AN unseasonally pleasant weekend of weather greeted a huge number of drivers, teams and fans as they gathered in huge numbers for the final HRP Lochgelly Raceway Speed Weekend of 2017 with huge championship implications for the National Micro Bangers and ProStocks, writes Raceway reporter Les Waller.

The National Micro Bangers had gathered in huge numbers once again for their World Cup which has been held at HRP Lochgelly Raceway for the past five seasons and featured drivers from all over the UK, with notable interest from East Anglia as well as the North of England who featured a large contingent from the Gravediggers Banger Team.

The first race was for non-qualifiers and featured around forty cars and set the tone for the rest of the evening with action from the drop of the green flag! England’s Jason Smy came through the chaos to take the first win of the night.

The next race for the Micro Bangers was the main event of the weekend, the World Cup, and the grid made for a spectacular sight with around SEVENTY cars on track in their now traditional three-wide starting grid.

It didn’t take long for the expected chaos to ensue as cars were sent in every direction as the green flag fell. It was difficult to know where to look most of the time with action all over the track but it was another Englishman, Josh Vowden, who came through the carnage and the chaos to be crowned 2017 National Micro Banger World Cup Champion with Northern Irish duo Leonard Dunn and 2017 unlimited Banger World Champion Steven Bolton in third in a race that started with around seventy drivers and finished with only seven cars running!!!

The first all-comers race featured another large entry of cars and the victory went to Lee Kingsnorth, from England, with fellow Englishman, Daz Prestige, claiming the win in the second all-comers race which was the final action of Saturday night.

Sunday produced a great day of action for the Micro Bangers too with their Open Scottish Championship first on the agenda which mustered a grid of over forty cars.

Former Saloon European Champion Georgie Boult Jr took up the running after the expected early lap sorting out and looked odds-on to take a relatively easy win until Jack Ansell got involved from a lap down and this saw a chaotic finish to the race, but Boult managed to get his nose ahead at the finish line to take the title ahead of Lee Kingsnorth and Scotsman Tam Melrose.

The two all-comers races went the way of Kingsnorth and Kenny Stephenson before Michael Gill was the last car running in a spectacular Demolition Derby.

The ProStocks arrived in fantastic numbers for the weekend with a huge contingent from Northern Ireland seeing the entry comfortably into the mid-thirties for their biggest event of the year – the ProStocks World Cup.

The Northern Irish have dominated the major championships for the formula in recent years but hopes were high for a home win as the first of two heats got underway to determine the grid for the main race.

Stephen Boyd is no stranger to victory lane and the Northern Irishman came through to take victory in heat one ahead of Scotland’s Paul Barron and Northern Ireland’s Stephen Haugh. Heat Two was lined up with the cars in the reverse order from heat one but it was another victory for Northern Ireland as Alan Haugh took the win ahead of his compatriots Leonard Dunn (the defending World Cup Champion) and Karl Smyth, but spare a thought for Scotland’s Jason McAlpine who was leading the race by a mile when a throttle issue ended his challenge.

There was a strong Northern Irish flavour to the front end of the grid and it soon became a battle of attrition with several cars falling by the wayside as the laps continued to dwindle with Del McLaughlin leading the way for much of the race with Alan Haugh a few car lengths behind. It looked like a foregone conclusion as McLaughlin took the last lap board with Haugh still seemingly too far behind to mount a challenge, but Haugh gave it everything he had on the last corner and managed to make contact with McLaughlin’s car. This sent both flying towards the safety fence and it looked like Dunn may well sneak through to retain his title but Haugh managed to get the power down and cross the line first ahead of McLaughlin and Dunn with less than a car length separating the top three in a blanket finish – top notch stuff!!!

Sunday’s ProStocks action began with the coveted Christopher Burke Memorial race which was also for the 2017 HRP Gold Cup and the Northern Irish continued their stranglehold as Dan Shannon managed to overhaul Karl Smyth in the closing stages for the win.

The remaining heats of the weekend went the way of Stephen Boyd and Smyth to make six wins out of six races for the Northern Irish – true domination but some incredible action from the ProStocks.

The 1300 Stock Cars were also in attendance for two days of domestic action and it was great to see Lochgelly’s Euan Mathieson showing off the silver roof as National Points Champion.

Euan and brother Andrew certainly livened up the first heat with their antics and both cars required surgery after the race which was won by Craig Haxton. The second heat saw some more great action with the drivers getting stuck in but Sandy Allen held on to take the win ahead of Haxton and Scottish Champion Billy Wilson.

The feature final was another entertaining race with Wilson coming through to take the win from the rear of the grid with Allen and Haxton claiming the two remaining podium spots.

Sunday’s 1300 Stock Car action saw Euan Mathieson and Jock Whyte using each other’s cars while it was also great to see Eddie Corr back on track after a lengthy absence due to a knee operation.

Sandy Allen was enjoying a great weekend and picked up two heat wins to see him elevated to blue grade for the feature final which was won in fine style by Craig Haxton from Billy Wilson and Dean McGill.

The Ninja Karts were also on track this past Sunday at HRP Lochgelly Raceway and, after a whites and yellows win for the ever-improving Demi Ritchie, it was Charlie Hardie who confirmed himself as the 2017 national points Champion with a spectacular hat-trick of victories.

A fantastic weekend of action at HRP Lochgelly Raceway and CHAMPIONSHIP FEVER is set to continue this Saturday October 21 as the Stock Rods contest their Scottish Championship (currently held by Chris Lattka). Lattka will face some stiff competition if he plans to hold on to his title and it promises to be a great night of racing with the Classic Hot Rods, Junior Productions and Ninja Karts also in action PLUS the annual Banger Ramp Rollover event. The action gets underway at HRP Lochgelly Raceway this Saturday from 6pm.