ANOTHER sunny evening for drivers and fans at Cowdenbeath Racewall, on, Saturday, with a rare five formula feast on the track, writes Jack Watson
The BriSCA F2 Stock Cars were racing for the Allan Hastie Cuthill Memorial Trophy, being defended by Steven Burgoyne, while there was also action from the ORCi Stock Rods, Prostock Basics, Prostocks and another set of demonstration runs for the Street Stox.
It was Prostock World Cup Champion, Paul Barron, who literally flew to the top of the headlines after a spectacular roll on the pit bend when he clipped a slowing car, before being collected while upside down! Fortunately, Paul was able to exit the car under his own power before being checked over by the track paramedics.
The BriSCA F2 Stock Car entry included Aaron Vaight, from the North West of England, as well as the first outing in a few weeks from Liam Colaluca, from the North of Scotland.
Colaluca was quickly relieved of the lead by Charlie Folan in the opening heat, but it was Kieran Howie who was making the best progress of the blue tops and Howie hit the front at around half distance.
Mika Millar was hot on his heels but never closed the gap enough to mount a meaningful challenge, as Howie took the win ahead of Millar and Chris Burgoyne.
A four-way battle for the lead developed between Folan, Howie, Millar and Peter Watt, which saw Howie clatter the pit bend wall and forced him into retirement.
A short time later, Rebecca Reid spun on the pit bend and was collected head-on by Colaluca, before the leading group of Millar, Watt and Jason McDonald piled in, bringing out the yellow flags.
S. Burgoyne led the restart and reeled off the remaining laps for a comfortable win, while Millar just pipped Craig Wallace for second place.
Burgoyne led the restart and rebuilt his lead while S. Burgoyne moved into second place ahead of Wallace.
Wallace was an early casualty in the Grand National with a puncture, while the battle for the lead was between Howie and Vaight.
Vaight made his move on the entry to the back straight but their dicing allowed Watt to close in and Vaight found himself moved out wide and down the order on the following corner.
Watt held on to the lead, despite a connection with the inner kerb and moved clear to win ahead of McDonald and S. Burgoyne, while C. Burgoyne was eighth from the lap handicap.
Ross Graham, who had won two races last weekend and was now starting from blue, was second after a dice with Lee Smart, who was third.
Lewis Dickson joined the grid for heat two which was again led by White, before Dickson and Graham took up the running.
The pair ran in close order for a few laps before Graham found a gap on the inside on the pit bend to sneak through for the win. Dickson held on to second and Smart was third.
The final was led for the most part by Lauren Gray, on what was her best outing in the formula to date. Just before the lap boards appeared Graham and Smart made their way through as Graham doubled up for the second week running, earning himself a spot in the star grade for the next meeting.
Gray held on to third behind Smart, for her first silverware in the class.
Heat one didn't last long before the yellow flags were called when Jake Paton spun on the pit bend before being collected by Ellie Ferguson, and then head-on by Scott Turner!
Norman Moore, who was racing a smart new car, led the restart and built an impressive lead en route to his first ever win. Harry Wotherspoon and Calum Nicol completed the top three while the battle for fourth ended in dramatic fashion with Greg Fraser ending the race facing the wrong way on the back straight.
Payne led the restart and went on to collect his first Cowdenbeath win, and Fraser and Moore completed the top three.
Heat three featured another early stoppage - Ryan Geddes, who was making his season debut, bounced off the back straight wall and came to a stop just before the pit bend when he was collected by Ferguson, with Martin Joy and Callum Rennie taking avoiding action.
The final featured all available cars with Calum Nicol building a useful lead from the start. That turned out to be in vain as Wotherspoon glanced off the home straight wall into the path of Terry Curran, with both spinning and the latter being collected by Stewart, bringing out the yellow flags.
Nicol quickly set about rebuilding his lead when the race got back underway only for another caution after Cole McDonald connected with the pit bend wall.
The race ran to its conclusion at the third time of asking with Nicol taking a deserved win ahead of Moore and Fraser.
There was a slightly messy start to the first Prostock heat, which was led by Aarryn Marshall.
Barron was an early spinner at the start of the second heat, this time it was John Mason who relieved Marshall of the lead, while Boyle slowed and dropped to the rear of the pack.
Mason maintained the gap to second-placed K. McNulty and looked set to take the win when Barron clipped the slowing Gilchrist, sending him into a spectacular roll on the pit bend before he was inadvertently collected while on his roof.
Barron was able to get out of the car himself albeit sore and shaken up. The race was declared with Mason the winner, K. McNulty second and Paul McNulty third, with Boyle the only other recorded finisher.
A tough night for Boyle was made worse in the final when a tangle with P. McNulty, at the beginning of the race, forced him into an early retirement. K. McNulty took the lead from Marshall with Mason in close order, and while the gap grew, in the closing stages K. McNulty hit some mechanical gremlins allowing Mason to close back up.
Despite a few nudges and attempts from Mason to move K. McNulty wide, the latter held on to win while P. McNulty and Marshall were the only other finishers.
The Street Stox were back for their second ever outing having been introduced on Easter Saturday.
Gary Doyle was back along with Scott Turner in a Focus, with the first pair of races including Paul Barron who was having some laps in his 1600 Banger.
Doyle led Turner home in the first race, with Marc Thomson joining the grid in a Mini for the remaining two events. Turner was spun from the lead by Doyle in heat two, although Turner recovered to finish second ahead of Thomson. Heat three went the way of Turner, ahead of Thomson and Doyle.
This Saturday it's the first major event of the season with the Unlimited Banger BBA World Cup the headline event.
The Junior Bangers make their second appearance of the year with the Saloon Stock Cars completing the line-up, fresh from their own championship exploits in Northern Ireland.
At Nutts Corner in Northern Ireland, the Saloon Stock Cars were racing for their National and Irish Open Championships. The Scots dominated the heats with Kyle Hegg winning two and Charlie Burgoyne the other, but it was Northern Irishman, Matty, who took the National Championship ahead of World Champion Ryan Santry, and Scottish Champion Graeme Shevill.
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