A GLORIOUS early spring evening greeted drivers, teams and fans as they gathered in large numbers at HRP Lochgelly Raceway this past Saturday once again for the latest slice of stock car action presented by Hardie Race Promotions.

HRP Lochgelly Raceway would play host to another little piece of history last weekend as the track would host its first ever Banger Ramp Racing event as well as four other formulas providing the best in four-wheeled entertainment for all tastes and ages!

First on track were the tiny terrors in their Ninja Karts. While a few drivers have reached the ripe old age of 11, which is the mandatory retirement age for the formula; it is great to see more youngsters joining the formula to take those all-important first steps in motorsport.

One of HRP’s innovative ideas to help encourage the newer and less confident drivers is their whites and yellows race which sees the lower graded drivers get their chance to shine without their more experienced, and often faster, peers to worry about.

One driver who has taken to the formula brilliantly in a short space of time is Callum Beaton, from Anstruther, and he duly underlined his promise as he took victory in the whites and yellows race ahead of Midlothian’s Rachel Kidd and Kelty’s Mirran Adams.

Polmont’s Charlie Hardie had a great meeting last time out as he took two wins and a third and he claimed victory in the first heat of the evening with authority ahead of Beaton who was looking very racy and Polmont’s Lennon Grant. Heat Two saw Hardie repeat his winning exploits as he took his second win of the day ahead of Alloa’s Declan Honeyman with Grant finishing third once again.

Grant has certainly looked quick this season and he would have been delighted to take the win in the final heat of the night which saw an early spin for Hardie ruin his chances of a first ever hat-trick; Beaton took another fine second with West Lothian’s Ethan Doull maintaining his early season form with an excellent third place.

The Ninja Kart races saw two spectacular rollovers – one in heat one for Lucy Millar, who tripped over brother Bailey’s car and one in heat three for Rachel Kidd who flew across the tarmac. We are delighted to report that both these determined young ladies are perfectly OK and raring to go next time out when the youngsters will be contesting the LJN deSIGNS European Champion on Saturday April.

The ProStocks were back in action once again with Superstox pilot Gary Nicholls arriving to race with the ex-Ian Taylor Vauxhall Astra in a grid that was slightly up on last time but, nevertheless, highlights the current plight of the formula at all tracks. National Points and Scottish Champion Tam Melrose took the win in heat one last time out and duly repeated the feat as he claimed victory ahead of Lanarkshire’s Tony Wright and Thornton’s Ricky Whyte. Whyte made amends in heat two as the man who had taken a heat and final double two weeks earlier claimed yet another win with Melrose and Wright taking the other podium places.

The feature final saw Whyte on a tear once again as he made his way quickly to the front with Melrose also scything through the field. These two claimed the top two places once again with Wright taking yet another podium finish in what has been a fantastic start for the Shotts driver and it will be interesting to see how he fares from further down the grid after the April gradings are issued.

The Stock Rods were also back on track after a fortnight away from HRP Lochgelly Raceway during which some drivers travelled to Hednesford in Staffordshire but it was not a great meeting for HRP drivers with only Siobhan Martin scoring any points. It was great to see debutant Gary Dean in the pits being joined by the Lattka brothers in their first meeting of the year in a grid that shows a steady increase on the previous outing with more drivers almost ready to go! Heat One saw victory for Kelty’s John-Lee Green in his very smart Corsa C as he held off Jonathan and Chris Lattka. Scottish and National Points Champion Siobhan Martin certainly seemed to revel in the increasingly competitive field and she would have been delighted to take her Corsa C to victory lane ahead of Jonathan and Chris Lattka after claiming the spoils in heat two. The feature final was another great race with Scotland’s top stock rod drivers displaying their skills for all to see as they carved their way around HRP Lochgelly Raceway. At the end of the 25 laps it was 25 Siobhan Martin who had made her way to the front to take an excellent heat and final double with Kelty’s Darren McAlpine posting a great second place ahead of Jonathan Lattka who will be happy with the performace of his revamped car on its 2016 debut.

The Superstox have been the best formula in Scotland so far this year with good grids of cars and some cracking action.

The Bangers had undoubtedly brought many in the huge crowd to HRP Lochgelly Raceway last Saturday for the ramp racing event and the spectators were rewarded with an impressive 22 cars arriving in the pits. This is especially impressive when you consider that some of the drivers had been racing in the Big Van Bangers at HRP Lochgelly Raceway just seven days previously so full credit to all in the Banger fraternity for their amazing efforts! The first ramp race of the night was more of a “sighter” as drivers had the option of testing their cars on the ramp or driving around it – Scott Gardener took the win in the first race.

The second race saw large marker tyres employed to force drivers to use the ramps and the large crowd in attendance thoroughly enjoyed the airbourne antics of the drivers with Paul Cuthbert claiming the win. As the drivers had become used to the unique demands of the ramp; they had become faster and faster and the hits got bigger and bigger with the feature final proving to be particularly bruising. Ryan Harrow’s car had come to a halt just after the ramp and the race was stopped with one lap to go as Harrow’s car had taken an absolute battering – the driver did walk away from the incident which is the most important thing and Sean McConnachie would certainly not be complaining as he posted the final win of the evening following a great night of entertainment.

Next week is the Easter weekend and the latest slice of HRP stock car action will come to HRP Lochgelly Raceway on Easter Saturday March 26th with four cracking formulas in action. Scotland’s top stock car formula, the HRP 1300 Stock Cars, are back in action and four races have been scheduled for the bumper brigade who are the only saloon stock car formula in action in Scotland next weekend. The Ministox are also back in action after a great outing two weeks ago while the CC Rods and 2.0 Hot Rods round off a great blend of formulas at HRP. The action gets underway at 6pm next Saturday March 28th at HRP Lochgelly Raceway!!!