THE saloon drivers were in top form at the Cowdenbeath Racewall on Saturday night with Luke Grief winning the Celtic saloon challenge whilst Ian McLaughlin, with a couple of wins set himself up as one of the drivers to watch for the forth coming Scottish Championship.

There was never a dull moment in their races, keeping the fans well and truly entertained. Anthony McIvor ended up rolling his car in the opening heat where most of the field became involved in a coming together on the pit bend.

Billy Bonnar dominated the National Hot Rod World Championship qualifying round with a heat and final win picking up the Turner Trophy as a result.

Ian Thompson halted Chris Burgoyne’s sequence of formula II final wins although he was to retire from the Grand National with a mechanical problem.

Ian Thompson (Kennoway) was back in action in the formula IIs along with other Fifers Gregor Turner (Dunfermline), Paul and Craig Reid (Cowdenbeath) and Dale Burt (Lochgelly) but Gordon Moodie (Windygates) was racing down south over the weekend at King’s Lynn and Northampton.

The opening heat was a white/yellow challenge with C. Reid leading but he tangled with Adam Blacklock resulting in the former retiring. Turner then caught and passed Reid before going through to win from Reid and David Sinclair.

The opening heat was led off by C. Reid but he was quickly caught and passed by Blacklock but he soon had Turner in close order. Thompson was closing quickly and just after the half distance moved into the lead, However, Chris Burgoyne was on a charge and began to reel him in taking the lead during the closing stage. To win from Thompson and Craig Wallace.

Heat two was fairly similar to the previous heat with Burgoyne again getting the better of Thompson again during the closing stages to pick up his second win of the night with Wallace in third.

Blacklock was the early leader when the final started from P. Reid and Turner with Thompson again making a good start from the blue grade before closing in on the cars ahead.

However, whilst Thompson was going well so too was Burgoyne although he wasn’t making as much inroads into Thompson’s lead as in previous races. Thompson hit the front just after the half distance and whilst Burgoyne did catch Blacklock it wasn’t until the closing stages that he did so. Thompson reeled off the remaining laps to win but Burgoyne had managed to close right up with Blacklock in third, P Reid finished in seventh just ahead of Turner.

Burgoyne went through to win the Grand National from Blacklock and Wallace with Turner fifth but Thompson had to retire with a mechanical problem.

The saloons first race of the night was the final of the Celtic Challenge and included Anthony and Kieran McIvor from Northern Ireland along with Fifers Kyle Irvine (Glenrothes), Raymond Dick (Glenrothes), Ross Watters (Leven) and Alex Cunningham (Leven). The cars lined up in their points order scored in previous races with A. McIvor on pole with Scottish Champion Luke Grief along side whilst on row 2 was Kieran McIvor and Irvine with Cunningham on row fiver and Watters on row seven.

On the start Grief made the better one to move ahead with the McIvor brothers behind and Irvine in fourth. However, as the others squabbled over second Grief pulled away before going on to win easily from Ross Graham and Irvine with Watters seventh and Cunningham in tenth place.

There was a big shunt at the start to heat one which ended with Anthony McIvor rolling.

On the restart the action continued but ended with Ian McLaughlin winning with Watters in ninth place. Patrick Calderwood led heat one from start to finish to win from Grief and McLaughlin with Watters not classified.

The final was exciting with plenty of bumper contact resulting in a few cars crashing out and spinning. In the end McLaughlin went through to win from Hughes, Grief and Watters.

There was a good turn out of National Hot rods for their World Championship qualifying round but the other drivers found Billy Bonnar in good form and as a result he extended his lead in the points race. Billy Bonnar (Ballingry) was the only Fifer in action.

Bonnar caught and passed Ian Donaldson during the latter stages of the opening heat to win with Steven Armit in third place. However, in heat two Donaldson went on to record a narrow win over Bonnar with Roy Anderson in third spot.

Samantha Ross led the cars away when the final started but Donaldson made a quick start and within a lap had over taken Ian McGuigan and was reeling in Ross. Bonnar also had made a good start and he was ahead of Tam Rutherford and heading off after the blue graders. Donaldson was soon ahead of Ross but Bonnar was closing fast and it came as no surprise when he caught and passed Donaldson. Once there he opened up a useful lead before going through to win, picking up the Turner trophy in the process, where he led home Donaldson and Rutherford.

The prostox drivers were in good form and there was plenty of swapping places and some close finishes. Graham Watt (South Queensferry) was back in action after being away for some ten years whilst the local interest centered around Paul Barron (Cowdenbeath), Callum McIvor (Inverkeithing), Gary Law (Kelty) and John Crawford (Cowdenbeath).

Dougie Kidd won the opening heat from Barron and Tam Melrose with Watt fourth, McIvor fifth and Law seventh. In heat two Watt led the race from start to finish to win from Kidd, Melrose and Barron with McIvor seventh, Law eighth and Crawford ninth.

It looked as if Watt was on for his second win of the night but a coating of oil saw him clip the wall and slow. In the end Barron won from John Mason, Kyle Roy, Watt, McIvor, Law and Crawford.

This Saturday the BriSCA formula IIs are back in action along with the 2 Litre National saloons, ORCi stock rods, ministox and microf2s. However it is going to be a big night for the saloons where Luke Grief defends his Scottish Championship in what is going to be a bruising affair.

Will Grief manage to retain his title or will it be one of the local drivers who wins? Let’s hope for an exciting race and one to remember! The minis are racing for their “dash for a Tyre” whilst the ORCi stock rods have their Turner trophy to defend. The meeting starts at 6.00pm as usual.

On Saturday Gordon Moodie raced on the shale surface at King’s Lynn where he had to settle for sixth places in the consolation race and the Allcomers

On Sunday he moved over to Northampton where he picked up 2nd in heat one and a 4th in heat two. However he went on to win the final and from a lap handicap brought his car home in tenth place.