AFTER the snow necessitated the postponement of the stock car event at HRP Lochgelly Raceway on March 3 and monsoon-like rain drenched those in attendance last weekend; many would think that Mother Nature may have let up this past Saturday at HRP Lochgelly Raceway – but it was not to be, writes Raceway reporter Les Waller!

Drivers, teams and fans gathered at HRP Lochgelly Raceway this past Saturday in bitterly cold conditions ahead of a mammoth six-formula event with no less than 19 races on offer. As the night went on, the conditions only got colder before increasingly-persistent snow showers saw the racing surface covered in a thin white blanket with temperatures of around -10 (with wind-chill)!!!

Many fans took the sensible decision to utilise the Trackside Parking facilities at HRP Lochgelly Raceway to stay warm as the action rumbled on.

The first event of the evening was the season debut of the Ninja Karts; this was precluded by a lap of honour for 2018 Ninja Kart World Cup Champion Charlie Hardie as he made his first appearance at his home track since claiming the gold roof back in January down at Arena Essex.

As with the beginning of any new season, some drivers had moved on while others had joined the formula to replace them and no less than seven brand new drivers had their first race this past Saturday as part of the novice grade for the traditional Whites & Yellows Race opener.

Despite the heroics of novice Kaden Connor though, it was Connor Frame who came through for the win ahead of Connor and another relative newcomer in Hamish Plenderleith. Heat One brought out the big guns in the blue graders, red tops and superstars including World, Scottish and Points Champion Charlie Hardie and European and British Champion Robbie Armit.

Hardie and fellow superstar Bailey Millar were disqualified for failing to observe the caution flag in a timely manner resulting in them illegally overtaking other cars before Rachel Kidd went through for her first win of a season which may well see her be one to watch ahead of Josh Bruce and Connor Frame!

The second heat went to Armit who took victory ahead of fellow superstars Hardie and Millar in a dominant display from three of the very best before Kidd doubled up with victory in heat three as she stayed ahead of Kaydan Day and Armit for the win.

The National Hot Rods were a late addition to the programme of events following the cancellation of their event at HRP Lochgelly Raceway a fortnight earlier – their addition was made to allow their World Championship Qualifying Campaign to be concluded in good time.

It was great to see Wayne Lee back on track from the north of England while Gordon Ogilvie made his debut in a stunning VW Corrado. The top two in the table were in attendance in the form of Robert McDonald (now carrying his old #17 from his Stock rod days) and Roy Anderson while Ian Donaldson was reduced to the role of spectator. This would give fourth placed Ian McGuigan a chance to potentially claim the third and final qualifying spot for now. The first heat went to form as McDonald took the win ahead of McGuigan and Ross McWilliam; who continues to improve having made the step up from Ministox last season. Heat two was delayed for a few moments as drivers frantically changed to wet tyres following a snow flurry that saw the race run in rather unique conditions with Roy Anderson taking the win from McDonald and McGuigan. The feature final saw another masterclass from the cream of the current National Hot Rod crop with McDonald coming through for his second win of the night ahead of Anderson and McGuigan as all three tightened their grip on those crucial qualifying spots for their big race at Ipswich in July.

The CC Rods finally made their debut appearance of 2018 with a reasonable number of cars on hand. Ian Hotchkies had traded up from his MK2 Astra to a smart Corsa C while Paul Muir was behind the wheel of his Fiesta rather than his more familiar Puma. Spare a thought for James McIntyre though who was unable to race due to pre-meeting issues.

Heat One did get underway though and it was the highly-experienced Pete Honeyman who took victory ahead of Colin Thomson and Davie McFarlane in a highly entertaining race – McFarlane’s spare car was also on track in the hand of National Points Champion Ian Donaldson Jr.

Heat Two was virtually a carbon copy of heat one as the yellow graded Honeyman took his second win of the night with Thomson again in second with Tony Wright claiming the final podium spot this time around. Come the feature final; Honeyman did not take to the track – whether this was due to the weather or another issue is unknown but this opened up the opportunity for Thomson to finally go one better and he duly did so as he took the feature win of the night in the CC Rods with Wright and Paul Muir second and third to conclude a good night of CCC Rod action.

The Ministox were making their second visit in as many weeks to HRP Lochgelly Raceway and arrived, once again, in good numbers with most of the usual suspects in the pits plus English visitor Aaron Richards from Stoke. Heat One saw the usual frantic action but all was relatively serene for recent Ninja Kart graduate Scott Allardyce as he held on as chaos ensued behind him to take the win ahead of Jamie Stewart and James Mooney. Heat Two saw Allardyce in the mix during the early stages but his challenge disappeared as the race went on; but it was fellow white top Barry Scott who scored a cracking win with National Points Champion Sean Naismith coming home a relatively distant second and Mooney again in third. The feature final saw the 11 to 16-year olds drivers display skill and maturity beyond their years as they put on a great spectacle of racing and it was former National Points Champion Michael Mitchell who led the red top charge and came home with the win ahead of Mooney and English visitor Richards.

The Stock Rods arguably suffered from the most changeable of the conditions; but it wasn’t too bad for the drivers as they took to the track for their first heat of the evening. Scottish Champion Jonathan Lattka was making his debut for the season having missed last week’s action and the reasons became all too apparent as a simply stunning new Tigra B was rolled out of the transporter for his 2018 challenge. Connar Venters made much of the running in the early stages of the race; but the red tops soon made their presence felt and it was National Champion Siobhan Martin who came through to take the win from local man Darren McAlpine and Scottish Champion Lattka with a satisfying third in his new car.

Heat two was run in possibly the most blizzard-like conditions of the evening; but it still provided some great entertainment and action as blue grader Brian Wilson took his trusty old Nova to victory lane, as he had done numerous times in 2017, with the win ahead of Ricky White and Gary Dean. The feature final saw the track still extremely slippy from the adverse weather conditions; but this did not seem to deter Connar Venters who went on to take a fine victory ahead of fellow yellow-grader Jordan Wright and McAlpine to bring a successful end to another night of Stock Rod racing.

The final formula on show were the Superstox and last week’s exploits saw the car numbers down somewhat and this was not helped when Zak Gilmour’s car had a small fire in the pits on start-up and failed to even make it on to the track at all – a very unfortunate evening for the youngster.

Arguably, it would be the rear-wheel drive Superstox that suffered most in the weather conditions; but the drivers managed to put on some great racing throughout the evening. Heat One saw the first win in his new car for Scottish Champion Bryan Forrest as he stormed to victory on the dry track after the unfortunate disqualification of National Points Champion David Frame for a broken wheel-guard.

Frame went on to underline his speed in heat two as he strolled to victory ahead of World Champion Barry Stephen and Forrest, however, most spectators will go home with the feature final fresh on their minds! The final saw a great race with Frame and Stephen making their way through the field; but it looked like Stephen had perhaps given Frame too much of a lead to mount a decent challenge for victory. However, nobody had told the World Champion that and he pulled out all the stops to get on terms with the back bumper of the Frame machine and managed to push him wide only for Frame to return the favour.

The stadium held its breath as the laps wound down; but Stephen managed to get the telling hit on the Frame bumper to take the lead and remain there for a deserved win with Frame taking second and yellow-top Aaron Riddell getting back to the form that took him up the grades in third.

A fantastic night of action despite the weather.

This Saturday March 24 sees the BIG VAN BANGERS in action at HRP Lochgelly Raceway for the Shaun Walsh memorial Trophy; the 1300 Stock Cars, ProStocks and 2.0 Hot Rods will all be making their 2018 HRP debuts while the Junior Productions will make their second appearance of the season in an event that starts at 5:30pm at HRP Lochgelly Raceway this Saturday March 24.