IT was a fantastic Friday at Lochgelly Raceway last weekend as the drivers came out in good numbers to support our first Friday fixture of 2019, writes our Raceway reporter Kevin McQueen.

The Ministox seen 24 cars in action across the evening and as has become the norm, provided an evening of excellent racing.

Right from the 'getgo', the bumpers were flying in, with Jamie Stewart, Jamie Dawson and Ciaran Adams exchanging blows in the opening laps with the three of them racing three abreast at one stage.

Robbie Armit got away quickest and was quickly opening up a large gap to the chasing pack behind him. Lewis Burgoyne was in the action further back as he tackled Jake Wilson for the lower places, with Wilson eventually being spun out by the oncoming Burgoyne car.

Nearer the front of the grid, Kai Gilmour and Rian Mitchell were having a good battle for 2nd and 3rd positions on track, with visiting driver Adam Richards joining in the battle a couple of laps later.

Richards put a big hit onto the Gilmour car, who in turned pushed Mitchell, this opened up a space for Richards to come up the inside and exit the corner three abreast with Mitchell clattering the wall as a result.

Richards came out ahead of the two lower graded drivers and tried to chase down the rampant Robbie Armit out in front. The ongoing battle with Gilmour and Mitchell allowed Jamie Stewart and Ciaran Adams to latch onto it as well and it was then Adams who was doing the pushing from behind, coming up the inside of the three in front of him before the compliment was returned the next lap by Mitchell then pushing Stewart and Adams out wide to regain the place.

Taylor Borthwick had now latched onto the battle as well! Borthwick lent a hand to Mitchell as he put the bumper in on the Jamie Stewart car. This put Stewart into a half spin and allowed Borthwick to come up the inside.

Kai Gilmour eventually spun Ciaran Adams out of contention but dropped back some ground himself in doing so. Meanwhile the battle for the places continued with Rian Mitchell not giving anyone an easy ride – this time it was Scott Allardyce who had fought his way into contention – Mitchell onto Allardyce onto Stewart seen Allardyce and Mitchell come past the Jamie Stewart car, before Rian managed to get back up alongside Allardyce to retake the position just before the chequered flag came out.

Robbie Armit finished 1st ahead of Adam Richards and Taylor Borthwick.

Heat 2 again saw the youngsters get straight to action with Logan Bruce spinning out Michael Gordon in the opening laps of the race. Adam Richards got away well from blue grade and was quickly into the top three places trying to chase down the flying Robbie Armit which ultimately was to no avail as Armit held on to survive a last lap lunge from Richards to take his 2nd race win of the evening.

The meeting final was a lively affair for the Ministox with 20 cars starting the race and only 10 cars completing race distance!!

Ross Lawrence was first in on the act of using the bumper, despatching of the Lewis Burgoyne car before Kai Gilmour got the bumper in on Robbie Armit, spinning Armit on the corner.

Armit’s car was collected by the oncoming Declan Honeyman which seen the Armit car lose a rear wheel bringing out a yellow flag. Upon the restart, Rian Mitchell was back in amongst the battles, with Taylor Borthwick and Jamie Stewart. Lewis Burgoyne had fought his way back up the field and was in no mood to stand by and watch as he muscled his way past Jamie Dawson, spinning the Dawson car onto the infield.

Adam Richards made the journey worthwhile as he went home victorious ahead of Taylor Borthwick and Kai Gilmour.

The 2.0 Hot Rods had another good turnout of cars which included Derek Duff and Chas Bain making there debut in the formula, whilst Brian Wilson got some proper racing time after mechanical problems in his opening meeting.

Dave Leech joined us from England and was a welcome addition to the line up. An early race pile up seen Colin Wotherspoon spin on the exit of turn 2 forcing the cars behind into a bottleneck situation with a number of cars hitting the barrier getting some damage, most notably, Paul Carruthers.

On the restart, Brian Wilson led from the early stages before being reeled in by John Campbell before the Festival Travel owner took the lead mid way through the race. Campbell held onto take race win.

Heat 2 saw Jim Pitcaithly find some speed after a disappointing opening heat, but it wasn’t enough to catch and pass the Brian Wilson car. Brian held onto take his first win of the season in the formula, with Pitcaithly coming home in second place ahead of Englishman Dave Leech.

The meeting final saw a great battle with Brian Wilson, Jock Campbell and a number of others. Wilson and Campbell led the way early stages with Pitcaithly, Leech and Hendry just behind. A few bumps along the way and Brian Wilson spun out of contention, nearly collecting the oncoming traffic as it passed him too. Pitcaithly, Leech and Hendry had a fantastic battle until the end of the race, with Pitcaithly holding on to take the win ahead of Gerry Hendry and Dave Leech.

The Stock Rods were a little down on numbers against previous weeks. Darren McAlpine took advantage of his new starting position to take a good heat win after early pace setter Andy Grant ran into mechanical problems.

Andy Grant made amends in heat two though, as he raced away to a good win ahead of Siobhan Martin and Chris Lattka, after the cars ahead of him – Ian Low and Chris Dearn coming together with both being removed from the race as a result of there actions. The meeting final seen Siobhan Martin and Chris Lattka take the glory, with Darren McAlpine finishing just behind.

The Superstox seen Mark Brady take a double heat win before being elevated up to red grade in the meeting final. There was a first appearance of the season for Lewis Willacy in the 144 machine, whilst Campbell Scott made a return to action after a spell on the sidelines. Bryan Forrest took the meeting final ahead of Mark Brady and Kenny McKenzie.

Racing is back on this coming Saturday with another excellent five formula line up featuring the Ninja Karts, 1300 Stock Cars, CC Rods, 2.0 Hot Rods and ProStocks! Ensure you join us then!