It was what you might say “a bit wet” at the Cowdenbeath Racewall on Saturday night with at times driving rain making things a bit difficult for the drivers, writes our Racewall reporter Jim Turner.

Most of the spectators were huddled in the stand but there were a few diehards that braced the conditions and spent the night on the terracing.

Dave Waterhouse and Les Smart brought their Formula II cars up from England for the occasion whilst Ewan Mackie was having his first Racewall outing of the season. Justin Washer was another welcome visitor bringing his Stock Rod up from the South West.

Dennis Middler won the Formula II final whilst Stuart McKinnon won a heat as well as the final in the Stock Rods.

The 1300 Saloons were contesting their second round of the Gold Roof series and it brought twenty drivers to the track with David Rogerson, Robbie Bruce and Jock Whyte having their first outings of the season.

Missing from the Stock Rods was James Gray, who broke his foot last week in his garage, but Scott Galbraith was having his debut whilst John McAllister and Craig Tosh were back,

There were not too many Formula II drivers about with quite a few heading down south to contest two World Championship qualifying rounds at Birmingham, then at Hednesford on Sunday. Local drivers on the grid were the Reid brothers, Paul and Craig from Cowdenbeath

Les Smart won the white/yellow heat where he led home Dave Waterhouse and Ewan Mackie but C. Reid crashed out breaking a half shaft in the process.. The opening heat went to Robbie Dawson who led home Smart and P. Reid. Middler then won the second heat leading home Dawson, Smart and P. then C. Reid.

Smart and C. Reid diced for the lead in the final initially with Waterhouse keeping a watching brief but there was to be no stopping Middler who went through to win from Blair Anderson and Dawson with P. Reid sixth and C. Reid in eighth place.

Daniel Scrimgeour then went on to win the Grand National as he crossed the finish line with Middler second and Dawson third with C. Reid in fourth place.

There was a healthy amount of 1300 Saloon drivers for the second round of their Gold Roof Series and like the other formula struggled to find grip on the wet and greasy track surface. Amongst those racing were Lee Wilson (Comrie), Gary Paterson (Saline), Jock Whyte (Kelty), David Rogerson (Methil), Gordon Myers (Dunfermline), Arron Hastie (Ceres), Scott Lindsell (Cowdenbeath), Callum Sturrock (Saline) and Connor Whyte (Cowdenbeath).

Dougie Ford led the field away when the opening heat started but soon had Sturrock in contention and he took the lead after a few laps. Ford held on though but was to be joined by Lindsell making it a three car dice for the lead.

Lindsell moved inside of Ford and then closed right up onto the tail of Sturrock and whilst he had a few attempts to get ahead it wasn’t until the last lap that he did so going on to win from Sturrock and Ford with Hastie in sixth and Paterson in seventh place.

Ford again was the early leader when heat two started but again was to lose out to Sturrock. Gary Paterson was running towards the front of the pack but was forced off line and dropped a few places as a result. Lindsell was again on the move and he began to reel in the leaders catching Ford and then Sturrock during the closing laps. Lindsell went on to make it two wins on the trot where he again led home Sturrock, Fraser Clark and Hastie with Wilson sixth and Paterson ninth

When the final started Ford was quick off his mark to take the led from Sturrock whilst Wilson was spun out by Peter Low although he soon restarted. Charlie Folan was sent spinning by Hastie but after Rogerson had hit the wall there was small fire in the engine compartment which was quickly extinguished. This brought the race into suspension and when the track was clear Sturrock led the field away from Paterson and Lindsell but the latter was sent spinning on the main straight. This let Fraser Clark into second place and he soon moved into the lead before going through to win from Sturrock, Hastie, Paterson, Lindsell and Wilson, with Myers in ninth place.

There were 16 ORCi Stock Rods at the track but despite the conditions the drivers served up some close and fast racing. Local drivers were Stuart McKinnon (Kincardine), Stuart Wedderburn (Leven), Chris Simpson (Methil), David Dignan (Leven) and Michael Bethune (Kirkcaldy).

The first heat saw newcomer Scott Galbraith lead from start to finish to win from McKinnon, David Kempton, Bethune and Simpson with Dignan in tenth place. Heat two saw McKinnon on a charge and this time he caught Galbraith before going on to win with Kempton in second and Bethune in third with Wedderburn seventh.

When the final started the rain was heavy with Galbraith moving into the lead but McKinnon quickly moved from fourth into second before setting off after the leader. Stuart Wedderburn and Kempton were dicing for third but whilst they were doing so it allowed the others to close up. Bethune managed to get ahead of Leon Stewart, Cameron Doak and John McAllister whilst Martin Rankine was in close order.

During the closing stages of the race McKinnon took the lead whilst Wedderburn was edged wide by Kempton and ended up against the wall. In the end McKinnon made it a double success when he went through to win the Hillfoot Cleaning and Home Assist Final from Galbraith and Bethune with Dignan eighth.

Amongst those in action in the Prostocks was Banger driver Lee Kopacz whilst local drivers were Paul Barron (Cowdenbeath), Ryan Cameron (Methil), Graham Fleming (Kirkcaldy) and Ian Christie (Kirkcaldy),

Finlay Davidson and Kopacz fought over the lead for most of the race but lost out as Robert Hamilton sneaked through to win from Alexander Hamilton and John Mason with Barron fifth and ahead of Fleming and Christie. In heat two Christie took the honours and he was ahead of R. Hamilton and Kopacz at the close with Barron in sixth and ahead of Cameron and Fleming.

When the final started Kopacz led from Davidson but the lead changed hands with the latter leading but only by a small margin. A. Hamilton was making progress finding the traction and began to close on the cars ahead. As the laps dwindled Hamilton moved into second and then during the closing stages got through into the lead before going on to win from Davidson, Kopacz and Barron with Christie in sixth after a spin. .

Next Saturday the Unlimited Banger drivers roll into town for their World Cup meeting.

Defending champion Jack Overy will be out to make it four titles in a row should he appear, but he will face stiff competition from the likes of Jack & Mark Foster from Skegness. World Champion Carl Korszewski and Scottish Open Champion Jak Denikiewicz will also be among the fancied runners whilst the Scottish challenge is set to be led by Callum Campbell and Jon Taylor.

In amongst the pack there is likely to be a few drivers out solely to stop others from winning, including Billy Bond, James Dillon and Stephen van Putten. The Bangers will feature support from the 2 Litre Saloon Stock Cars and the Junior Bangers. The action is set to get underway at approximately 5:30pm.

* Over at Nutts Corner in Northern Ireland on Saturday Adam O’Dell won the Irish Open from Ian McLaughlin (Auchterarder) with Euan Mathieson (Lochgelly) eighth

In the ORCi Stock rods Lee McGill (Kirkcaldy) won the Irish open Championship on Sunday afternoon

At Birmingham on Saturday night the Formula II drivers were contesting a World Championship Qualifying round where Gordon Moodie (Windygates) was eighth in heat one and fourth in the final.

On Sunday Moodie raced at the Hednesford oval where he won his heat and then added a third placed result in the final.