SUMMER had come to the Cowdenbeath Racewall on Saturday and as a result the stock car racing turned out to be fast and full of excitement, writes our Racewall reporter Jim Turner.

We even had a couple of drivers sunning themselves prior to the start of the meeting after having made sure that their cars were ready for action.

John Galloway had a disastrous meeting in his Prostock Basic, retiring from the first heat before the race had started and then he rolled his car during the second heat. However, the delight on the face of Nicole Russell when she won her first ever race in the Final just said it all!

Steven Burgoyne and Gordon Alexander were the Turner Trophy winners whilst in the Heritage Formula IIs, Ian Johnson won the British Championship and Ross Taylor won the Scottish Open Championship.

There were a couple of new faces in the Formula IIs with Steven McClymont making his first appearance whilst Aidan Scrimgeour was having a run in his son Daniel’s car. Local drivers on track were Craig and Paul Reid (Cowdenbeath) and Kieran Howie (Dunfermline).

The first heat saw Steven Burgoyne go through to win from Euan Millar and Adam Blacklock. In heat two S. Burgoyne made short work of the field going on to win his second race of the night when he led home Millar and Chris Burgoyne. P. Reid was fifth ahead of Howie in eighth in heat one, C. Reid was seventh in heat two.

Pete Davidson led the cars away when the final started with Howie quickly closing him down although he had P. Reid in close order. Howie and Davidson got caught up whilst P. Reid dived through into the lead.

S. Burgoyne was soon through from the back of the red grade to the front and then began to close up on those ahead. Just after the half distance S. Burgoyne moved through into the lead but had his brother Chris now in second but the latter had Millar in close order.

Millar lost ground when C. Reid spun in front of him and had to take avoiding action and in doing so lost ground. S. Burgoyne was well clear of the field as he went on to win from C. Burgoyne and Millar. P. Reid was fifth, Howie seventh and C. Reid ninth.

Reid then went on to win the Grand National from Millar and C. Burgoyne with Howie fifth, S. Burgoyne in seventh place and C. Reid tenth.

Amongst those racing in the ORCi Stock Rods were the British Champion Justin Washer and Adam Daniels whilst Dean McGill and Stuart McKinnon had raced over in Northern Ireland on Friday. Local drivers racing included Stuart McKinnon (Kincardine), Stuart Wedderburn (Leven), Steve Gunby (Cupar), Kris Simpson (Methil), David Rogerson (Methil), Liam McGill (Dysart), Dean McGill (East Wemyss), David Dignan (Leven) and Michael Bethune (Kirkcaldy).

The first race was for the Gordon Ross Memorial Trophy and the grid was a closed one with Jonathan Howe on pole position with Leon Stewart alongside and double winner James Gray on row three, Gray had problems as the grid was being formed and had to replace a distributor cap before the car would run.

When the green flag dropped Stewart made the better of the starts to lead from Howe and Stuart Wedderburn whilst both Michael Bethune and L. McGill had also made good starts and were soon moving through the field. Gray made up a couple of place to appear in second with Bethune moving into third but had Cameron Doak not that far adrift.

Gray was slowly closing in on Stewart but lap13 proved to be unlucky for the leader who was delayed whilst trying to lap back markers and before he could Gray was in the lead. There weren’t many changes after that with Gray going through to make it a hat-trick of wins leading home Stewart, Bethune and L. McGill. D. McGill, Wedderburn and McKinnon were sixth, seventh and eighth respectively.

In the heats which followed L. McGill won the first from Bethune, Gunby and Dignan. McKinnon and Wedderburn finished sixth and seventh.

Heat two went to Bethune from L. McGill and Daniels. D. McGill crossed the line fifth, McKinnon eighth and Wedderburn tenth.

The National Hot Rods were racing in their second World Championship qualifying round with Craig MacLaren back in action.

Heat one saw Gordon Alexander go through to win from Ian Donaldson and Kenny Purdie. Heat two ended with Purdie winning from Alexander and Donaldson.

When the final started Purdie made the better of the start to lead from Alexander and Donaldson and over the next few laps the three of them ran nose to tail with Purdie fending off Alexander’s challenges whilst Donaldson kept watch. Purdie drifted wide as he ran into trouble and that allowed Alexander through into the lead. As the laps dwindled Alexander began to ease away from Donaldson before taking the chequer and winning the Turner trophy with John Sibbald in third spot.

The Prostock Basics had Cameron Archibald and Connor van Dieken making their debuts but there were one or two drivers missing from the ranks for various reasons. There were a good number of locals racing including Megan Wilson (Comrie), Jordan and Graeme Dignan (Leven), Connor van Dieken (Leven) Declan Lindsell (Cowdenbeath), Dougie Anderson (Cowdenbeath) and Callum Rennie (Kinglassie).

Heat one saw Lindsell grab a last lap win over Stephen Graham and David Sher. G. Dignan crossed the line just ahead of Anderson for fourth. After Galloway’s roll, Anderson had to fend off a change from Nicole Russell and Sher in heat two. G. Dignan was just beaten to fifth place this time by Lindsell, while Rennie was eighth and van Dieken tenth.

Graham was soon leading the final but after Ryan Burden was clipped and hit the wall the race was suspended. The field lined up behind Graham and one the race restarted Graham was under pressure from Anderson and Russell. Just before the half distance Russell moved into second and then a lap later she took the lead. Once there she simply drove away from the field to score and easy win – her first – where she led home J. Dignan and Sher. Anderson, Rennie and Wilson were fifth, sixth and seventh respectively while van Dieken came home in ninth spot.

The Heritage Formula II cars made their annual visit to the Racewall with cars from the 60s racing and a few of a later evolution from a basic road car. The drivers had two championship races to decide, the first being their British Championship and then the final was the Open Scottish Championship.

Alan Humphrey got the British underway but he was soon caught by Ian Johnston, Phil Hiles and Ross Taylor. Johnston was soon easing away from the field with Charlie Barnes moving into second but there was a stoppage after a couple of drivers tangled on the top bend. Johnston led the field away and held on to become the British Champion from Taylor and Mark Wareham.

In the heat which followed M. Wareham took a last ditch win over Hiles and Alan Nicholson.

Humphrey led the field away when the Scottish started but soon it was Taylor who led from Hiles and they were clear of the defending champion Barnes. Taylor began to ease away from Hiles but Barnes was to retire and a lap later Hiles was out with an overheating car.

Taylor just drove away from the field to win from Paul Sykes and Phil Hickerton.

This Saturday the 1300 Saloons take top billing as the race in the final of their Gold Roof Series and they will be joined by the 2 Litre Saloons, Prostocks and 2 Litre Bangers. The meeting starts as usual at 6pm.