FAIR weather and great racing have become the hallmarks of Speed Weekends at HRP Lochgelly Raceway over the last few years but, sadly, this past weekend saw mother nature do her best to spoil things as persistent rain throughout a packed weekend of racing, writes Racewall correspondent Les Waller.

A unique blend of formulas was on view as Hardie race Promotions continue to deliver international level events to the people of Fife and Scotland.

The 1300 Stock Cars are almost always called into action when it comes to HRP Speed Weekends and this time saw the formula as co-headliners of the event as they arrived in big numbers to contest their European Championship.

The 1300 Stock Car action during the weekend was sponsored by the Purdie family in memory of Joan Purdie and in support of St Andrews Hospice in Airdrie.

The first race of the weekend for the bumper brigade would be their European Championship and a grid of almost forty cars lined up to do battle with one of the pre-race favourites Jason Secker having drawn pole position.

As the race got underway, Secker managed to keep his rear bumper out of touching distance of the chasing pack as the race began to settle down following the initial skirmishes. Having made good starts; the likes of Ryan McGill, Dean McGill, Callum Barclay and Ian Beaumont had all put themselves into contention as the gap closed on the leader. The race was brought to a halt for a stricken car and the home fans would have been optimistic of a Scottish win as they filled the majority of the top places but none of the locals had an answer for Essex pilot Ian Beaumont who pulled away from the rest of the field to take a fantastic win ahead of Kirkcaldy’s Ryan McGill and Jimmy Morris from London.

The remaining two heats on the Saturday saw some heavy action as the drivers settled their scores but Lanarkshire’s Eddie Corr wasn’t complaining as he took victory in heat one while Ryan McGill would take some consolation for his runners up spot in the championship race by winning the second heat.

The 2.0 Hot Rods were also in major championship action as they would be competing for their British Championship sponsored by David Philp Commercials. A strong field from all over the UK arrived to do battle over two heats to determine their starting positions for the championship. Regular visitor Chris Crane took the win in heat one in greasy conditions as he held off former double World Champion Wayne Woolsey and ex-European Champion Dan Smith for victory.

Heat Two saw another English victory as current English Champion George Turricki took the win ahead of European Champion Kenny Purdie, Robbie Burgoyne and, most significantly, Chris Crane who would be starting the British Championship on pole thanks to two tremendous heat results. With Crane on Pole and European Champion Purdie on the outside of row one, the rain got heavier as the race approached with many on the terraces now considering Purdie to be the favourite due to his outside line start which many see as the place to be in a wet race at HRP Lochgelly Raceway. Those who had predicted this were proven to be correct as Purdie powered away from Crane on the back straight after the green flag had dropped to surge into the lead. Crane struggled to get the power down on the slick inside line but eventually he settled into third place behind Turricki as Purdie continued to reel off the 35 laps. Eventually, Crane managed to overhaul Turricki as the track began to dry out ever so slightly but the gap to Purdie was too big and, with a vociferous crowd urging him home, Lanarkshire’s Purdie crossed the line first to add the British Championship to his European title amid emotional scenes on the start/finish line with Crane holding on for second and Turricki for a fine third.

History was also made at HRP Lochgelly Raceway as the Rebel Racers finally made their first-ever Scottish appearance after twenty-two years of successful racing in England – this also coincided as the formula’s 650th meeting. A huge field of almost forty cars underlined the strength of this fantastic formula as the drivers gathered to do battle and it was a terrible shame that the conditions prevented the drivers from displaying their full potential.

The feature final on the Sunday was for the inaugural rebels Scottish Championship and a great grid of cars lined up under grey skies and heavy rain as each driver had their eye on their own piece of history. Jones survived the early attentions of Dayman who would end up going down the field while Chalkley headed the challenging pack. Jones was not to be denied however as he stormed to a feature final double for the weekend and the title of 2016 Rebels Scottish Champion.

The 2.0 Hot Rods were also back in action this past Sunday and the field was supplemented by the additions of Iain Bruce, Paul Carruthers and English visitor Mark Lammas. The Hot Rods would be contesting their Open Scottish Championship with two heats utilized to determine each drivers’ starting position for the big race. Falkirk’s Robbie Burgoyne took the win in heat one ahead of Lochore’s Billy Bonnar and Englishman Ryan Morgan as Burgoyne underlined his liking for the wet conditions while Stephen Emerson claimed victory for Northern Ireland in heat Two ahead of England’s Gavin Botfield and Bonnyrigg pilot Gordon Alexander. The David Philp Open Scottish Commercials 2.0 Hot Rod Open Scottish Championship would see Gordon Alexander start on pole position and he immediately headed into the lead as the field took the green flag. As the race settled down, Bonnar was making inroads on Alexander’s lead and the two rivals diced their way around the tight HRP Lochgelly Raceway circuit with Alexander almost sideways at one point before Bonnar spinning out only moments later. As the cars crossed the line, Alexander was first with Morgan and Jock Campbell rounding out the top three. However, officials deemed that Alexander had been involved in the incident that saw Bonnar spinning and therefore docked him two places handing the win to Ryan Morgan ahead of Campbell and Alexander.

The 1300 Stock Cars were back in action on the Sunday with another good field of cars. Their first race was for the Open Scottish Championship (In Support of St Andrews Hospice) and the grid was formed by random draw. It was outgoing European Champion Adam O’Dell who underlined his liking for HRP Lochgelly Raceway as he took yet another win at the Fife circuit ahead of East Anglian visitor Dan Weavers and Kirkintilloch’s Zak Gilmour who finally seems to have his new for 2016 Tigra B car going as well as he would have hoped. The remaining two hearts saw victories for Fife driver Lee McGill as he managed to beat cousin Ryan into second place in both races! The second heat was perhaps the sweeter of the wins as this was also the latest round of the Bill Auld Fabrications Series which saw Lee claim an extra £100 in prize money courtesy of the sponsors.

There is no racing at HRP Lochgelly Raceway this weekend due to the British Drift Championship being held at Driftland. The next slice of stock car action at HRP Lochgelly Raceway comes on Friday June 24th from 6:30pm featuring 1300 Stock Cars, Ministox, CC Rods and Ninja Karts. This is the first of a weekend double header as the mighty BriSCA Formula One Stock Cars return to HRP Lochgelly Raceway on Sunday June 26th from 1pm for what should be a spectacular way to round off the first half of the season!