IT was a bit on the wet side on Saturday night at the Cowdenbeath Racewall but despite the conditions the drivers were in good form with the 2 Litre Saloon and Ministox drivers especially getting to grips with the racing line. Mind you they clattered their cars off the bend wall to assist then round the corners, writes Racewall reporter Jim Turner.

The ones that suffered the most were the Classic Hot Rod and the Micro F2 drivers although one or two of the Micro F2 pilots started to get their cars as close to the wall as they could.

Gary Nicholls appeared in the Kenny Purdie Classic Hot Rod and went on to dominate the final, winning the race by a comfortable margin.

In the Formula IIs Antony McAuliffe made his debut whilst the local drivers were Craig Reid (Cowdenbeath) and Ben Fund winner Gordon Moodie (Windygates).

The opening heat saw Liam Rennie fend off Moodie to win the first heat with Euan Millar in third place and Reid in eighth place. Garry Sime then went on to win heat two from Moodie and Rennie with Reid in ninth place.

When the final started Emma Mellis beat Reid away from the line to lead whilst at the rear of the field Moodie made up a couple of places quickly. The British Champion, Chris Burgoyne, was running ahead of his brother Steven but Moodie was soon closing them down. As Moodie made his bid to gain a place he touched wheels with S. Burgoyne and spun, restarting well down the order. C. Burgoyne then moved through into the lead and then went on to win from S. Burgoyne and Sime with Moodie in sixth and Reid tenth.

Burgoyne then won the Grand National from Robbie Dawson and Sime.

There was a good turnout of 2 Litre Saloon drivers with Raymond Dick (Glenrothes) making his first appearance of the season, Kevin Letford was using his own car.

Ross Watters (Leven) and Andrew and Euan Mathieson (Lochgelly) were the other local drivers. Missing were Graeme Shevill and Ian McLaughlin – the latter having damaged his ribs down at Taunton.

The first heat saw Ross Forrest go through to win the opening heat where he led home A. Mathieson and Watters with Dick in seventh. It looked as if Forrest was on his way to a second win during heat two but after a late race stoppage Tam Rutherford Jnr sent him wide before leading the pack home only to be penalised for too good a restart thus handing the win to K. Letford who led home Barry Russell with the penalised Rutherford Jnr dropped to third whilst Watters was seventh after being spun.

Jordan Cassie went straight into the lead when the final started and was still clear when the chequer flag dropped. Brian Hogg Jnr initially slotted into second whilst K. Letford was spun. In quick succession Barry Russell, Barry Glen and A. and E. Mathieson retired with Forrest moving into second place. James Letford was spun but quickly restarted only losing a couple of places. Watters got through into third place as Forrest retired. Cassie went on to win from Rutherford Jnr and Watters with Dick fifth and ahead of A. Mathieson.

The Classic Hot Rods saw Graeme Callender bring his Anglia to the track whilst Gary Nicholls was having a run in the Purdie car whilst the latter recovers from a back injury. The conditions were certainly not conducive to non contact racing but the drivers somehow managed to find grip without using the wall. Local drivers in action were John McFarlane and Keith Chesher – both from Dunfermline and Trevor Harris (Kinglassie).

The opening heat saw Callender go through to win from Matt MacPherson, Nicholls, Harris and Chesher with McFarlane ninth. Callender went on to repeat the result when he romped away to win heat two from Harris and MacPherson, Chesher in sixth and McFarlane eighth.

John Watkins led the field away when the final started but within a couple of laps Harris was through into the lead. MacPherson caught Watkins to claim second but whilst Callender was going well he had Nicholls for close company. MacPherson was to drop to fourth and then a couple of laps later Nicholls forced his way through into second. The gap between Harris and Nicholls quickly disappeared and when the latter took the lead he was able to pull away before going through to win from Callender, MacPherson and Harris with Chesher sixth and McFarlane in ninth place.

Despite a few of the regular drivers racing in the ORCi Championship, at Northampton, there was still a good field of Ministox drivers and they certainly entertained the fans. Local drivers were Jay Paterson (Saline), Jake Wilson (Kelty), Koddi Wright (Lochgelly), Jamie Stewart (Glenrothes) and Mitch Gold (Leven).

The opening heat saw Ryan Borthwick make light of the conditions and a few brushes with the wall to win from Kyle Roberts, Mika Millar and Paterson with Wright in eighth and Gold ninth. Heat two ended with Paterson picking up his maiden Racewall win and he was ahead of Logan Bruce and Borthwick at the close with Gold fifth and Wright seventh.

When the final started Wilson led from Wright and Ethan Doull but Paterson had quickly moved through the yellow graders and began to close on the leaders only to get caught up as he tried to overtake and crashed out.

Borthwick then caught the leaders and within a couple of laps was through into the lead. Borthwick began to pull away but Wilson and Doull began to fight it out for second place for the remainder of the race. With a couple of laps remaining Doull finally managed to get the inside of Wilson to move into second place. Borthwick went on to win his second race of the night with Doull managing to keep ahead of Wilson in what had been an exciting dice with Gold fifth, Wright seventh and Stewart eighth. Wright received the driver of the night trophy.

There were 32 Micro F2 drivers at the track and in wet and greasy conditions the youngsters put on a good display although most struggled to find a racing line without hitting the wall. Local drivers were the Glenrothes duo of Connor St Aubyn and Lennon Cuthill.

The first heat ended with Alfie Smith going through to win from Charlie Burgoyne, Freya Lovett and Cuthill. Heat two had an exciting last bend which saw David Philp Jnr drive around the outside of Joelan Maynard to win with Kyle Rogerson in third spot. Maynard then picked up his first win of the night when he led home Philp Jnr and Ben McLellan with St Aubyn ninth. Their last heat of the night ended with Philp Jnr picking up his second win the night when he led Maynard and Rogerson home with Cuthill in ninth place.

The first of the Speedweekend meetings takes place over the 1st and 2nd June and it promises to be an exciting and action packed two days of racing- see separate report on Page 39.

Topping the bill are the BriSCA Formula IIs, who have their Scottish Championship on Saturday and Challenge Trophy on Sunday the same day as the ORCi Stock Rod European Championship, the Ministox East of Scotland Championship and the Stoxkarts Scottish Championship. The 1300 Saloons are also in action on both days with 30 cars booked in.

Saturday’s meeting starts at 5.00pm with the usual 1.00pm start on Sunday afternoon.

*Gordon Moodie (Windygates) travelled to the Crimond Raceway where he was confronted with a wet track. However, that didn’t deter him and he took his Formula II to wins in both heats and then followed that by winning the meeting final.