A DRY evening greeted what may well have been a record number of spectators at HRP Lochgelly Raceway this past Saturday as they gathered for what promised to be a very special event as Scotland challenged England in a 40 on 40 Banger Team Event for bragging rights!!!, writes Les Waller, our Raceway scribe.

The English contingent arrived early on the day and their red cars looked exceptionally smart as they gathered in their half of the pits. The Scots soon started to arrive but late cancellations meant that they did not quite have a full team.

The first two races would see 20 cars from each team take to the track and the English made their intentions clear as Scotland’s Mike Kennedy suffered a rollover before the green flags came out as the cars jostled for position. The expected chaos ensued on the resumption of the race with some huge hits going in on both sides but it was England who took first blood with Lee Kingsnorth claiming the win with English cars filling the other three scoring positions.

The second heat saw a similar result to the first with another English victory, this time for Paul Whiteman, but the Scots claimed their first points with a second and third place finish.

The next race saw all available cars for both teams on track and there must have been well in excess of fifty cars on track which made for a spectacular sight at HRP Lochgelly Raceway with the majority being in the red of England.

The hits flew in at every turn with the English taking full advantage of their superior numbers to claim another whitewash with regular visitor Steve Anscombe taking the win.

The final race for the Bangers was for double points and, with the second leg of this event due to take place at Ipswich in July, a Scottish top four would see the scores almost levelled prior to that event. Sadly, that was not to be as the English greatly outnumbered the Scottish at the beginning and removed all Scottish cars from contention early on as the red train kept on rolling with Joey Reynolds being the victor.

The Ministox once again arrived in huge numbers this past Saturday at HRP Lochgelly Raceway in support of the Banger Team Event with a turnout in the mid-20s which included welcome English visitor Megan Petherick.

The first race saw the usual crashing and bashing from the Ministox but it was Steven Burgoyne who sliced his way through the chaos to take yet another win ahead of Sean Naismith and Bryan Lindsay.

Heat Two saw an exact repeat of Heat One as Burgoyne, Naismith and Lindsay came through from the rear of the grid to cross the line in the first three positions with Terri Linden being the best of the rest.

The feature final was a fantastic race with the drivers really getting the bit between their teeth and contesting every position with gusto. Alex Robertson from Ratho made much of the running in this race and the former Ninja Kart star drove brilliantly as he was slowly reeled in by the far more experienced drivers.

Lochgelly’s own Michael Mitchell has been slowly getting to grips with his new car and it all came good for the former national points champion as he managed to overhaul Robertson in the latter stages of the race to claim a fantastic win with Sean Naismith managing to overtake Robertson for second place while young Robertson held on for a fantastic third.

The Ministox, as a reward for their tremendous start to the season, were given an extra race and it was another local driver with a new for 2017 car in the shape of Kelty’s Ciaran Adams who came through to take a fantastic win ahead of final winner Mitchell.

This must certainly have boosted Adams’ confidence as he went on to claim four race wins out of four this past Sunday at Crimond Raceway in the north of Scotland!

The 1300 Stock Cars were back in action again this past Saturday and it was great to see James Dalrymple making his first outing of the season plus Jordan Wright, who won the first race back in March, was out in the 1300 Hire Car.

Saturday’s racing was round three of the MR Coachworks and Ringtone Racepaints Series and James Ellis went into Saturday’s racing just six points ahead of Craig Haxton. The first heat saw the bumpers used to full effect and it was Jordan Cassie who did most of the early running in this one while all eyes were on Lochgelly’s Euan Mathieson who sliced his way through the pack to eventually overhaul Cassie’s lead to claim the win.

Cassie managed to stay ahead of the rest in heat two to take an excellent win with Euan Mathieson having to settle for second. The feature final saw some big hits going in with Peter Low getting involved with James Ellis and James Dalrymple as the drivers battled for position. Cassie had got to the front early on and was not to be denied as he went on to take a heat and final winning double with Mathieson once again in second and Craig Haxton in third to round off a great night of entertainment.

The next slice of stock car action at HRP Lochgelly Raceway comes your way this Saturday April 29 and features five formulas on a busy evening of action.

The Junior Productions have two pre-meeting races from 5:30pm while the main meeting gets underway at 6pm featuring the incredible Superstox, 2.0 Hot Rods and CC Rods. This Saturday is also the final meeting for the Stock Rods in the chase for the 2016/17 National Points Championship and three drivers; Chris Lattka, Siobhan Martin and Jonathan Lattka all have a mathematical chance of claiming the silver roof and the title.

It should be a great night of action at HRP Lochgelly Raceway this Saturday from 5:30pm.