OLIVER HERON picked up a Scottish title during another packed night of action at Cowdenbeath Racewall, writes Jim Turner.
He got behind the wheel of a Junior StoxKart and an ORCi Ministox on Saturday, and Heron claimed national glory in the former.
The drivers were greeted with a wet and slippery track after bursts of rain during the afternoon, which caught a couple of them out and sent them spinning in the opening heat of the Junior StoxKart event.
That allowed Sienna Moss to take the initiative, chased by Heron and Rowan Lindsay, but the leader then spun on the main straight.
That handed Heron the advantage but, just as he'd built up a slight gap, a back marker spun in front of him, making him do likewise, which allowed Lindsay to snatch the lead and win, ahead of Harvey Heathcote and Heron.
On a dry track in heat two, Moss initially led, but could do nothing about Heron, who had made short work of making his way through the field.
Once he hit the front, he went on to win from Moss and Alfie Allen.
At the start to heat three, there was a coming together which let Allen take the lead and, once he had, he simply drove away from the pack. Heron made good progress through the field, moving into second and beginning to close, but Allen saw out the win ahead of him and Jake Watson.
The Scottish Championship, however, belonged to Heron, who made light of the conditions and, within a few laps, was ahead and then went on to claim an easy win over Allen and Moss.
There was a good turnout of Senior StoxKarts, although defending champion, Danny Nunn, was missing, and the drivers again found it difficult to find grip.
When the race started, Freya Wilson took the lead, whilst Graham Willett spun. He held the lead for a few laps before Thomas Brighton forged ahead and, once there, he eased away from the pack to record an easy win over Andrew Duddy and Darren Hill.
It started to rain when heat two started and was led off by Wilson. The drivers were searching for grip and, as such, were quite tentative on the bends.
But, after making good progress, Chris Butcher went on to win from Addison Stanney and Mason Cooper.
Heat three saw Brighton win, and again from Stanney and Mark Osborne, before a cracking Scottish Championship race ensued despite the conditions, with Brighton making the break and going through for an easy win from Stanney and Cooper.
There was also a good turnout of Ministox drivers, who raced in a two-thirds format, including Heron and Kerr Paterson, whilst Cole Ford was having his first Racewall outing of the season.
The opening heat proved to be chaotic, with Shaun Boyle spinning and, after being hit by Caiden Abernethy, a group of star drivers appeared with a couple of cars bouncing off the Boyle car.
The race was suspended and the grid reformed. Allardyce led until quarter distance, when Finlay Gemmell took over, before Cole Ford bounced off the wall and spun out.
However, whilst Allardyce held onto second, until the penultimate lap when she was sent spinning, Gemmell went on to win from Mason Howe and Rachel Kidd.
Heat two was run on a wet track with Dougie Kidd Junior leading the field away, and he was soon in a commanding lead. Rubens Millar appeared in second and, once he did, he began to eat into his lead.
Heron was leading the charge from the rear and, towards the end of the race, appeared in third. Millar caught and spun Kidd Junior out of the lead on his way to win. Heron ended up in second, with a recovering Kidd Junior third.
The third heat was every bit as exciting but this time it was Heron who was in charge, and he finally managed to catch the leading group to go through to win. Millar finished in second, with Howe in third place.
When the final started Kidd Junior led, but he then ran into trouble and, whilst Gemmell led the next time round, he was to lose out to Millar.
On a treacherous surface he eased away and, further back, Howe moved into third, whilst Ford was leading the star drivers chase through the field. At the close, Millar was a comfortable winner from Gemmell and Howe.
A decent turnout of Formula IIs included Martin Smith from Alfreton, Kyle Taylor from Kelloe and Jason McDonald from Turriff, whilst Charlie Faichney, from Falkirk, was making his debut.
Taylor was the first to show when heat one started as the drivers searched for grip. Paul Reid and Smith tangled, and retired, and whilst George MacMillan Junior appeared in second, he was soon relegated to third, as Chris Burgoyne moved ahead.
Just before half distance Burgoyne took the lead and went through to win, whilst a late burst of speed saw John Hogg finish as the runner-up, with Taylor in third.
Faichney led the cars away when heat two started, but was to lose out to Lewis Burgoyne. The race was suspended when Faichney and C. Burgoyne tangled on the pit bend. On the restart, L. Burgoyne led but he was to lose out to McDonald. However, as soon as he took the lead, out came the yellow flag after MacMillan Junior crashed out.
It had started to rain and the drivers began to take a different racing line. Steven Burgoyne charged into the lead from C. Burgoyne and it stayed that way to the end, with McDonald third.
The final was led off by Faichney but, within a lap, he had Taylor in close order, but even at this stage it looked like a straight dice between C. Burgoyne and Hogg for the win They made light work of getting into the lead places, and after a few laps, Hogg moved ahead.
Although C. Burgoyne tried to retake the lead, he had to give best allowing Hogg to go through to win. C. Burgoyne held on to the runner-up spot, with Taylor in third spot.
C. Burgoyne made it a hat-trick of wins when he won the Grand National from McDonald and Hogg from his lap handicap.
Meanwhile, at King's Lynn on Saturday, the saloon drivers were contesting their National Championship, with Stuart Shevill defending.
In an action-packed race Ryan Santry went on to win from Timmy Barnes, Shevill Jnr and Ross Watters.
This Saturday, the saloon drivers return to the fold along with the Prostock and Prostock Basic drivers. The Unlimited Banger drivers are back with their last race of the night being a caravan race.
The meeting starts at 6pm.
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