THE last weekend before the clocks move forward did nothing to deter the wintry weather at HRP Lochgelly Raceway this past Saturday as drivers, teams and fans gathered for the latest slice of stock car action presented by Hardie Race Promotion (IN Association with Spedeworth Motorsports). Many spectators took full advantage of the Trackside Parking option, which is unique in Central Scotland, while others took shelter under one of the two grandstands as they bedded in for a busy night of racing.

First on track were the fledgling Junior Production formula and this early season meeting had come too early for the likes of Evie Black who was not ready to race but it was good to see Matthew Nicholl making the trip over from Northern Ireland once again.

Three 8-lap demonstration races were scheduled for the formula and, having won a hat-trick of races last time out, Nicholl started as the firm favourite with only Cameron Willacy (utilising his Ministox experience) offering any sort of resistance. Willacy made the early running in all three races but was eventually overhauled by Nicholl in each race as Nicholl took another three race wins on the night.

Willacy came home in second in every race while Amber Tyrell finished in third. Much more to come from the Junior Productions!

The theme of youth continued as the Ninja Karts returned for their second outing in seven days and a mammoth 29 cars had arrived by the start of the event.

First up was the whites and yellows race with a good grid of cars and it was Demi Ritchie who scored her first win of the season with an excellent drive to edge out Toby Tyson who had led until the final turn when he got caught up by some back-marking traffic while Theo Barker came home in third.

The first heat proper saw the blue and red graded drivers join the fray with Curtis McConkey and Aaron Ward welcome visitors from Northern Ireland. Things didn’t go well for McConkey whose kart was involved in a big shunt on the back straight which put him out for the rest of the night due to damage to the 982 machine.

Polmont’s Lennon Grant was upgraded to red at the start of the season but that has certainly not slowed him down as he took a fine win ahead of long-time leader Josh Bruce and Charlie Hardie, with Ward coming home in fourth.

The second heat saw Grant make another fast break from the rest of the red grade drivers as he sliced his way through the pack to eventually overhaul Bailey Millar to take his second win of the evening with Millar holding on for second ahead of West Lothian’s Robbie Armit.

With Grant losing ground in the early stages, it was all about whether anyone else could catch Millar at the head of the field and the answer came swiftly as Millar held on for a great victory ahead of double-heat winner from last week Scott Allardyce and Jay Carruthers who looks like he is returning to his 2015 form which saw him climb the grades. The next time the Ninja Karts are at HRP Lochgelly Raceway is April 15th and they will be racing for the LJN Designs European Championship – it promises to be a cracker!!!

The 2.0 Hot Rods were also back on track for their second event of the 2017 season and a good grid of twelve cars arrived to do battle in tricky conditions for the powerful rear-wheel drive machines.

It was good to see James Gray back on track as well as Colin Seath with both making their first runs of the year. The first heat of the night saw white top Ryan Mackie from Falkirk take full advantage of his white grade start to head the field and Ryan built up a good lead during the early stages.

Hat-trick winner from the previous meeting, Polmont’s William Hardie, did make inroads into Mackie’s lead but Mackie held on at the front to take the chequered flag and victory ahead of Hardie and Scottish Champion Gordon Alexander.

Heat Two saw Mackie make the early running but he was quickly overhauled by a fast-moving Gill Anderson from blue grade plus some of the red top stars. Anderson held on despite pressure from Hardie and Alexander to take his first win of the season. Come the feature final, Mackie once again took up his position at the head of the field and he held on well despite the wet conditions but the longer feature race played into the hands of Hardie who was eventually able to catch and pass Mackie for the win with Mackie taking a respectable second place in what is likely to be his last race from white while Dunfermline’s Gerry Hendry came home in third.

The CC Rods were on track for their first outing of 2017 and a fantastic 19 cars arrived with some absolutely stunning looking cars. Having borrowed the spare car of Ian Donaldson in the latter stages of 2016; it was great to see Kevin Donaldson out in a car complete with his own race numbers which would indicate a full campaign from the Lanarkshire pilot of the 900 Corsa. K. Donaldson made a great start to that campaign as he took up the lead in heat one after the disqualification of Jack Robertson for his exhaust falling off!!! Donaldson held on to this lead all the way to the chequered flag with Ian Hotchkies in his MK2 Astra coming home in second ahead of Kirkcaldy’s Craig Watson in third in his Fiesta. The second heat saw the exhaust of Robertson fly off into the corner at turn one which relegated him to the role of spectator once again while Kevin Donaldson drove away from the rest of the pack to take a second win of the evening with Peterhead’s Gary Paul and Watson claiming the minor podium places.

The feature final was run in wet conditions and Donaldson lost ground early on and he was embroiled in a battle with Dougie Kidd near the front of the field before an incident saw the 900 car make contact with the outside fence. Robertson’s exhaust finally managed to stay on for 16 laps and he came home ahead of Kirkcaldy’s Brandon Gourlay and Scottish and points Champion Ian Donaldson in his stunning Corsa D machine to bring a great night of CC Rod racing to an end.

The final formula on show were the 1300 Stock Cars and the usual suspects were joined by James Ellis for his first outing of 2017 as well as long distance visitor Dougie George in the ex-Barclay car.

The evening’s three races were the first points scoring events for the huge £1000 MR Coachworks and Ringtone Racepaints Series that will see £1000 in extra prize funding go straight to the drivers. Heat One saw Ellis continue where he left off after a storming start to his 1300 career in late 2016 with victory in heat one ahead of Lochgelly’s own Euan Mathieson and Grangemouth’s Jock Whyte.

Ellis made the running again in heat two but a last lap move by the highly-experienced Craig Haxton saw him take the win ahead of Ellis and Andrew Mathieson. The feature final saw Forfar’s Peter Low finally get the car to his liking as he took up the running but he had Ellis and the chasing pack in close quarters; it came down to the last few dozen feet of the race as Ellis managed to put just enough contact on the rear bumper of low to send him fence-wards while Ellis crossed the line to take his second win of the night ahead of the recovering Low and Haxton to round off an entertaining evening of action.

A great night of entertainment at HRP Lochgelly Raceway; the next slice of stock car action at HRP Lochgelly Raceway comes your way this Saturday March 25 and features the Big Van Bangers, Superstox, Stock Rods, ProStocks and Ministox. The action gets underway at 6pm.