ON a beautiful sunny Saturday evening the ORCi Stock Rod drivers warmed up for their forthcoming ORCi Championship in a fortnight’s time with some superlative racing, writes Racewall scribe Jim Turner.

If this is what is to be served up when the championship comes around then the fans are in for a treat.

There were three visiting drivers from the south of England amongst the ranks but in the end it was the home drivers who dominated with Martin Rankine winning the heats and Cameron Doak the final.

The 1300 Saloon drivers were in good form too with Michael Benvie making his debut but the final was stopped early after Michael Byers ended up rolling his car on the turnstile bend.

There were quite a few new faces in the Prostock Basics formula with Kieran Edgar using the Charity Hire car to raise funds for the Sick Children’s Hospital in Edinburgh, However, there quite a few new faces out there having their first taste of racing! The father/son duo had a coming together which ended with Jordan Dignan being spun out of the lead,

Scott Lindsell rolled his banger but the 'Jocks' came in for some rough treatment with only two of their cars making it to the final!

Amongst the ORCi Stock Rod drivers in action were Levi Robertson, Adam Daniels and Ross Montgomery whilst the local drivers in action were James Matson (Glenrothes), Chris Wallace (Buckhaven), Ross Finlay (Glenrothes), Lee McGill (Glenrothes), Stuart Wedderburn (Leven) and Michael Bethune (Kirkcaldy). The new grades came into play which saw Cameron Doak and Martin Rankine drop a grade and this was to be significant.

The opening heat was led off by Rob Conway but within a couple of laps Wallace had taken the lead although he had Rankine in close order. Once Rankine moved into the lead he went through to win from Doak and McGill with Bethune in fifth although the first five crossed the finish line nose to tail.

Heat two was stopped right away after Finlay got out of shape on the main straight and ended up perched against a tyre. On the restart Conway was ahead for a lap before Wallace took over but he was forced wide and spun out. Rankine took over at the front of the pack but was under pressure from Doak.

Towards the end of the heat Derek Conner joined in the fray and whilst he moved into second just couldn’t catch Rankine ho chalked up his second win of the night with Doak in third and just ahead of McGill with Bethune sixth, McKinnon ninth and Wedderburn in tenth spot.

The final was a classic with close racing throughout and the result was in doubt right up to the end. Conway got the race under way but lost out to Wallace who soon had Doak and James Gray in close order. Doak dived through into the lead followed by Gray but Wallace went wide and spun suspending the race.

Doak led the field away on the restart but was struggling to shake off the attentions of Gray. As the race progressed Leon Stewart closed the gap and than a couple of laps later McGill joined the race for the lead. Doak managed to hold on to win from Gray, Stewart and McGill with Wedderburn in sixth place.

There were a few of the regular 1300 Saloon drivers missing for one reason or another whilst Craigie Millar ran into trouble with his car in the pits and never made it onto the track. Local drivers in action were Lee Wilson (Comrie), Michael Byers (Methil), Michael Moyes (Cowdenbeath), James Ellis (Cowdenbeath), Michael Benvie (Kirkcaldy), Colin Wotherspoon (Kelty), Gordon Myers (Dunfermline) and Dale Burt (Lochgelly).

Burt was the initial leader when heat one started but he was to lose the lead to Wotherspoon. However, Fraser Clark was capitalising on his downgrade to the blue grade and he went through to win from James Ellis, Grant McGowan, Burt, Byers, Wotherspoon and Wilson with Myers ninth and Benvie in tenth place. Tommy Walls led the cars away when heat two started but then lost out to Wotherspoon who led until the closing stages when Clark came through to win his second heat of the night finishing ahead of McGowan and Stu McCaig with Wilson fourth and ahead of Ellis.

The final belonged to Walls who led the cars away and when the race finished was still clear of the pack. Michael Byers was sent spinning from second place which allowed Clark through although he had Ellis in close order. However, when Byers tangled with another car and rolled the race was halted, Walls was the winner from Clark and Ellis with Wilson back in sixth and Myers in seventh place.

The Prostock Basic cars turned up in their numbers once again with local drivers being Megan Wilson (Comrie), Connor Jones (Cowdenbeath). Jordan and Graeme Dignan (Leven) and Callum Sturrock (Saline),

There was plenty of action in the opening heat with Dougie Ford going on to win from G. Dignan and Jones with Sturrock in seventh place. Heat two saw Jordon Dignan lead Graeme Dignan but after a few laps contact was made resulting in J. Dignan spinning. After that G. Dignan went through to win from Craig Oliver, Scott Rankin and Jones with Wilson in ninth place.

Grant McLean led the cars away when the final started but when Ford was sent spinning into the wall the race was suspended. Oliver led on the restart with Warner in close order but as the race progressed Jones joined in. Warner slowed Oliver was squeezed against the wall and retired leaving Jones to go through for an easy win over Edgar, Warner and G. Dignan.

The 1800 National Banger drivers were in good form with the 'Jocks' team making up the bulk of the field. However, they were to come to grief in the second heat resulting in only two of their cars making it onto the grid for the final.

Scott Russell led the opening heat from start to finish winning by a good margin from Pete McVay and Callum Campbell. Not long after the start to heat two there were five of the 'Jock’s' cars in disarray on the main straight after a series of contact. Scott Lindsell was spun and rolled but for most of the race Campbell ran ahead of Lee Kopacz and this duo crossed the finish line nose to tail with Jon Taylor in third place.

Only seven cars made it onto the grid for the final with the two 'Jock' drivers sent crashing out of the race within a couple of laps. Campbell was spun by Kopacz but then continued minus a rear wheel. Kopacz went on to win from Taylor and Campbell.

The Destruction Derby didn’t last too long with Kopacz being clipped and had to retire when a drive shaft broke. Campbell then made sure that the other cars didn’t survive as he went on for his second win of the night.

This Saturday the BriSCA Formula II drivers are back in action along with the 2 Litre National Saloon drivers. Backing them are the Ministox, who are racing for their Civic Week Cup and Micro F2 drivers. The meeting starts at 5.45pm as usual when the Micro F2 drivers get the proceedings underway.

*At Crimond on Sunday afternoon Gary Paterson took his mini through to win the Keir Millar Memorial Trophy final.