IT was a dry but cold night at Lochgelly Raceway on Saturday but with five good formula on the agenda there was certainly enough action on track to keep the blood flowing!, says our Raceway reporter Kevin McQueen.

The youngsters in the Ninja Karts turned up in great numbers, infact almost 30 of them, and continued to be the formula that leaves the spectators startled at the ability on show from such a young age.

The opening race kicked off with the whites and yellows race for the formula, with 22 karts taking to the track. Lochgelly drivers Lewis Dickson, Aiden Duffy and Lewis Duffy all participated in this race that seen seven debutants in formula including the son of BriSCA F1 driver, Stuart Shevill, aptly named, Stuart Shevill taking to the track.

The race was won by Keiron Kay, with Lewis Dickson finishing 2nd, Aiden Duffy 3rd and debutant in the formula Lewis Linton finishing 4th.

The following races saw the blue and red graded drivers enter things, including World Champion Charlie Hardie and fellow champion, Bailey Millar.

Great racing was had throughout the next three races with the opening race seeing Hardie take the win from Millar and Archie Spiers, then race 3 for saw a similar result with the top 2 the same but with Rachel Kidd in third place.

The final race of the day had a scintillating last few laps with a fantastic battle between Charlie Hardie and Bailey Millar; with a yellow card stoppage. It was Hardie who led the way with Millar right behind him, and it was Millar who got away quickest though and managed to get up the inside of the Hardie car going into turn 1, with them racing wheel to wheel out of turn two and down the back straight, Hardie managed to stay in front narrowly, but was almost undone with a lap to go as a spinning kart caused Hardie to go wide and Millar to take evasive action, opting for the inside of the spun kart, the two karts were again side by side going up the back straight for the final time. It was Hardie though that came out on top, taking the chequered flag by less than a kart's length from Bailey Millar.

It was great racing from the two of them; not just to avoid crashing into each other but for racing so close together for such a duration of time. Third place went to Lewis Duffy.

The CC Rods were in action for the first time in 2019 and seen some good steady racing across the night. There wasn’t much luck though for Kirkcaldy based Brandon Gourlay as he failed to finish any races. Brandon will be hoping for better luck next time out.

Brian Wilson took the win in the opening race by quite some distance from former points champion Ian Donaldson, who was sporting a very nice looking new car that was right on the pace and Paul Muir coming home in third place.

Darren MacDonald took his first race win in the formula in the next heat, racing clear from the pack by quite some distance, Brian Wilson gave chase but to no avail, coming home in second place, with Ian Donaldson third. The final was much the same, Darren MacDonald getting his second win of the evening which will see him move up the grades for the next meeting, with Brian Wilson and Ian Donaldson rounding up the top three.

The Stock Rods saw a reasonable turnout of cars take to the track. The star graded drivers found it difficult to cut through the field resulting in some good close racing for the lower positions throughout the night. Chris Lattka had a much improved meeting in comparison to last week, managing to score a coupe of fourth place finishes in the heats and a second in the meeting final.

The night was all about yellow graded driver, Jamie Bell, however, as he raced away to a hat trick of race wins, which will put him at the top of the track points chart in the early part of the season. Jamie showed great pace, and even starting a bit further back next time out, will be difficult to catch, particularly with a new tyre at his disposal after winning the Mike Dean sponsored final.

Gary Nicholls, or as his name plate said ‘Wee Pies’, was out in the spare Stewart Paterson car and scored two second place finishes in the heats and a third place in the final. Stewart may decide to bring the spare car back out of for himself in the coming weeks given the performance of the car.

The 2l Hot Rods were in action and were in great form. A few newcomers to the formula included Trevor Calvin, Marc Fortune and Ger Wilson, all with a number of years racing experience behind them.

Ryan Mackie, in his new Tigra bodied car for 2019, had it right on the button from the off, racing clear in the opening race to take the win from Gary Black and Kevin Stewart. The second race of the evening for the formula saw Ryan repeat the result of the opening race, with Kevin Stewart and Jim Pitcaithly.

Jim is using a zetec powered car for the 2019 campaign and it seems to be right on the pace this early in the season, although, it was spotted throwing a few flames from the exhaust throughout the night, so there may be a few more tweaks to come from the team to get the car running smoother. The meeting final saw an early spin for both Gerry Hendry and Marc Fortune, both spinning out on the home straight, taking both out of contention for the race win. A few words were exchanged at the end of the race with the drivers; Ryan Mackie retired to the infield in this race with technical problems which destroyed his chance of a hat trick, Kevin Stewart was on hand though to take up the mantle, and drove his car home for a fine win. Jim Pitcaithly finished a close second with Jock Campbell coming home in third.

It was good to see a couple of new and returning drivers on track in the 1300 formula. Newcomer Dean Abercrombie won the opening heat with Craig Oliver second and Eddie Corr third. The second race was an eventful one, with a few happenings going on, including newcomer Michael Courts tangling with a couple of cars on the home straight, resulting in him hitting the infield kerb and taking off into the air.

A few other bumps along the way saw only four cars finish the race, with Eddie Corr, Paul Ford and Cardenden based Danny Whyte completing the top three.

The meeting final was won by Craig Oliver after a good battle with Stuart Farrell. Stuart led the opening laps and quickly pulled away from Craig Oliver.

Craig though, managed to find some extra speed and reeled him back in and passed for the race lead. Stuart Farrell came back though, and was quickly back into the lead of the race, Craig wasn’t finished there though, and took his chance to spin the Farrell car out of contention. Craig held on to take the race win from Eddie Corr and Danny Whyte.

Many thanks to our sponsors, Ringtone Race Painter and MR Coachworks who put up extra sponsorship for the 1300 Stock Cars and CC Rods tonight, whilst the Stock Rods raced for an tyre courtesy of Mike Dean.

Join us at Lochgelly Raceway this coming Saturday from 6pm where the National 2l Bangers are in action, accompanied by Superstox, Ministox, 2l Hot Rods, and ProStocks. Admission cost for this event is just £10 per adult, £5 for 12-15 and concessions, whilst under 12s GO FREE!!! Trackside parking is also available for just £5 extra per car!