IAN Thompson looked to be on his way to a Cowdenbeath Racewall hat trick of formula II wins on Saturday night although to be fair he was under pressure from Craig Wallace, writes our Racewall scribe Jim Turner.

However, they came upon a couple of white grade drivers running side by side and racing for a lower order position as they headed into the pit bend.

The result was none of the cars managed to finish the race and it was third placed Dennis Middler who capitalised to win!

The ministox drivers turned up in their numbers for the Scruntineers Trophy and there was some fast and exciting racing although Abbie McGuiness may not agree with her car ending up perched on the pit bend wall. Teri Linden hit a marker tyre hard as she tried to make up ground resulting in a retirement whilst in heat one Charlie Folan almost rolled his car after bouncing off a marker tyre.

Robert McDonald dominated the National Hot Rod World Championship qualifying round with a hat trick of wins.

The latest formula II grading period had seen Ian Thompson move down from the red to the blue grade and he certainly made the best of it. The local drivers in action included Gregor Turner (Dunfermline), Kieran Howie (Dunfermline), Paul and Craig Reid (Cowdenbeath) and Ian Thompson (Kennoway).

Heat one saw Thompson go through to win from Craig Wallace and Dennis Middler with Howie in fifth just ahead of Turner. Thompson then made a good start when heat two got underway and was soon through into the lead. However, this time Wallace was right on his back bumper as they crossed the finish line with Turner in third spot and P. Reid in seventh.

Jason Blacklock led the cars away when the final started and it certainly roared into life over the closing laps. Blacklock led with Thompson soon making his way through the lower grade drivers but not long after he took the lead Blair Anderson and Kieran Howie tangled going into the pit bend suspending the race as a result.

Once the track was clear the cars lined up behind Thompson with Wallace now in third place. And whilst Thompson got away well he soon had Wallace right behind. Blacklock dropped a few places but up front Thompson was having to be at his best just to keep Wallace behind.

Then on the last lap the leaders encountered a couple of white graders. Disaster for the leaders as Wallace ended up in the wall and Thompson was being pushed sideways by Craig Reid up the straight.

The crowd were on their feet as Dennis Middler capitalised on the situation to go through to win the Turner Trophy final from Stevie Forster who pipped Garry Sime on the last lap to claim second place.

Derek Russell was having a run in the 2 litre National saloon hire car and there were quite a few spins and shunts along the way. Local drivers on the grid included Kyle Irvine (Glenrothes), Ross Watters (Leven), Euan Mathieson (Lochgelly) and Alex Cunningham (Leven).

Heat one saw Ian McLaughlin go through to win from Luke Grief and Irvine who was just clear of Watters whilst Robin Copland’s race came to an end against a marker tyre. Heat two saw Luke Grief pick up a win and the final saw Mathieson take the lead but when Ally Strachan was squeezed wide he crashed into a marker tyre and with his car stuck the race was suspended. Barry Glen had taken the lead shortly before this happened and whilst he led the field away Irvine was making good progress through the field and during the closing stages moved ahead. Once there he edged away to win the Turner Trophy from Grief, McLaughlin and Watters.

James Strath was on hand to hand over a defibulator from various fund raisers to the Racewall paramedics in memory of his father Sandy who died recently.

There were minis galore at the track with no fewer than seven cars from south of the border and as a result the field was split into three with the top 24 point scorers racing in the final.

Local drivers in action included Gary Paterson (Saline), Danny Whyte (Lochgelly), Mitch Gold (Leven), Jamie Stewart (Glenrothes), Ben Creanor (Dunfermline) and Michael Mitchell (Lochgelly)

The opening heat saw Steven Burgoyne go through to win from Charlie Morphey, Sean Naismith and Gold with Whyte in ninth place. Taylor Borthwick then won the second heat from Naismith and Gold while heat three saw Burgoyne pick up his second win of the night and he led home Aaron Totham with Mitchell in sixth and just ahead of Paterson and Stewart in ninth place.

The final was suspended early on when newcomer Brandon Morton’s car shed a wheel. Whilst Kyle Roberts led on the restart he was soon moved over as Stewart took the lead but a couple of laps later Charlie Folan was ahead.

However, he was under pressure and it was Borthwick who moved ahead. Morphey had made up a lot of round and he then moved into the lead but he saw this disappear after McGuiness was sent up the pit bend wall in the company of David Shearing and a few others with Paterson also having to retire.

Morphey’s lead had gone and on the restart he was under pressure from Naismith and Borthwick. Whilst Folan closed quickly on the leading group Naismith dived through into the lead and once there went on to win from Folan and Borthwick.

The National Hot rods were involved in a high speed World Championship qualifying round and there was some close and interesting dicing.

Robert McDonald won the opening heat from Ian Donaldson and Steven Armit and the result of heat two was identical. With McDonald and Donaldson sharing the front row of the grid it came as no surprise that McDonald beat Donaldson off the start line and it stayed in that order right to the close with only a cars length between them at the close with Ian McGuigan picking up third spot as they crossed the finish line.

There was another big turn out of microf2 drivers at the track with Robbie Scott having a run in the hire car. Rebecca Reid (Cowdenbeath) was the only Fifer in action.

Heat one saw Samuel Critchley go through to win from Reid and Callan Walker.

Reid then went on to win the second heat on a wet and slippery track which claimed a few of the youngsters but she didn’t put a foot wrong as she went on to win from Ethan Jack Gemmell and Kyle Rogerson. Reid then picked up her second win of the night when she scored a comfortable win over David Philp Jnr and Jamie Dawson.

This Saturday the formula II drivers are back in action along with the 2 Litre National saloons, and the 1300saloon cars. The Turner Trophy is up for grabs for the stock rods and the 1300saloon drivers with the meeting starting at 6pm.

*Gordon Moodie and Euan Millar will be racing down south in the National Series which will determine which driver will race with the silver roof in 2018.