IT was a glorious evening at the Cowdenbeath Racewall on Saturday and on a dry and fast track the stock car drivers served up some exciting racing, writes our Racewall reporter Jim Turner.

Kyle Hegg brought out his new 1300 Saloon whilst Craig Jones made his debut. Gregor Whyte clipped a wall during practice and was then collected by Gordon Myers and missed a couple of races before he had his car repaired.

In the Formula IIs Emma Mellis won her first race at the Racewall, Raffaele Donofrio made his debut whilst Nigel Davies was back after a few seasons' absence.

The Ministox drivers served up four races full of close and exciting racing, whilst in the Micro F2s Zara Hutchinson won her first race leading from start to finish.

Taylor Borthwick won three out of four Ministox races including the Easter Challenge final, whilst there were double successes for Steven Burgoyne, Charlie Folan and David Philp Jnr in their respective formulae.

With there being quite a few Formula II meetings south of the Border there were only 14 drivers at the track with Dave Waterhouse back up from Rochdale, including local drivers Paul & Craig Reid (Cowdenbeath).

It only took a few laps before Emma Mellis was through into the lead during heat one and she went through to win from Liam Rennie and Euan Millar.

C. Reid led home P. Reid in seventh and eighth. In heat two Mellis was again the early leader but this time she was caught by Steven Burgoyne who picked up his first win of the night. Mellis held onto second with Rennie in third. C. Reid finished sixth this time with P. Reid retiring and not making it back on to track.

When the final started Waterhouse was the initial leader but Blair Anderson was spun on the top bend and restarted well down the order. C. Reid was ahead on the second lap but Mellis was closing quickly, going into the lead on lap four.

S. Burgoyne was making light work of the cars ahead of him and just before the half distance took the lead. Euan Millar moved into second a couple of laps later whilst Chris Burgoyne slowed to retire. Up front S. Burgoyne was running clear of the field and he went through to win from Millar and Daniel Scrimgeour. C. Reid ended up in eighth position

Scrimgeour then went on to win the Grand National from Millar and Rennie with C. Reid in sixth spot but S. Burgoyne had to retire.

The 1300 Saloon drivers were in good form and there were quite a few dices going on at the lower end of the field that had the attention of the crowd as drivers moved others over to claim a place.

Local drivers on the grid included Lee Wilson (Comrie), Jeff Cosans (Rosyth), Gary Paterson (Saline), Callum Sturrock (Saline), Kyle Hegg (Glenrothes), Gregor Whyte (Cowdenbeath), Gordon Myers (Dunfermline), Aaron Hastie (Ceres) and Scott Lindsell (Cowdenbeath).

The Young Guns race saw Charlie Folan go through to win from Paterson and Paul Moffat. Lindsell led home Wilson and Sturrock in the battle for fourth.

The first heat saw George Hendry lead the cars away but Moffat was leading after the end of the lap. Folan caught Moffat to take the lead but the latter’s engine blew a few laps later and as a result a few of the drivers were sliding on the oil for a couple of laps. Folan was to be caught by Hegg on the penultimate lap and was then spun as Hegg took his new car to victory from Lindsell and Fraser Clark. Wilson recovered from an early spin to finish seventh ahead of Cosans in tenth. Folan made no mistake in heat two going through to win from Lindsell and Hendry with Hastie the only local driver in the top ten in fifth.

Hendry was the early leader when the final started but Myers was sent crashing into the turnstile bend and out of the race. However, the race was suspended after Hastie’s car stopped entering the pit bend.

On the restart Hendry lost the lead to Hegg who then got pushed wide as Clark dived through into the lead but there was another race suspension when Lindsell crashed out.

Clark made a good restart but had Hegg in close order with the latter never giving the leader a minute’s peace as he tried to get ahead. In the end Clark held on to win from Hegg with Folan in third spot. Cosans brought his car home in fourth ahead of Whyte in seventh and Wilson in ninth after another spin.

The Ministox drivers were racing for their Easter Challenge and the field was split into a two thirds format. Ryan Borthwick, Rian Mitchell and Michael Gordon were having their first outings at the Racewall whilst Mika Millar had just finished his car early afternoon and found one or two teething problems with his car.

Brandon Morton had a disastrous meeting running into troubles with his car and only managed a few laps though out the meeting. Locals Jay Paterson (Saline), Ciaran and Mirran Adams (Lochgelly), Rian Mitchell (Lochgelly), Scott Allardyce (Anstruther), Mitch Gold (Leven), Koddi Wright (Lochgelly) and Jamie Stewart (Glenrothes) were in action.

In the opening heat Taylor Borthwick went on to win from Logan Bruce and Gold whilst C. Adams finished in fifth. In heat two T. Borthwick again made light work of making her way through the field this time winning from Ross Lawrence, Millar and Allardyce with Wright in ninth place. Heat three was led from start to finish by Robbie Armit and he was ahead of C. Adams and Lawrence. Gold came home in fifth, Allardyce sixth and Paterson eighth.

When the final started Armit led Wright away but the race was suspended after Gordon was teeboned on the pit bend and then spun out. On the restart Armit led and then began to ease away from the field with T. Borthwick forcing her way through a busy field and into second spot. The gap to Armit began to diminish lap after lap until T. Borthwick caught and passed him. Further back there were four cars fighting it out for fourth which became second when Armit clipped the wall and had to retire. T. Borthwick was well clear and she went through to win the Easter Challenge from Bruce and Lawrence. Gold finished fifth, C. Adams sixth and Paterson ninth to round out a good night’s racing from the Ministox.

There was another good turnout of Micro F2 drivers with the local drivers being Connor St Aubyn (Glenrothes) and Lennon Cuthill (Glenrothes).

Finlay Gemmell went through to win the opening heat from Chris Davidson Jnr and Aiden Davidson. David Philp Jnr then won the first of his races when he led home Bobby Brandon and Ethan Jack Gemmell, whilst St Aubyn finished in eighth.

Philp Jnr then won the third heat when he led home Isla Chisholm and Davidson Jnr, St Aubyn came home in seventh. Zara Hutchison the led the last of their heats from start to finish to pick up her first win as she led home Philp Jnr and Chisholm.

This Saturday the Formula II drivers have their World Championship Qualifying Round to contest and hopefully there will be a healthy field of cars. Ross Rowe has already booked in and there is likely to be a few more of those who aspire to winning the World Final making an appearance. Gordon Moodie is sitting in fourth place in the points at present and no doubt he will be hoping to propel himself up the order with a good meeting this Saturday. Also in action are the 2 Litre Saloons, the ORCi Stock Rods including new ORCi Champion John McAllister and the Prostock Basics. There will be practice in the afternoon with the meeting starting at 6.00pm.

*The Easter weekend is usually a busy one for the GMR drivers and this year is no exception.

Gordon Moodie (Windygates) was racing at Skegness on Friday with his Formula II where he picked up a win and a second place in the heats and then went through to win the final.

At Northampton the ORCi Stock rods were racing for the ORCi Championship and it ended with a Scottish 1-2-3 where John McAllister (Shotts) led home the defending champion Michael Bethune (Kirkcaldy) and Dean McGill (Dysart) who struggled with a misfire throughout the final.

On Sunday Moodie travelled to Bristol for their World Championship qualifying round where he started well by winning the opening heat but had to retire during the final. Moodie returned for the Grand National where he finished in second place.

Jim Turner