Second half of season to start at Cowdenbeath Racewall

With Fife being dropped to Covid level 0 there is a good chance that the number of spectators allowed into the Cowdenbeath Racewall stadium will be increased although certain restrictions will still stay in place.
Michael Bethune on the grid at Cowdenbeath.Michael Bethune on the grid at Cowdenbeath.
Michael Bethune on the grid at Cowdenbeath.

It is advisable to check with the GMP Racewall site prior to a meeting especially the one on the 31st July/1st August which at this stage is an all ticket affair. Hopefully this now may not be the case but please check.

The second half of the stock car season gets underway at the Cowdenbeath Racewall on 24th July and what a great line up of meetings GMP have planned as they celebrate their 40th season.

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The first meeting features Formula IIs, Saloons, ORCi Stock Rods, Prostock Basics and Micro F2s with the Stock Rods racing for their Gordon Ross Shield.

The start time will be 5.45pm but as usual please check the Racewall website for the latest information at http://www.racewall.co.uk.

The following weekend is one of the meetings that the fans are definitely looking forward to with the Saloon and Ministock drivers racing in qualifying heats for their European and British Championships respectively whilst on the Sunday both Championships will be decided.

The Saloon drivers also have their Raymond Gunn Tribute race in the afternoon.

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It is a sad statistic but the last time that a Scottish driver won the European Championship was way back in 2005 when one Kenny Purdie led them all home.

That is far too big a gap in results so hopefully this year it is coming home.

When the Scottish Saloon drivers meet up with their English and Irish counterparts we can expect fireworks and the fans are rarely disappointed.

Among the regular faces that usually travel to these meetings we can expect to see Deane Mayes, Michael Allard, Lee Sampson, Anthony and Kieran McIvor and a whole host of other visiting drivers in action but they will have to be at their best to beat the Scottish drivers.

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One driver who could be a dark horse and was looking good at Skegness was Warren Darby (Taunton), son of Eddie, who so often won championship races and did well at the Racewall.

It will be interesting to see how he fares at the intimidating Racewall.

Stuart Shevill Jnr (Clelland) was the stand out driver down at Skegness where he won the UK Championship from the front of the grid then the Raymond Gunn Tribute race from the back.

On this showing he must be one of the pre-race favourites to win the European.

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Fifers Ross Watters (Kennoway) and the newly crowned Scottish Champion, Kyle Irvine (Glenrothes) will also take some catching as will Ian McLaughlin (Auchterarder).

To determine the grid for the final the drivers will participate in a series of qualifying heats and then on the Sunday it is every man for themselves.

It is a similar story with the Ministox where the Scottish drivers will have to be at their best if they want success.

Scott Allardyce (Anstruther). Jake Wilson (Lochore). Rian Mitchell (Lochgelly) and Jay Paterson (Saline) will have to be at their best if they want to win.

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The same applies to Charlie Hardie, Jamie Dawson and Ethan Doull with a lot depending on where they start the final from.

Hopefully with the sanctions lowered then there is a chance of more spectators being allowed into the stadium.

The following week the Prostock drivers have their World Cup to decide whilst the Formula IIs and Minis race for the Turner trophy.

On the 21st the Saloons and National Hot Rod drivers race for their Turner trophies whilst the following week the Heritage Formula II drivers are back at the Racewall for their Scottish Championship.

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At the beginning of September the Racewall takes a break as the Formula II drivers again head down to Skegness for their World Final where the defending champion Gordon Moodie hopes to make it a hat trick of wins and would be only behind Rob Speak who won the title a remarkable six times in a row.

The following week is another Racewall classic – the ORCi Stock Rod World Final – and this event will attract a healthy field of cars to the track and perhaps a Scottish winner.

There have been good fields of cars so far this year and at their last outing the field was split into a two thirds format.

Already the home drivers have chalked up an European success, John McAllister whilst the ORCi title went to Michael Bethune (Kirkcaldy) so it is not beyond the realms of possibility that the title will remain at home.

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The World Final is sure to be an exciting affair with plenty of close and exciting racing.

The following day the Stock Rod drivers will be racing for the Jane Burt Memorial trophy.

Amongst those who will be looking for a strong qualifying session, apart from McAllister and Bethune, will be the likes Cammy Doak, David Philp Jnr, Stuart McKinnon and James Gray, providing his broken foot has healed.

On the 18th the National Hot Rods have the Lawrence Inglis memorial trophy up for grabs whilst the month ends with the Ministox drivers contesting the East of Scotland Championship.

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The Racewall switches to a Sunday for the first meeting in October when the Formula II drivers race in their National Series and the Geo Mac100 Trophy.

They are at Crimond the previous day whilst Bethune will be defending his Stock Rod Scottish Championship.

On the 9th the Saloon drivers have the final of the white/yellow challenge series and the following week the 2 Litre Banger drivers contest their Scottish Championship.

On the 23rd the Formula II drivers have their white/yellow challenge series final to decide and then we head into the season finale and ass usual it is a cracker.

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On the Saturday the Formula II drivers have their Champion of Champions race to decide and then the final is for the James Clarke Cochrane memorial trophy.

The Saloons though will take top billing when they meet with their English and Irish counterparts to fight it out for a Superbowl win. The Stock Rod drivers will race for the Simon Laing Memorial trophy.

On Sunday the Saloons have a National Series round along with the Gordon Barclay memorial trophy, the Classic Hot Rods have their Cock O’ the North trophy, the Stock Rods their Open Scottish Championship and the Ministox their Sharpies 10 plus 1 trophy.

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