STEVEN Burgoyne had a whale of an Easter in his BriSCA formula II having won two finals in two days, writes our Racewall reporter Jim Turner.

Steven, who has only had four meetings to date, was down at Northampton on Friday where he went on to win a heat and then the Tom Pitcher Final.

He then travelled back up to the Racewall for Saturday’s meeting and promptly won a heat and then the final. Two finals in two days - not bad going for a newcomer!

Craig Wallace was another who took advantage of the meetings South of the Border and he raced at Northampton and Skegness on Friday where he won the Grand National at the latter.

The track at The Racewall was wet and greasy and as a result the drivers had to search for grip which meant getting as close to the wall as possible but the slightest of mistakes meant disaster with the cars spinning as a result of the contact.

Garry Sime was having his first outing of the season in the Formula IIs whilst John Broatch was back up from England.

There was a good turn out of 1300 Saloons with Paul Beaton having a run in Dean McGill’s car whilst Tommy Walls and Craig Millar were having their first run of the season. However, Colin Thomson was scheduled to have a run in the hire car only for it to develop a mechanical failure and he was left to spectate.

In the Prostock Darren Rae and Robert Hamilton fell out with Hamilton sending Rae crashing out in the opening heat only for Rae to even up the score when he sent Hamilton crashing into the pit bend wall during the final.

The National Hot Rod drivers struggled on the wet and greasy track but that didn’t stop Robert McDonald from winning all three races.

The use of the control tyre on the rear outside of the car is now in place in the BriSCA formula IIs and unfortunately the numbers were depleted with a few drivers racing South of the Border. Paul Reid (Cowdenbeath) was the only Fife driver on the grid.

Steven Burgoyne was soon through into the lead during the opening heat but was being caught by Reid. However, as the latter made to move the Burgoyne car off the racing line their bumpers locked together and they coasted out of the race. This let John Hogg through into the lead and through to win from Robbie Dawson and Craig Wallace who squabbled over second place over the latter part of the race. Heat two saw Colin Forbes led the cars away but Burgoyne was quickly through into the lead. Hogg and Reid diced hard for second spot which went the way of Hogg with Reid spinning after the cars touched. Although Hogg closed the gap Burgoyne went through for his first Racewall win and was followed home by Hogg and Reid.

Burgoyne went straight into the lead when the final started from Forbes with Reid the next driver to show.

However next time around Hogg was in second having moved ahead of Reid and Garry Sime in quick order. Burgoyne had made good use of those behind sorting themselves and had built up a useful lead. Forbes and Reid tangled but restarted with Wallace now third but under pressure from Dawson. Hogg began to reel in Burgoyne until they were in close order. Wallace retired after a brush with the wall up front Hogg lost out when passing a back marker allowing Burgoyne to pick up his first Racewall final. Hogg was second with Dawson coming home in third spot but just ahead of Reid.

Hogg had an easy run in the Grand National where he picked up his second win of the night and he led home Sime and Dawson with Burgoyne in sixth place.

There was a good turn out of 1300 Saloons with the debut of Beaton but the planned run of Thomson in the hire car fizzled out when the car developed a mechanical problem. Local drivers in action were Lee Wilson (Comrie), Paul Beaton (Kirkcaldy), Gordon Myers (Dunfermline), James Ellis (Cowdenbeath), Dale Burt (Lochgelly) and Arron Hastie (Ceres).

The opening heat was suspended early on after a shunt but on the restart Hastie led the pack away and was still clear when the chequer fell. However, Hastie was to be penalised two places for a jumped start handing the win to Wilson who was a couple of cars lengths of Grant McGowan as they crossed the finish line. Hastie ended up in third place with Burt in eighth and Myers in tenth spot

The second heat saw Walls lead initially but he was caught then passed by Hastie. Once clear Hastie drove away from the pack to win by a big margin from McGowan, Ellis and Wilson with Beaton seventh.

Walls led the cars away when the final started but Lisa Freebairn was ahead next time around. Walls was sent wide, bounced off the wall and retired as Ellis moved into the lead. Hastie moved into second but had Wilson in close order but McGowan was making light of the conditions and began to make up ground. McGowan caught and passed Wilson but was too far adrift of the cars ahead. Ellis reeled off the remaining laps to pick up his first win of the night from Hastie and McGowan with Wilson in fifth, Beaton seventh, Burt eighth and Myers ninth.

The National Hot Rod drivers were contesting another of their World Championship Qualifying rounds with Robert McDonald, Ian McGuigan and Roy Anderson all casting their eyes on a World Final grid spot in July.

The track was greasy and slippery and there was a slight drizzle falling as they took to the track. Ross McWilliam got the first heat underway but was caught during the closing stages as McDonald went through to win from McGuigan and McWilliam.

Heat two followed a similar pattern with McDonald getting ahead with only a handful of laps remaining to win from Anderson and McWilliam.

McWilliam led the cars away when the final started but further back McDonald was alongside McGuigan and it took him a couple of laps to move ahead. McGuigan was running ahead of Anderson but a couple of car lengths adrift of McDonald. Going into the last quarter of the race McDonald had caught McWilliam but it took him another couple of laps to get ahead. Anderson slid into the wall and retired but McGuigan moved into second spot with only a handful of laps remaining. McDonald reeled off the remaining laps to win the Dechmont Forklift Trucks sponsored final from McGuigan and McWilliam.

There was a healthy turn out of Prostocks and there was certainly some tail out cornering from the drivers. Local drivers on the grid included Graham Watt (Inverkeithing), Graham Fleming (Kirkcaldy), Scott Gordon (Glenrothes), Darren Rae (Lochgelly), Ian Christie (Kirkcaldy) and Paul Barron (Cowdenbeath).

Heat one had not long started than it was suspended after Robert Hamilton sent Rae crashing into the wall on the main straight. On the restart Watt led but Barron closed the gap only to end up bouncing off the wall as he tried to take the lead. Watt held on and he went through to win from Fraser Duncan, John Mason and Christie with Barron finishing in eighth and just ahead of Fleming. Heat two ended up Robert Hamilton going through to win from Barron and Jason McAlpine with watt fifth, Christie seventh and Fleming in tenth place.

Rae sent the Hamilton car crashing into the pit bend wall at the start of the race suspending it to remove the cars from the track. Duncan led the field away on the restart but then lost out to Watt who soon had a useful lead. However, Barron was soon on a charge and during the closing stages of the race the cars were nose to tail. On the last lap Barron tried to spin but as the cars headed for the marker tyres Watt managed to beak loose but Barron lost touch and Watt went on to win from Barron and Duncan with Christie fifth and Fleming in tenth place.

This Saturday the 1300 Saloons take top billing as they start the first of the qualifying rounds in their Gold Roof series, which is sponsored by Wilson Autos and they are joined on the grid by the ORCi Stock Rods, the Prostock Basics and the youngsters in the Ministox and Micro F2s. The meeting starts at 5.45pm.

*On Sunday at Barford, Steven Burgoyne was again in top form going through to win the Silver Line Cup final where he led home Chris Burgoyne and Craig Wallace (Tranent) to make it a hat trick of final wins in three days!