THE new Scottish formula II champion, Dennis Middler, was having his first outing since he won the title a fortnight ago at the Cowdenbeath Racewall bringing out his car with a repainted wing displaying the Scottish flag and looking eye catching, writes our Racewall reporter Jim Turner.

Now eye catching was certainly the word to use during the Grand National when Middler rolled his car a couple of times after having to take avoiding action and clipped a marker tyre.

This sent his car airborne and rolling and after making contact with another car came to rest perched on a marker tyre. Happily Dennis stepped out of his car unhurt but his wing was wrecked to say the least.

Earlier Brian Hogg Jnr and Kyle Taylor locked up and crashed out whilst after Middler’s roll Emma Mellis crashed into the wall after tangling with another.

The new British saloon Champion, Kyle Irvine, brought out his car with the black and chequer roof and had a strong outing showing that he is going to be one of the drivers they have to beat if they want to win.

The track was dry and conducive to fast racing and that is what the fans got with the hot saloons coming down from Crimond and showing up well.

With the formula I stock cars heading north in a month’s time Paul Ford brought his to the track for a few practice laps giving the fans a taste of what to expect with some fast and noisy laps.

Amongst the formula II drivers in action were Aaron Vaight and Steve Smith, from south of the border, whilst from Crimond came Ryan Farquhar and Edwin Middleton. Local interest centered on Kieran Howie (Dunfermline), Paul and Craig Reid (Cowdenbeath), Simon Cranson (Cowdenbeath) and Gordon Moodie (Windygates).

Their first race of the night was another white/yellow challenge heat and gridded a good field of lower grade drivers. Holly Glen went on to win her second heat in succession and she led home Daniel Scrimgeour and Farquhar with Cranson fourth just ahead of C. Reid.

The opening heat saw Moodie go through to win from Chris Burgoyne and Robbie Dawson. In heat two Moodie got the better of Burgoyne on a restart to win with Middler third.

When the final started Cranson was an early spinner but restarted at the tail of the field. Glen led from Taylor but Scrimgeour was closing the gap from the yellow grade.

At the back of the grid Burgoyne started ahead of Moodie and whilst running nose to tail were quickly making their way through the field. On lap eight Burgoyne hit the front but just couldn’t shake off Moodie whilst Middler was making his way up the order to appear in third. As the race progressed the gap between the leading duo stayed constant with Burgoyne going through to win from Moodie with Middler third.

The Grand National proved to be entertaining with Middler giving everyone a fright with his spectacular rollover and then later Mellis crashing into the wall after tangling with another car. In the end Moodie won but Burgoyne netted second after a couple of race suspensions whilst Garry Sime was third.

The 2 litre saloon numbers were down on the usual with local interest focused around the new British Champion Kyle Irvine (Glenrothes) who brought out his car with the black and white chequered roof, Derek Duff (Cupar) and David Sturrock (Saline). Glen Heeps appeared with his new car which was originally to be raced by Matty Stirling.

The opening heat was another of their white/yellow challenge heats which saw Heeps take his new car to a debut win and he led home Barry Glen and Duff with Sturrock in sixth.

The first saloon race ended with Irvine going through to win from Keith Mitchell and Heeps. Heeps then won heat two and he was ahead of Duff and Irvine at the end of the race.

Jamie Connacher led the cars away when the final started but on lap five Duff took over the lead from Mitchell but Irvine was on the move and was soon reeling in the leading cars. Once Irvine got ahead of Glen he set off after Duff but it wasn’t until the penultimate lap that he got his nose in front and picked up his second win of the night. Duff held on to second with Marc Honeyman third.

There were three new faces in the 1300cc saloons but that equalled the three that couldn’t race. Derek Campbell, Colin Fyfe (Dunfermline) and Jeff Cosans (Dunfermline) were the new faces with the latter stating that it was over 20 years since he last raced at Cowdenbeath! Callum Farrance (Cowdenbeath) and Fraser Anderson (Cowdenbeath) were the other local drivers in action but both struck problems and had to retire.

Heat one saw Graham Swan win from Brian Allan and Cosans but Anderson hit mechanical problems and had to retire from the meeting. Grant McGowan then won heat two where he led home Swan and Allan with Cosans in fourth and Fyfe seventh.

The final saw Campbell lead from Colin Bruce and Cosans although next time around Cosans was second. When Campbell was spun Cosans took over but he soon lost out to McGowan who went on to win. Cosans held on to second place finishing ahead of Swan with Fyfe retiring during the closing stages.

There were 15 hot saloons and whilst most were from the north of Scotland Billy Tosh was from Bridge of Earn!

Scott Forsyth won the opening heat from Tosh and Neil Farquhar. Tosh then won heat two where he led home Farquhar and Lee Duthie.

Forsyth then led the final from start to finish to pick up his second win of the night and he was clear of Farquhar and Ian Garvock.

Tosh then won the Allcomers race where he led home Forsyth and Duthie.

Billie Dawson was having another run in one of the hire cars as she awaits her own getting readied. Rebecca Reid (Cowdenbeath) was the only local driver in action.

Heat one saw Jamie Dawson go through to win from Lewis Burgoyne and Hannah Borthwick with Reid having to retire. Dawson then won heat two again from Burgoyne and Borthwick with Reid in sixth place

Burgoyne then got the better of the exchanges to win heat three from Dawson and Jimmy Cartmel with Reid in fourth place. The youngsters were given a fourth heat with Cartmel winning from Borthwick and Billie Dawson but Burgoyne and J. Dawson tangled and neither finished.

This week the BriSCA formula IIs and 2 litre Saloons are back and this time they are joined by the Lightning Rods, ministox and microf2s. The minis are racing for their Cowdenbeath Civic Week Cup. The meeting starts at 6.00pm although the microf2s will be on track at 5.45pm.