SURPRISINGLY it turned out to be a dry evening at the Cowdenbeath Racewall last Saturday, and from time to time there was even a blue sky, writes Jim Turner.

Amongst the formula IIs in action was John Broatch as he chases points and looks to move to the red grade whilst the local drivers were Gregor Turner (Dunfermline), Paul Reid (Cowdenbeath) and Gordon Moodie (Windygates).

The opening heat saw Gregor Turner go straight into the lead only to be pipped by Moodie on the last bend and he went through to win. Chris Burgoyne ended up in second from Robbie Dawson with Turner dropped to fourth after a too good a start whilst Reid was in ninth place. In heat two this time Turner made no mistakes and he chalked up a comfortable win over Moodie and Broatch with Reid again in ninth place.

Peter McCallum was the initial leader when the final started but when Jason McDonald was dumped into the wall by the combined efforts of John Hogg and Broatch the race was suspended. The restart proved to be brief, halted after Willie Draeger was shunted wide and crashed into the wall entering the main straight. By this time Moodie was the new leader and he edged away from the field for a comfortable win over Chris Burgoyne and Robbie Dawson with Turner in sixth and Reid in eighth.

Turner led the Grand National from start to finish crossing the finish line clear of Broatch and Burgoyne with Moodie ending up in fifth place after starting with a lap handicap.

There weren’t too many saloon drivers around for various reasons but their racing was dominated by Luke Grief who could well have ended up with a hat trick had he not encountered an exhaust problem and had to retire. Lightning rod driver Gary Nicholls was in the hire car whilst the local drivers were Kyle Irvine (Glenrothes) and Ross Watters (Leven) Heat one saw Grief go through to win from Watters and Willie Mitchell with Irvine in fourth place. In heat two Grief again took the honours getting ahead on the last bend and whilst Barry Glen held onto second spot he sent Alan Ainslie spinning whilst Watters ended up in third with Irvine again in fourth.

The final saw Glen lead from start to finish although at one time Grief was reeling him in. However, his exhaust became noisy and he retired as Glen won from Watters and Irvine.

There was another good turn out of stock rods and there was some close and fast racing. Unfortunately there was some contact which left a few broken cars.

James Matson (Glenrothes) had to repair a drive shaft and only just made the final but within a lap was on the sidelines with another broken drive shaft! Local drivers in action were James Matson (Glenrothes), Lee Smart (Leslie), David and Graeme Dignan (Leven), Stuart McKinnon (Lochore), Ryan Johnston (Cowdenbeath), John Green (Cowdenbeath), Gary Gilfillan (Kelty), Sandy Allen (Methil) and Michael Bethune (Kirkcaldy).

The opening heat saw Bethune end up as the winner from Siobhan Martin with John McAllister third with Johnston in eighth and Smart in tenth place.

However, McAllister had been first home only to be penalised two spots for an infringement. McAllister bounced back to win heat two leading home Green and Gilfillan with Smart in eighth and just ahead of Johnston and G. Dignan..

Green then went on to win the final, despite a race suspension which eliminated the lead he had built up.

However, he made a good restart before going on to win from Smart and Leon Stewart with Bethune in fifth, Gilfillan seventh, Johnston ninth and Allen in tenth place.

Another good turn out of prostox, which included local drivers Ricky White (Thornton), Lee Wilson (Comrie), Jazz Moore (Kelty), Steve Gold (Cowdenbeath), Craig Watson (Methil), Andru Adams (Lochgelly), Kris Walker (Kennoway), Ian Walle Jnr (Glenrothes), Craig Law (Glenrothes), Martin Beveridge (Kirkcaldy), Grady Ross (Lochgelly) and Josh Heeps (Dunfermline)..

The first heat was a destructive one but in the end Tam Melrose came through to win from Ian Taylor, Moore and White. Melrose claimed a narrow win when he sent Richard Cairns wide on the last bend before charging through to win from Cairns and Moore with Walle Jnr in sixth. The field was depleted for the final with Melrose just getting the better of Scott Ramsay on the last bend before winning from Ramsay, Jordan Cassie and White with S. Gold in eighth and Walle Jnr in ninth place..

This Saturday will belong to the National Bangers as they contest their World Cup and hopefully it will live up to expectations. At this stage there are 66 drivers booked in but there might be some casualties prior to the World Cup! The defending champion is “boxer Jack” Jason Jackson, of the Midnight Runners, but look out for James Dillon (Mayfield) turning up with something special as he leads his team into battle The bangers are backed up by the saloons with the meeting starting at 6.00pm as usual.