THE weather was diabolical at the Cowdenbeath Racewall on Saturday night with the drivers having to contend with thunder and lightning and at times very heavy rain showers, writes our Racewall scribe Jim Turner.

As a result the track was wet and greasy and the drivers were seen running as close to the wall as possible to find grip.

There was one rollover and that came in the Micro Banger Supreme race when a shunt all but blocked the track and with Stevie Allan trying to find a way through he ended up rolling his car and when it landed on all four wheel just drove away!

There were quite a few sorry looking bangers at the end of the meeting with a few only ready for the scrap yard.

Making a welcome return to the scene was Colin Savage with his 2 Litre Saloon whilst Colin Forbes was back with his Formula II.

There were a couple of visiting drivers to the track coming in the form of Martin Bentley and Dave Waterhouse whilst the local drivers were Craig and Paul Reid (Cowdenbeath).

The track was wet when the first Formula II heat started with Pete Davidson the early leader but when he spun on the pit bend the other drivers had to take avoiding action to miss his stricken car. P. Reid then appeared in the lead but then lost out to Garry Sime.

Liam Rennie had moved into second place but towards the end of the race Sime had to retire this handing the lead to Rennie. Rennie then reeled off the remaining laps to win from Euan Millar and Chris Burgoyne with P. Reid fifth and C. Reid seventh.

Heat two soon had Sime through into the lead but when Steven Burgoyne spun on the pit bend the race was suspended. Not long after the restart P. Reid Daniel Scrimgeour and Emma Mellis tangled on the main straight again suspending it. C. Burgoyne led the field away and went on to win from Rennie and Sime with P. Reid sixth..

Forbes led the field away when the final got underway but he drifted wide and it was P. Reid who led the next time around. Sime was making good and quickly moved into the lead. Rennie got the better of C. Burgoyne and within a few laps appeared in second spot but the latter retired. Rennie tried to close the gap to Sime and whilst it did close Sime was still clear when he crossed the finish line with Millar in third, P Reid was sixth and finished ahead of C. Reid.

For the second week in succession there were 21 Saloon drivers at the track including Savage whilst Ryan Muirhead was back in action. Local drivers were Raymond Dick (Glenrothes), Ross Watters (Leven), Euan and Andrew Mathieson (Lochgelly) and Alex Cunningham (Leven).

Jordan Cassie was the first to show when heat one started with Dick tucked in behind. Barry Glen retired as Ross Forrest caught and passed Dick. James Letford moved into third but had a pack of cars behind and there was some swapping of places over the next few laps. Watters got the better of the exchanges to appear in second but Cassie was still clear and he went through to win from Watters and Graeme Shevill with Dick eighth and E. Mathieson ninth. At the start to heat two Holly Glen, Tam Rutherford Snr and Kevin Letford were spinners as Cassie led. Shevill spun and then a few laps later spun with Savage. However, there was a stoppage after Dick had been shunted into the wall and needed assistance out of his car. Cassis still led but he was sent spinning as Watters went into the lead. Once there he went through to win from Russell, Tam Rutherford Jnr and E. Mathieson.

Glen and Forrest were early spinners when the final started with Dick the initial leader but within a couple of laps E. Mathieson had forced his way into the lead. James Letford was making up ground but he had the red grade drivers catching. E. Mathieson spun out of the lead with J. Letford taking over but P. Honeyman was closing the gap each lap. As the laps decreased so too did the gap between the first three and they were nose to tail at the start to the last lap. J. Letford was still ahead as the cars exited the pit bend but P. Honeyman had the inside line. The charge to the finish line was something else with the Letford car being squeezed against the wall and with both P. Honeyman and Watters spinning across the line he was declared the winner with Dick fifth and E. Mathieson seventh.

There were 19 Micro Banger drivers at the track for their Supreme Championship and the race certainly produced fireworks. Amongst those in action were Gavin Fletcher (Dunfermline) and Lee Clarke (Cowdenbeath).

The race had barely started when Jon Taylor was shunted into the wall on the main straight and this was to prove disastrous to the pack with a few crashing into his car and when Allan appeared there was no way through and his car rolled.

The race was stopped and on the restart Brian Youngson moved into the lead but already cars were dropping out after being caught up in the action. Kieran McKay moved into second and then began to eat into the lead that Youngson had. With the laps dwindling McKay sent Youngson wide to take the lead and on to win. Youngson held on to second with Lee Burden third with Fletcher in seventh place.

Callum Campbell then won the first heat where he led home Sean McConnachie and McKay.

Campbell then made it two wins on the trot when he won Allcomers two from McKay and Lee Burden with the drivers going straight into the Destruction Derby. Campbell and Lee Kopacz set about the Burden car and when Campbell retired Kopacz went on to win although his car was in a sorry state when he was finished with the Burden and Jamie Sangster cars.

Amongst those racing in the Prostocks was Dean McGill (East Wemyss) in the ex-Paul Barron car and he joined Ian Christie (Kirkcaldy) in action.

Lee Kopacz went on to win the opening heat from John Jackson, Robert Hamilton and McGill. In heat two Kopacz again came out on top again from Jackson with McGill third and Christie fourth.

Jackson led the final from start to finish winning from Kopacz and McGill with Christie again in fourth place.

Well that is the first half of the season over and there is a three week break. However, some of the drivers are going to be busy with a World Championship at Ipswich, the UK Speedweekend at Skegness and then European Championships at Northampton.

When the season restarts it promises to be an exciting one starting off the 2 Litre Saloon drivers contesting their Scottish Championship with the Prostock drivers having a European Championship to decide.

The one that everyone wants to see is the Saloon World Championship held on August 17 and the Raymond Gunn Tribute race the following day. The Formula IIs have the Geo Mac 100 on the Saturday and the Chapman trophy on the Sunday.

There are various Scottish Championship to be to try to find then at the end of the season there are the Superbowls and National Series rounds to be run. Don’t miss it!