Graham Watt. There were a couple of stoppages during the final which ended with Paul Winfield just fending off Melrose at the chequer by the proverbial coat of paint.

Christie beat Rae to third in a similarly close finish.

There were only four National Hot Rod in action. Gordon Alexander won the opening heat from Ross McWilliam and James Mooney but it was McWilliam who held off Alexander to win heat two with Mooney third.

The final proved to be fast with McWillam again winning from Alexander and Mooney.

Next week at the Racewall it is the first double header with the Stoxkarts and Junior Stoxkarts making their annual trip to Scotland with big field of cars booked in.

On Saturday it’s the Micro Banger Scottish Supreme and Junior Stoxkarts Scottish whilst the Prostock Basics and Stoxkarts are running qualifying heats for their Scottish which will be run on Sunday with the Prostock drivers joining in.

The meeting starts at 5pm on Saturday and 1pm on Sunday but again please refer to the Racewall web site.