COMING hot on the heels of the announcement that the ORCi Stock Rod World Final and Ministox British Championships are heading to the Cowdenbeath Racewall in 2020 we learn that the BriSCA Formula I and National Minis are heading north on June 27, writes our Racewall reporter Jim Turner.

The last time the Formula Is headed north there were quite a few Scottish drivers took the chance to book races in hire cars and at one time ex-Saloon driver Lindsay Wilson posted one of the fastest laps in the practice! Will we see Lindsay make a reappearance?

John Fortune will certainly be one of the Scottish drivers to race but Stuart Shevill Jnr didn’t race his car too often last season although he had a couple of outings in his 2 Litre Saloon.

Anyway back to the Stock Rods and they certainly had an exciting season and there was a lot of close and fast racing which augers well for 2020.

The main race at the Racewall was the European Championship and it attracted a big turn out of cars with the home drivers all keyed up to do well.

Amongst those racing was the defending champion Raymond Harper, from Northern Ireland, and the format saw the drivers race in heats with the points scored determining their grid position.

The heats took place on a busy Saturday night programme where James Gray won two of the heats with Lee McGill (Kirkcaldy) and Michael Bethune (Kirkcaldy) the other winners.

On Sunday the Gilmore Engineering sponsored European Championship race was stopped early on when one of the favourites, Gray, was sent crashing into a marker tyre.

Dean McGill (East Wemyss) led on the re-start but then his lead disappeared when there was another stoppage. Harper moved into second then the lead but on the last lap was delayed by a car that slowed him and in doing so the top three bunched up. Dean McGill dived inside on the last bend forcing Harper wide and whilst McGill was first home Stuart McKinnon (Kincardine) capitalised on Harper being wide to cross the line in second spot. However, the eagle eyed steward stepped in penalising McGill a couple of places and as a result McKinnon was declared the European Champion.

The next major Stock Rod championship was their 'Scottish' with James Gray the defending champion. It was a drawn grid with Scott Galbraith on pole with McKinnon alongside. Galbraith led the field away with Lee McGill on his bumper.

A few laps later McGill was leading with Bethune chasing. The track was a bit greasy and towards the end of the race McGill drifted wide and in flash Bethune dived through. The cars touched sending both cars heading to the wall but Bethune managed to break free before going on to win from Gray and John McAllister.

The National and Track points titles were in full swing with the National version going to Dean McGill with Gray just grabbing the track version on the last meeting.

The Stock Rods were added to the last meeting of the season where they raced for their National Championship. Initially the race had been scheduled to have been run at Bristol but had been cancelled. David Philp Jnr was amongst those racing, having been on the sidelines for a few years, and is now a mechanic for his son David Jnr Jnr in the Micro F2s.

The first race of the night for the Simon Laing Memorial with Bethune going straight into the lead but had McKinnon glued to his back bumper. They eased away from the pack and towards the end the dice for the lead got very interesting. McKinnon was able to get alongside Bethune heading up the straights but then lost out on the bends when he tried the inside line. This continued until the last lap when McKinnon managed to get alongside and through into the lead before taking the chequer ahead of Bethune and Liam McGill (Dysart).

The final saw the drivers line up in their points order with McKinnon on pole and Philp Jnr alongside. McKinnon led the field away but had Cameron Doak, Philp Jnr, Bethune and Gray in close order. Doak and Philp locked up and slid into the wall, Bethune was delayed and that let Gray through into second. The race was suspended to allow Doak out of his car and once the track was clear the fight for the lead continued with McKinnon fending off Gray. Try as he might Gray just couldn’t find the line to make a telling pass and McKinnon went through to win the National Championship from Gray and Lee McGill.

The main race for the Stock Rods next year is obviously the World Final with the promotion already making plans for the big day.

The Prostock Basic formula has had another good season and with the formula having been changed to non contact the less experienced drivers could concentrate more on driving. Quite a few of the drivers haven’t even passed their driving test!

With little or no changes allowed to the cars the formula was inexpensive and allowed drivers to get onto the track without forking out a fortune only to find that racing was not for them!

At the start to the season Callum Rennie (Kinglassie) and Jake Mason were two of the newcomers to make an impression and after a few races were picking up some good results and as a result they moved up to the red grade. Jack Robertson was another to show up well and he too began to pick up strong results. Cammy Archibald and John Galloway were others who experienced the good and the bad with some enforced spins robbing them of good results.

It was a formula that attracted females who showed that they were as capable of winning as their male counterparts. Initially Tiffany Mills (Lochgelly), Joanne Hilditch, Nicole Russell and Megan Wilson (Comrie) were racing at the start to the season but towards the end of the season Lauren Ford joined in after retiring from the Minis. Wins went to Russell, Wilson and Ford with Hilditch being pipped at the post in one race.

Mills looked as if she was going to run away with the Scottish Championship but an electrical problem raised its ugly head and she coasted out of the race. The race developed into a dice between Declan Lindsell (Cowdenbeath), Dean Whiteley (Glenrothes) and David Sher with the latter going through for a close win. However, the dreaded post race scrutineering claimed another victim with Lindsell being declared as the winner.

Graeme Dignan (Leven) moved to red and along with Rennie, Robertson and Sher made short work of making their ways though the field to grab a few good results. Mind you Martin Loggie (Methil) and Dougie Anderson (Cowdenbeath) were to make it hard for them at times which saw them foil their attempts to win.

Whilst the hope is that this formula will grow in numbers it will also be hampered with a few drivers wishing to move to the senior formula as their racing experience grows.

From all at the Racewall we wish you all a Merry Christmas!