IT was another super Saturday at Lochgelly Raceway as the Superstox took centre stage in their battle for the Scottish Championship, writes Raceway scribe Kevin McQueen.

The Superstox saw the grid formed from a pre race draw which saw Steven Ballantine and Aaron Riddell on the front row of the grid, with pre-race favourite Bryan Forrest in the middle of the pack.

As the green flag dropped, Kenny McKenzie soon found himself in the lead of the race having seen the front two cars get pushed wide on the opening lap from the train behind. Barry Stephen, Adam Low, Bryan Forrest and Dean Johnston were in the pack and exchanged blows over a number of laps with Bryan Forrest having a lunge into the pack a few laps into the race and seemed to catch the kerb on entry to the corner, resulting in a coming together with the crash barrier ending Bryan's race.

Kenny McKenzie opened up a bit of a lead and Dean Johnston had settled into second place, with Barry Stephen up into 3rd place chasing the lead cars down. Barry overcome Johnston fairly quickly and was on a chase to catch McKenzie out front, who seemed to slow down around mid way through the race. Barry soon caught up with McKenzie to take the lead of the Scottish Championship and open up a healthy lead up front.

Dean Johnston managed to catch and pass McKenzie to move into 2nd place – an order that would remain the same for the rest of the race, Barry Stephen taking the Scottish Championship for the first time. Dean Johnston was second and Kenny McKenzie finishing in third.

The two additional races for the Superstox again saw plenty of action with Bryan Forrest taking a race win in the first heat in a race that seen Mark Brady and Dean Johnston exchange blows on the last lap with Johnston going in hard to take a 7th place spot, although Brady managed to come back at him to reclaim the place before taking Johnston into the fencing after the chequered flag was out.

Barry Stephen took a win in the 2nd heat for the Superstox in another eventful race, with Bryan Forrest and Adam Low tangling together on the home straight midway through the race with both cars hitting the fencing and coming to a halt with a bit of damage before retiring to the infield. Dean Johnston soon caught Mark Brady and despatched him hard out of the way, with Brady hitting the fence as a result.

Johnston moved up into the lead and again caught a slower moving Brady car, and again, hit him hard as he passed him, with Barry Stephen inheriting the lead as a result. Brady and Johnston almost came to blows as Johnston again caught him before both cars slowed to avoid being the car in front, with Johnston finally going for the overtake although almost lost second place as a result but did enough to hang on in the closing stages! It may be interesting in the coming weeks between the pair, and with the Superstox back in action on Saturday, it could be eventful!!

The Ninja Karts had another excellent field of cars as with a couple of English visitors on the grid with us too. The opening race of the night was for the whites and yellow graded drivers and saw Isla Chisholm take the victory ahead of Eevie Ford and Leeland Dearn; with both cars crashing after the race had been completed.

Saul Galloway made his first outing in the Ninja Kart and took a respectable 10th place in the first race. The first heat of the night seen Kenzie Bell continue his excellent form as he claimed another race win, ahead of Aiden Duffy and Hamish Plenderleith, with recently crowned Scottish Champion Toby Tyson finishing in 4th place. Heat 2 of the evening saw Isla Chisholm take another race win, this time though, with a larger field of karts and surviving a yellow flag after a big accident on the back straight involving Kaitlyn Smart, Declan Dixon and a couple of others.

Cole Ford continued his consistent improvement in the formula as he brought his kart home in 2nd place ahead of English visitor Charlie Soane. The 3rd and final race of the evening for the Ninja Karts seen a first ever win for the ecstatic William Plenderleith. Following a run of bad luck and crashes, William finally seen a change in fortune as he raced his way to the front of the field to claim his first race win in the formula, followed by Dougie Kidd and Kenzie Bell.

The Ministox were in strong numbers likewise – the youngsters showed a lot of great racing throughout the night, with excellent performances from Mirran Adams, Rachel Kidd and newcomer Sam Cavanagh. Mirran led for a large part of the opening race before a yellow flag came out to close the pack up, with Mirran then dropping back the grid and finishing in 10th place.

Aaron Richards continued his impressive form as he took another race win, winning the opening race of the night ahead of nearest challenger in the track points, Taylor Borthwick and Mitchell Gold. The 2nd race of the night seen a number of dockings for drivers jumping a restart, although didn’t impact the race winner. Taylor Borthwick took the win ahead of Aaron Richards, who was docked a couple of places down to fourth, promoting Mitchell Gold up to second and Charlie Hardie into third. The final race of the evening seen former Ministox driver Jay Paterson claim win in the meeting final after an excellent meeting with consistent pace. Aaron Richards and Mitchell Gold completed the top three.

The 2.0 Hot Rods seen Marc Fortune continue his upward spiral in the formula as he claimed another race win – his 3rd race win in as many meetings, before completing and scoring points in the other two races as well.

The opening heat was the race that Marc took victory in, with fellow yellow grade drivers Ryan Mackie and Scott Devine taking the other places in the top three. Heat 2 of the night seen National Points Champion Jim Pitcaithly claim victory ahead of Scott Devine and Ryan Mackie – both drivers having an impressive meeting and making the most of their yellow grade starting positions.

The meeting final saw Jim Pitcaithly and Ryan Mackie on the front row and as the green flag dropped, Mackie so nearly made it in ahead of Pitcaithly, though Pitcaithly held his never and kept his nose on the inside line to claim the lead in the opening laps with Mackie dropping in behind. The National Points Champion opened up a healthy lead in the race and would never be caught – the battle for 2nd though, was a 3-4 car challenge with Mackie, Devine, Fortune and Andrew Denholm battling it out in close contention.

It was Mackie who took second place though, with Devine taking the 3rd place finish in the meeting final.

The Stock Rods battle it out for their Scottish Championship this weekend, with the Superstox, 1300 Stock Cars, CC Rods and Ninja Karts completing the line up – before all eyes turn to the weekend of the 12 and 13th October as we host our biggest ever banger event, with 140 bangers expected to be in attendance across the 2 days of racing. Full information at hardieracepromotions.co.uk