IT wasn’t the best of evening’s weather wise at the Cowdenbeath Racewall but on the track the action was red hot at times on Saturday night, writes our Racewall scribe Jim Turner.

The track conditions were wet and slippery although the drivers made light of it using the wall to help get around the bends.

The Formula II ranks were swelled with Paul Dobson having his first run of the season at the Racewall, whilst Daniel Scrimgeour was back from injury whilst in the Ministox Sam Cavanagh and Rachel Kidd were having their first Racewall outings.

The 2 Litre Saloon drivers were in top form as were the Ministox drivers with some nail biting finishes to their races. There were firsts as well with Ethan Doull, Grant Barker and Connor St. Aubyn picking up maiden Racewall wins.

The Formula II races saw two wins for a white grade driver whilst the other two went to Superstars. Amongst those in action were Gregor Turner (Dunfermline) and Paul and Craig Reid (Cowdenbeath) but Turner’s racing was short lived and he retired during the opening heat.

The opening heat saw White grader Alex Gault go charging through to win from Garry Sime and Euan Millar with P. Reid finishing in ninth and just ahead of C. Reid. In heat two the race was suspended after Dobson spun in front of the pack catching out drivers in close order – one being Millar. On the restart Chris Burgoyne went through to win from Gault and Scrimgeour with P. Reid fifth and C. Reid seventh.

Gault went straight into the lead when the final started but almost immediately it was suspended after C. Burgoyne was edged into the wall by Millar, suspending the race. The restart was brief with this time Steven Burgoyne bouncing off the wall whilst Millar spun and needed assistance out of his car. Gault led the cars away and he began to ease from the field until Scrimgeour appeared in second spot.

Slowly Gault’s lead began to dwindle but at the close he was still clear of Scrimgeour with Jason Blacklock in third place whilst P. Reid ended up in fifth place.

Burgoyne went through for an easy Grand National win where he led home Blacklock and Scrimgeour with white grader Gault in fourth place and just ahead of P. Reid.

The 2 Litre Saloon drivers were missing Barry Russell, Tam Rutherford Jnr and Graeme Shevill but Andy Ainslie and Chris Burgoyne were back racing. Local drivers on the grid were Ross Watters (Kennoway), Andrew Mathieson (Lochgelly) and Eck Cunningham (Leven).

The Saloon drivers seemed to be at home on the greasy track and nearly every lap the drivers were banging their cars off the walls on the bends where all the grip was.

Colin Savage was first to show but was to spin out of the lead as Robin Copland led but he lost out to Cunningham the following lap. A couple of laps later Graeme Anderson was the new leader but he pulled out as Stevie Honeyman took over at the front of the pack. On the last bend Ross Watters made a lunge to send the Honeyman into a spin as he powered his way through to win from Burgoyne and a backwards Honeyman who crossed the line just ahead of Cunningham with Mathieson sixth. Heat two was suspended after Anderson was spun and whilst Cunningham led for a few laps he was to lose out to S. Honeyman. Ainslie was sent bouncing off the pit bend wall and retired and whilst S. Honeyman was first home he was penalised for too good a start thus handing the win to Marc Honeyman who led home Cunningham with S. Honeyman third and Watters fourth.

Mathieson was sent spinning on the opening lap of the final with Cunningham taking the lead from Copland but making quick progress was Burgoyne who soon appeared in second. However, when he got off the racing line as he tried to take the lead he spun.

Behind the leader Savage had S. Honeyman and Watters in close order and at one time the cars were three abreast as the negotiated the pit bend. S. Honeyman was on Watters tail but the latter began to pull away and soon caught the leader. As Watters made his bid for the lead Cunningham bounced off the wall and spun as his steering broke allowing Watters through to win from S. Honeyman and Anderson.

There was another good turn out of Ministox drivers with their main race being the RGM Thistle Trophy including Jay Paterson (Saline), Rian Mitchell (Lochgelly) and Scott Allardyce (Anstruther).

After the parade lap the drivers lined up in their graded order with Charlie Faichney and Rachel Kidd leading the field away but there were a couple of early spinners as Kyle Roberts took the lead from Rian Mitchell.

Ryan Borthwick spun but at the half way stage. Mitchell and Jay Paterson had closed the gap whilst making quick progress was Mika Millar. Then the action happened with Paterson moving into the lead only then to lose out to Millar. Paterson though fought back and made a determined bid to retake the lead only to spin allowing Millar to go through to win from Doull and Declan Honeyman with Allardyce sixth.

The first Allcomers race ended with Robbie Hamilton going through to win from Millar and Paterson with Allardyce fifth. Doull then went on to win Allcomers heat two when he led home R. Borthwick, Roberts and Paterson.

There was another good turn out of Micro F2 drivers at the track and despite the difficult conditions the youngster were in good form and adapted to the conditions quickly. There were a few mishaps but quite a few were running as close to the wall as possible to get grip. Local drivers were Connor St. Aubyn (Glenrothes) and Lennon Cuthill (Glenrothes).

David Philp Jnr went through to win the first heat from Archie Grindey and Oliver Heron with Cuthill in tenth place. It looked as if Philp Jnr had heat two in his grasp but he was caught up in a shunt on the main straight and it was Callan Walker who won from Herron and Alfie Smith with St. Aubyn sixth.

Heat three saw Connor St. Aubyn pick up his first Racewall win when he had to fend off Heron’s challenge over most of the race to win with Smith again in third.

Jason Miller was having his first run in the Prostock with Ian Christie (Kirkcaldy) reverting to his old car and Scottish Champion Darren Rae (Lochgelly).

Heat one was won by Craig Murray although it was only during the closing stages of the race that he got through into the lead before winning from John Mason, Christie and Rae. Grant Barker then led heat two from start to finish to win his first ever race from Mason and Sean Devine with Christie fifth.

Barker led the cars away when the final started from Miller but further back Mason was running ahead of Murray, Devine and Christie. It was Christie who began to make up ground and over the next few laps worked his way through into second place.

Barker’s lead began to erode away as Christie began to close but in the end the white top picked up his second win of the night when he led home Christie and Miller.

This Saturday the Formula II drivers have the final of their white/yellow series to contest and are joined in the action by the 2 Litre Saloons. However, taking top billing are the ORCi Stock Rods who have their Scottish Championship up for grabs with James Gray defending. They are also racing for their Michael Hastie Memorial Trophy. The Prostock Basic drivers return in what should be another exciting evening's racing which starts at 6.00pm.