A GLORIOUS early summer’s afternoon gave way to a brief shower of rain as start time approached as drivers, teams and fans gathered at HRP Lochgelly Raceway this past Saturday for the latest slice of stock car action presented by Hardie Race Promotions, writes our Raceway reporter Les Waller.

The rain had abated by the 5:30pm start time when the 6-11 year olds took to the track for the first Ninja Kart race of the evening which was for white and yellow graded drivers only.

The race was won by Methil’s Jase Walle who was at the wheel of his new machine ahead of Kaydan Day and Evie Black. The first heat for the Ninjas followed which was the first racing opportunity for the blue, red and superstar graded drivers plus some of the white and yellow drivers.

White graded Rachel Kidd had got off to an absolute flyer and looked unstoppable until she clipped a spinning driver which resulted in a spectacular rollover for the young Edinburgh driver – we are pleased to report that Rachel was absolutely fine despite her damaged machine. The race was eventually won by European Champion Declan Honeyman.

Honeyman went on to double up in heat two as he beat Ethan Doull, Robbie Armit and Charlie Hardie to the flag – these four drivers would be busy during the weekend as they were all heading south to contest the British Championship at Aldershot the following day.

The final heat of the evening saw a fantastic win for Scott Allardyce who produced a controlled drive to take the winner’s trophy home to Anstruther as he held off the challenge of Hardie, Armit, Doull and Honeyman to round off a great night of Ninja Kart racing.

The British Championship at Aldershot last Sunday saw Scotland represented by Charlie Hardie, Ethan Doull, Robbie Armit and Declan Honeyman. Following two qualifying heats it was Polmont’s Charlie Hardie who came home first to claim his first championship with Ethan Doull and Robbie Armit taking excellent fourth and fifth places as Scotland underlined their status at the very top of the UK’s biggest formula for 6-11 year olds – congratulations to Charlie and all drivers who did so well.

Youth was certainly to the fore at HRP Lochgelly Raceway last week as the 11-16 year olds were also on hand as the Ministox arrived to do battle. It was the English drivers who dominated the first race as Tony Elbourn took the win ahead of Santry with Scotland’s Euan Millar being the first Scot home in third. The second heat was another fast-paced race with action aplenty and it was Santry who managed to get ahead of the pack to take the win ahead of Millar and Tony Elbourn in a race punctuated by a big impact for Steven Burgoyne who appeared to lose a wheel before making heavy contact with the safety barrier – the driver was perfectly fine. The feature final was one of those races that had everything – great bumperwork and some top-notch battles throughout the order but it was the three drivers who had filled the podium all night who featured kist prominently as Millar, Santry and Tony Elbourn sliced their way through the field before exchanging places on every corner in a battle to the finish that was eventually won by Santry ahead of Millar and Elbourn. A cracking night of Ministox racing.

The Stock Rods were back on track for the first time since the end of their 2015/16 National Points Championship which was successfully defended by Scottish Champion Siobhan Martin - our congratulations go to her and her team for a job well done. The first race saw some fantastic high-speed action with the drivers racing in close quarters and it was Jonathan Lattka, who has been in great form lately, who took the first win ahead of brother Chris and Cuthbert in his stunning new car. The second heat saw a win for the returning Halkett ahead of Morris and Derek Conner as the blue grade dominated the race. The feature final was a great race with the drivers continuing to put on a clinic of non-contact racing and it was former multi-champion Chris Lattka who took victory ahead of Siobhan Martin, Jonathan Lattka and Darren McAlpine.

The 2.0 Hot Rods were also on track this past weekend and the grid was supplemented by English visitors Dave Leech and Incarace Points Champion Chris Crane plus the returning Paul Carruthers who was making his 2016 debut. The first race of the evening went the way of Gordon Alexander who managed to overhaul long-time leader Jock Campbell in the closing stages of the race while Alex Wilson came home in third. The second heat saw Campbell streak into another big lead but he was eventually overtaken by Robbie Burgoyne, however, the steward had deemed that Campbell had been pushed out of the lead which saw Burgoyne relegated to third place for contact while Hampshire’s Chris Crane, who had got past Campbell as Burgoyne made contact, claimed the win ahead of Campbell. The feature final was another excellent race with the star graded drivers in particular putting on a great show of non-contact racing; Campbell once again flew into a big lead and many on the terraces may have thought it would be a matter of time before the unlucky Kirkliston pilot would be caught by the pack led by Burgoyne but Campbell finally managed to stay clear of any trouble as he held on to win ahead of Burgoyne and Crane who will be satisfied with his trip to set up his car ahead of the David Philp Commercials British Championship weekend on June 11th and 12th.

The final formula on show this past weekend were the Superstox. Seven drivers had headed south to Ipswich last week for the European Championship and Stuart Gilchrist was the first of the Scots home as he claimed an excellent runners-up spot despite starting 32nd on the grid – for the record Matt Carberry successfully defended his title. Richard Mead had made the long trip north from his English base to test his car ahead of the World Championship at HRP Lochgelly Raceway in August. The first heat of the evening saw Gilchrist claim a relatively routine win as he sliced through the field to take the victory ahead of David Frame and Tony Lattka. The second heat of the evening is where things REALLY kicked off. Following a caution to recover the stricken car of Bryan Forrest; a slow start by Gilchrist saw Colin Frame take the lead while David Frame had madfe a blistering start to also be challenging for the lead. These drivers battled their way to the chequered flag and it was Gilchrist who took the win by inches as he was squeezed to the wall by Colin Frame. Unfortunately for Gilchrist, a jump-start on the original start of the race saw him docked two places resulting in victory for Colin Frame ahead of his brother David and Gilchrist who saw his hard work rewarded with just a third place. The feature final was another amazing race with plenty of bumper-work and as the laps wound down it was Chris Miller who found himself with a healthy lead ahead of Gilchrist. Miller had held on for victory until the last corner when Gilchrist launched himself at the rear of the Miller car in a move which saw both cars spin out with Tony Lattka gratefully picking up the pieces for his first final win of the season. Gilchrist managed to regain his composure to cross the line second with English visitor Mead coming home in a respectable third for his first visit to the track.

The next slice of stock car action comes to HRP Lochgelly Raceway this Saturday May 28 and features the Rookie Banger Scottish Championship which currently has over eighty cars booked in. The 1300 Stock Cars, Ministox and 2.0 Hot Rods will play a supporting role to one of Scotland’s biggest Banger events of the year which gets underway at 6pm this Saturday at HRP Lochgelly Raceway.