THERE was plenty of contact during the banger World Cup at the Cowdenbeath Racewall last Saturday night as Jack Foster Jnr came out on top in a destructive race, writes Jim Turner.

Over the night banger driver Scott Paterson’s car rolled after being involved in a three car shunt whilst in the saloons Steve Webster was in a shunt with Luke Grief, and rolled before his car ended up on the boot of Grief’s car!

There were 17 saloon drivers in action with Steve Webster heading up from Sheffield whilst Ryan McGill (Kirkcaldy) was having a run in the hire car. Local drivers in action were Kyle Irvine (Glenrothes), Ross Watters (Leven) and Alex Cunningham (Leven). Barry Glen was the first to show when heat one started but the race was suspended after Cunningham ran into trouble. Glen led on the restart from Watters but Irvine was making up ground and was soon running with the leading group. Despite Irvine moving into second Glen held on but was penalised for an infringement with Irvine getting the win ahead of Webster with Glen dropped to third whilst Watters was fourth.

Glen led the cars away when heat two started but was caught and passed by Watters. Gemma Russell spun and then Ally Strachan and Addison Weir tangled on the top bend.

Watters now had the pack in close order but made a good restart but a couple of laps later Stuart Shevill Jnr was in second place. Irvine and Stuart Drobinski tangled and both retired on the back straight. However, Watters held on to win from Shevill Jnr and Webster whilst McGill was sixth but on the slow down lap Webster and Grief made contact which ended with the Webster car rolling and finishing on top of Grief’s car. Glen made another good start to the final with McGill moving into second whilst a few laps later Irvine was out. Watters began to reel in Glen and at half distance took the lead although Glen held onto his back bumper. Stuart Drobinski broke away from the chasing group to move into third whilst Shevill Jnr and Grief were swapping places on a regular basis.

Watters held on to take his second win of the night crossing the line clear of Glen and Drobinski with McGill in sixth whilst Irvine retired after bouncing off the wall.

There were over 50 Unlimited banger drivers in action including the defending champion Jackson whilst Sheldon Murray was over from Northern Ireland. Whilst there were more Scottish drivers on the grid than usual it was still predominately made up of English drivers.

There were 20 drivers on the grid for the last chance qualifying race where only four cars would be seeded through to the final grid. Neil Naismith was sent spinning a couple of times before he retired.

The banger drivers were paraded to the fans and then the grid was formed and when the green flag dropped Glynn Platts was the first to show and despite getting his car round on the opening lap Dillon tangled with Joe Morgan with the latter spinning and ending up facing the Dillon limo. However, before the dust could settle, Kyle Shires and Joe Barrett joined in soon to be joined by Matty Threlkeld. Mark Whittaker spun out of a good placing and then the defending champion Jackson was on the sidelines. Jon Nicholson pulled out but by now Jack Foster Jnr was ahead and running clear of Platts and Lee Clarke. The field was now depleted after some big hits from the drivers and even during the closing stages there were still drivers being sent spinning. Over the closing laps the drivers were able to get the most out of their cars but Foster Jnr was now clear and won by a good margin from Platts and Clarke. Stanley Wood won the first consolation from Bruce Panton – only two cars finished whilst Clarke won consolation two from Ryan Preston and Platts whilst Lumsden was spun and then clipped as he tried to restart. In one spectacular shunt Paterson and Mark Puddiphatt tangled and headed towards the wall just as Threlkeld appeared on the scene. The contact sent Paterson’s car rolling whilst Puddiphatt’s crumpled under the contact. The drivers scrambled out unhurt and smiling!

Almost right away there was a four car shunt as the cars looked to make up ground with Preston leading but being reeled in by Clarke. Mark Morrison was sent spinning before Threlkeld collected a couple of cars and then was sent spinning. Clarke broke away from the pack to win the final from Brian Youngson and Platts but with some big hits Threlkeld came out on top in the Destruction Derby.

This Saturday the Formula IIs are back in action along with the Lightning rods, minis, micro F2s and the 1300cc saloons. The meeting starts at 6.00pm as usual.