THE European Prostox Championship had not long started at the Cowdenbeath Racewall when Robert Fawcett crashed heavily into the pit bend wall causing the race to be halted, writes our Racewall reporter, Jim Turner.

With the driver complaining of back pain the emergency services were called to assist him out of his car. Robert was later taken to hospital for a check up.

When the race restarted it was Irish eyes that were smiling with Stephen McCready going through to win.

Gordon Moodie debuted his new formula II RCE chassis and went on to win both the heats as well as the final the 395th of his career!

Although Chris Burgoyne was missing from the formula II action Scott Anderson was having his first outing of the season at the Racewall whilst Jak Marshall and Kyle Taylor were welcome visitors. The local drivers were Gregor Turner (Dunfermline), Paul and Craig Reid (Cowdenbeath), Ryan Walker (Dunfermline) and Gordon Moodie (Windygates).

The first heat was another in the white/yellow challenge series and gridded ten cars. Holly Glen was soon through into the lead from C. Reid and they stayed in the first and second positions until the closing stages. Turner had been steadily moving through the field to lead during the closing stages to win from Glen and Blair Anderson with C. Reid finishing in sixth place.

The opening heat saw Glen go straight into the lead but soon had B. Anderson and Turner closing the gap. Pete Davidson spun then tangled with P. Reid resulting in their cars coming to rest on the exit from the pit bend causing the race to be suspended. On the restart B Anderson led from Turner but Moodie quickly got ahead of John Hogg to move into third and then reeled in the leaders. Once Moodie hit the front he went on to win from Robbie Dawson with John Hogg in third place with Turner finishing in eight and ahead of Walker.

Glen was again the early leader when heat two started from C. Reid whilst B. Anderson was running just ahead of Turner and S. Anderson. However when C. Reid and B. Anderson tangled on the pit bend the race was suspended and whilst Glen led she was overtaken by Turner but Moodie was waiting to pounce. Within a couple of laps Moodie was through into the lead and went on to pick up a second successive win where he led home Dennis Middler and Dawson with Turner in seventh and finishing ahead of Walker and P. Reid.

Glen was again the leader when the final started where she was running ahead of C. Reid and B. Anderson but at the tail of the grid Moodie had made another good start to the race and was soon picking up places. C. Reid dropped back as Turner moved into third but he was being caught quickly by Hogg and Moodie. Moodie made short work on those ahead moving into the lead just after the half distance and once there went on to a comfortable win. Hogg made good progress through the pack and ended up as the runner up although Middler was right on his back bumper as they crossed the finish line with P. Reid eighth and just ahead of Turner and Walker.

The saloons were again in good form in the last meeting prior to their British Championship at the Racewall and attracted a good turn out of drivers. Paul Honeyman appeared in his own repaneled car whilst Stuart Shevill Jnr was back out. Local drivers were Kyle Irvine (Glenrothes), Ross Watters (Leven) and Dave Sturrock (Saline)

Their first race was another white yellow challenge heat with Sturrock the early leader although Jamie Connacher took over at the front on lap 2. However Glen Heeps soon took over and once he hit the front just eased away from the rest of the field to record an easy win. Barry Glen ended up in second place with Scott Mitchell third and Sturrock in eighth place.

The opening heat saw Connacher go straight into the lead from Sturrock with Graeme Anderson leading the yellow grade drivers chase. Irvine was going well and he started to make inroads through the field and during the closing stages took the lead to win from Keith Mitchell and Glen with Sturrock finishing in sixth place.

When heat two started it was Sturrock who was the first to show but Heeps slowed to retire. Anderson moved into second and began to close the gap to the leader. Glen caught and passed Anderson to take the lead but Mitchell was in close order but when he made his bid to take the lead went wide and lost ground. There was to be no stopping Glen though and he went through to win heat two from K. Mitchell and Irvine with Sturrock ninth and Watters in tenth place.

There was a good turn out of prostox drivers for their European Championship with nine drivers heading over from Northern Ireland including Stephen McCready who was having his third outing this year. The local drives in action were Ryan Harrow (Ballingry), Ricky White (Thornton), Callum McIvor (Inverkeithing) and Grady Ross (Lochgelly).

The first heat was a damaging race with Jordan McAlpine going straight into the lead but just after the half distance there was chaos and the race had to be suspended after Leonard Dunn’s car was collected after a spin and hit hard. Although McAlpine led on the restart but was swept aside as Stephen Boyd went through to win from Tam Melrose and James Goldie. Heat two was a bit quieter with Jordan Cassie going through to win from Dunn and Melrose with Ross in seventh place.

The European grid was decided on points scored with Melrose and Cassie sharing the front row with Goldie and Ally McDonald on row 2. However the race was barely a couple of laps old when it was halted after Fawcett crashed heavily with Gary Nicholls, McIvor and Tony Wright all involved.

The race was halted and the emergency services called to help him out of his car. Once this was done the race restarted with Melrose leading from Cassie with Goldie under pressure from McCready, Cassie moved into the lead but the following lap Melrose was back ahead but McCready had closed the gap and now it was a three car dice for the lead. McCready dived inside of Cassie and closed up onto the tail of Melrose. Going into the pit bend McCready sent Melrose wide to take the lead and whilst the latter was running just a couple of car lengths adrift just couldn’t close the gap. McCready reeled off the remaining laps to become the European Champion leading home Melrose and Cassie.

The opening lightning rod race saw Chrissy Dearn Jnr win from Gordon Brown (Leven) and Mark Somerville (Kirkcaldy). In heat two Somerville scored an easy win over Brown and Dearn Jnr.

This weekend is the first of the two day events with British Championships for the saloons and ORCi stock rods whilst the formula IIs have their Scottish Championship to defend. The ministox are racing for their Kier Millar Memorial Trophy.

Chris Burgoyne will be defending his Scottish Championship on Saturday night but will face stiff opposition from Gordon Moodie and if they hit trouble then it could well be a wide open race. The defending saloon champion is Lee Sampson who took the title from Stuart Shevill Jnr who was the winner last time it was held at the Racewall in 2014. It is anticipated that there could be over 40 saloons in action. Likewise with the ORCi stock rods the defending champion is Steven McKane and he will have his work cut out if he wants to retain his title with the World Champion Michael Bethune in good form at present. Both the saloons and stock rods will be qualifying on the Saturday night with their championships on Sunday. On Sunday the saloons will also be racing for their Raymond Gunn Tribute race whilst the ministox have their Mascot trophy and the microf2s will also be in action in what should be a cracking weekend’s racing.

On Saturday it’s a 5.00pm start whilst on Sunday it’s a 1.00pm start.