A DRY day gave way to heavy rain as drivers, teams and fans gathered at HRP Lochgelly Raceway this past Friday night for the latest slice of stock car action presented by Hardie Race Promotions, writes our Raceway reporter Les Waller.

Four great formulas were on show in a slick 12 race programme that took under three hours to complete.

First up were HRP’s own low-budget, non-contact formula; the CC Rods. The formula has enjoyed a fantastic season so far with great turnouts and some fantastic action.

Another good grid of cars arrived to do battle on Friday and, following a heavy deluge of rain just before start time; some frenetic action in the pits saw drivers changing tyres to better cope with the change in track conditions. It was Glenrothes’ Bob Martin who adapted best to the wet racing surface as he stormed to victory ahead of Kirkcaldy’s Brandon Gourlay and Kelty’s Colin Wotherspoon.

The second heat saw Martin dominate once again as he beat fellow Glenrothes driver Ian Hotchkies and newly-crowned Scottish Champion Ian Donaldson to the finish line.

The feature final saw many asking if Martin could make it an incredible hat-trick of wins on the night. With a dry line now appearing as the rain abated, Martin held his nerve and drove a steady race to stay ahead of Hotchkies and Kirkcaldy’s Kevin Hutchison to claim a faultless hat-trick of wins to round off a night where the majority of drivers in the CC Rods drove well despite the tricky weather conditions.

The Ministox had a quick turnaround as they had raced just six days earlier at HRP Lochgelly Raceway but another great turnout from the 11-16 year olds was on hand to race in the wet.

With no English visitors, Tamzin Gordon, from the North of Scotland was the driver who had travelled the furthest to be at the event.

The first heat saw some great action but it was track championship leader Euan Millar from Lockerbie who came through from the rear of the grid to take yet another win with arch-rival Steven Burgoyne in second ahead of a resurgent David Sinclair. The second heat saw the likes of Millar and Burgoyne struggle to get to the sharp end of the grid as every driver battled for position and it was Anstruther’s Dylan Sim who claimed a great win ahead of Taylor Borthwick and Millar.

The feature final saw yet more fantastic action from the youngsters who have been in superb form this year and it was Millar who eventually overhauled long-time leader Sim to take his second win of the evening with Sim holding on for second ahead of Terri Linden who has enjoyed a fantastic year so far.

The 2.0 Hot Rods were also on a quick turnaround having raced six days previously and the weather was certainly not conducive to great hot rod racing as the drivers struggled to put the power down on a wet surface in the early stages of the evening.

Dunfermline’s Gerry Hendry maintained his excellent 2016 form with victory in heat one ahead of British Champion Kenny Purdie and jock Campbell. Purdie went one better in heat two as he got ahead of the field to take the chequered flag ahead of Gordon Alexander and Kelty’s Kinzie Law.

The feature final was an intense race from the very beginning with Purdie and Alexander particularly keen to be leading the charge from the rear of the grid. Once the race settled down, these two began the pursuit of Jock Campbell who had taken up the lead. As the laps wound down, Campbell’s lead was visibly coming down but he held on for victory ahead of Purdie and Alexander after a thrilling race.

The final formula on show were the 1300 Stock Cars and it was great to see Derek Slater back on track after a period of absence. Lochgelly’s own Euan Mathieson maintained his recent run of form as he took victory in the first heat ahead of Stevie Gold and Zak Gilmour.

Gilmour did not enjoy the best of seasons as National Points Champion with work commitments and mechanical gremlins seeing him only picking up a handful of points but his car has looked much more on the pace of late and he underlined that upturn in form in fine style with a win in heat two – a victory dedicated to his Grandfather who sadly passed away.

Slater showed good pace as he came home in second with Peter Low finishing in third. The feature final featured the usual chaos associated with the 1300 Stock cars and it was Forfar’s Boab Low who came through to take the win ahead of heat winners Gilmour and Mathieson.

An entertaining evening with 12 races completed in around two and a half hours.

The next slice of stock car action at HRP Lochgelly Raceway comes this Saturday August 13 and is a huge event with two Scottish Championships to be decided.

The three-wheeled mayhem of the Reliant Robins comes to HRP Lochgelly Raceway this Saturday in their Scottish Championship plus the Superstox will also be in Scottish Championship action just two weeks before HRP host their World Championship. The Stock Rods, ProStocks and Ninja Karts form the rest of a packed programme of events which gets underway at 5:30pm at HRP Lochgelly Raceway this Saturday August 13.