WITH around 100 cars in action across the two days it was a busy schedule of events at Lochgelly Raceway last weekend, writes our Raceway reporter Kevin McQueen.

The mighty National Hot Rods headlined the event as they contested the 2019 DPC Commercials European Championship on the Saturday night. With the weather being far from ideal, there was a worry that the quality of the racing might be under threat, however, that was not to be eventually, Shane Bland made a move and made it stick although Carl Sloan kept him within a car's length for the remainder of the race. Unfortunately, Shane didn’t get the race win that he deserved after falling foul of the race steward, giving the race win to Sloan,.

Heat 2 saw Bland start from near enough the back of the grid. At around the halfway stage in the race, Bland had managed to get through that battle for 2nd place and put chase to catching up with Hylands in the second half of the race. A number of laps passed and Bland had reeled in Hylands in the wet conditions and took a different line to that of Hylands in front of him and managed to get ahead to streak clear for a very well deserved race win.

As the grid formed for the 2019 European Championship it was Jason Kew who had scored the most points across the two heats to claim pole position with Sloan on his outside, Hylands inside row 2, and Aaron Dew outside of him, with reigning champion Bland on the outside of row 6. Kew and Sloan both got away equally well and raced side by side over the first few laps before inside man Kew got his nose in front.

Meanwhile Bland was up into 4th place having passed Adam Hylands and World Champion Billy Wood. Sloan had another attempt at overtaking the Jason Kew Ginetta, this time around the outside line, but Kew was clever enough to make his car as wide as legally possible in order to keep the Sloan car behind him when it mattered.

With the front 2 battling for the lead, Aaron Dew had sneaked up onto the back bumper again of the lead 2 and was quickly challenging for 2nd position; as he made a move on Sloan, Bland caught up with the front 3.

Bland, however, managed to get a bit of space between himself and Sloan and chased down the lead car. The battle was now on for the lead, can the defending champion find away passed the nearly man Jason Kew, or would Kew hold on to win the European Championship? Bland tried to go around the outside of Kew on a number of occasions to no avail, dropped back a bit to have another run at it. Bland looked inside, outside, inside again as he sought a way passed the experienced Kew. It wasn’t to be for Bland, however, as Kew held his nerve and took a fine victory which he celebrated with some donuts before jumping on the roof of his car in delight!

On the Sunday afternoon the National Hot Rods battled it out for the Open Scottish Championship, defended by Kew – Could Kew do what Bland was unable to do the night before and defend the championship he already held?

Things couldn’t have started any better for Jason Kew as he won the opening heat ahead of Gavin Murray. Heat 2 saw Ulstermen dominate proceedings with Adam Hylands, Derek Martin and Glen Bell take the top 3 with Hylands seemingly dominant. The Open Scottish Championship lined up with Hylands on pole position and Jason Kew on his outside. Hylands got the better of the starts as Kew got bogged down and dropped back the places before eventually retiring from the race!

Hylands raced clear of the pack behind him, which had seen Scotsman Robert McDonald make good early race progress, picking up a number of places and into the top 3. McDonald though seemed to lose pace and dropped back a few positions in the 2nd half of the race with Glenn Bell and Derek Martin fighting there way through into 2nd and 3rd positions respectively. Hylands took a relatively comfortable race win in the Open Scottish Championship/Malcolm Chesher Memorial Race, ahead of fellow countrymen, Glenn Bell and Derek Martin.

The Ninja Karts were racing for the National Championship on the Saturday night and with 26 of the UK and Ireland's top drivers on the grid it was sure to be excellent racing.

As the grid was formed for the Championship, it was the two Scottish drivers, Bailey Millar and Charlie Hardie on the front row, with the Partiff brothers on row 2 with top female driver and serious contender, Rachel Kidd just behind. As the green flag dropped it was Bailey Millar who got the best of starts, with Charlie Hardie being overtaken by Josh Partiff.

As the lead drivers caught back markers the racing brains of the youngsters quickly engaged – some went one way whilst others went another way around the back markers and it was this that seen Hardie overcome Josh Partiff to move into 2nd place before a yellow flag came out and brought out the field back together. You could feel the tension in the stadium as Bailey Millar restarted the race just ahead of Charlie Hardie, with Josh and Toby Partiff just behind, with Callum Gould and Rachel Kidd also in contention. Again, Bailey Millar got away well and opened up a small gap to Charlie Hardie.

Hardie managed to close the gap again though and was soon challenging for the lead of the race. Toby Partiff was up into 3rd place with Callum Gould in 4th. As the lap boards came out, Bailey and Charlie were neck and neck, going different ways around back markers as they had a terrific battle for the lead. As the last lap board came out, Charlie Hardie tried to find a gap on the inside of the Bailey Millar kart on turn 1 and 2, but the gap didn’t materialise and seen Hardie spin out of contention and drop down the field. Bailey won the National Championship ahead of Toby Partiff and Callum Gould in what was a truly excellent race. The Sunday action for the Ninja Karts seen the Open Scottish Championship up for grabs, which was being defended by Bailey Millar. The opening race seen Charlie Hardie take the flag ahead of Bailey Millar and Josh Partiff. Heat 2 seen Scottish superstar driver, Rachel Kidd take the win which would put her in a good position on the grid for the Open Scottish later in the evening, whilst heat 3 was won by Callum Gould ahead of Lochgelly based driver Aiden Duffy. The grid was formed, again with Bailey Millar and Charlie Hardie on the front row, albeit the other way around from the Saturday night. Callum Gould and Josh Partiff formed row 2, with Rachel Kidd and again, Bailey got the better of the starts to get ahead of Charlie – Bailey led the way with Hardie in 2nd and Partiff chasing in 3rd, Gould 4th and Max Hobson 5th, all in close succession. The battle for 2nd was intense as the kids manoeuvered excellently around the traffic, inside and then outside, and inside again whilst those behind followed or done the opposite. A coming together between Lewis Linton and Neave McGill saw the yellow flags deployed and the grid closed up behind Bailey Millar. Millar again got away well with Hardie almost being pushed along the home straight by Partiff in his damaged kart. Millar went onto to take the flag and retain the Open Scottish Championship ahead of Hardie and Partiff in what was an excellent race from the kidsWe’re back in action on Friday from 7pm, with the mighty Ministox, 2.0 Hot Rods, Stock Rods and Superstox all in action – join us then for just £10 per adult!!