Lochgelly: Micro Bangers take plaudits at Raceway evening

The night started off with a moment of reflection following the sudden loss of Northern Irish youngster, Jack Morrow, who passed away on Saturday morning, much to the shock of the stock car community.

The Ninja Karts were the first race of the night as the whites and yellows took to the track for some valuable track experience.

Blair Innes has become a bit of a pro when it comes to the whites and yellows race, having picked a few wins in this race during his Ninja Kart career.

Mathew McIntyre led the way early on, in what is his final Ninja Kart appearance, before he got into a good race with Innes, with Innes battling over several laps to make a move on the 529 kart of McIntyre.

Innes would be able to move through into the lead though. A race caution followed a coming together between a few karts, with Riley Stagg spinning around and being collected by the oncoming Christopher Lattka and Ryan Love, with Lattka finding himself squeezed against the armco and up onto two wheels.

Following on from the caution, Innes got away well and took the win ahead of Jamie Balfour, who crossed the line just ahead of McIntyre with Alfie MacLeod next. Jayden McKie and Alix Martin both made their race debuts, whilst Love looked to have found some confidence on track too.

Heat one would see all karts take to the track, with the blues and reds joining the whites and yellows that had already been out, and Jayden Jeffrey took a well deserved race win following a run of quite bad luck.

Jeffrey didn’t get it easy though, with Rory Wilson putting him under sustained pressure for five or six laps, as the karts raced side by side and in and out of back markers.

There was some brilliant driving, with it looking like Wilson had the edge at one stage, but Jeffrey managed to hang on and move back ahead of Wilson on the closing lap, with the latter having to settle for second place.

Heat two of the evening saw another superb race from the youngsters, interrupted by one yellow flag though. A few karts found themselves spun on the exit of turn two, with most able to get away quickly – however, the Alfie McLeod kart had cut out and he was unable to rejoin and was stranded across the track as the yellow flags were called.

As the race got underway, the star graded drivers made inroads and soon found themselves battling for the lead places.

Wilson had moved ahead of the pack, and found himself opening up a gap to the chasing pack behind, as he went on to claim the victory. Behind him though, Henry Hunn and Tommy Melrose both had an excellent race with little between the two throughout, with Melrose closing the gap in the latter laps as Hunn got caught in some traffic.

Hunn held on for second place though, finishing only two-tenths of a second ahead of Melrose.

As the karts came out on track for the meeting final, a brief shower came down, dampening the track and resulting in some greasy conditions.

Early on, a number of karts found themselves spinning around and quickly recovering without any stoppages required.

Rayah Burns, Louie Hendry and Jeffrey were just a few of the drivers to fall foul to the conditions, but all three put in some fantastic drives as they took away some good points.

Jeffrey found himself spinning twice during the race, one after a coming together with Melrose, resulting in a quick 360 and not losing much time, and once more, a little later, as he lost it himself.

That dropped him back a couple of places, though he did still manage a great fifth position finish.

Up front, Wilson drove impeccably as he took his second win of the evening, as he closes the gap at the top of the National Points Charts to within striking distance.

English based drivers Hunn and Harley Flegg took second and third positions, with Melrose being penalised for his contact on Jeffrey.

The CC Rods were at the Raceway for the second week in succession, and with a few drivers unable to attend, it was an opportunity for a few others to step up and look to come away with some hard earned points.

Heat one saw newcomer, Baillie Glencross, make the best possible start to the night as she stormed away at the start and went on to take a commanding race victory.

Heat two didn’t quite go the same way though, as Glencross found herself colliding with the 369 car of Graham Pow, who had previously just had a coming together with John Gorman. A caution was called for with Glencross and Pow stricken on track.

Brian Allen continued to show the good pace he had last week, as he took victory in heat two ahead of Kevin Hutchison and Craig Mason, before the meeting final saw a few cars missing following the damage in heat two.

That gave Gorman the perfect opportunity to race away early on, and go on to take victory, as Allen, Ian Christie and Mason battled behind.

The Stock Rod formula has provided some fantastic racing over the last year or so, with very little between much of the drivers, allowing for some excellent competitive racing. Saturday night was no different, with three different race winners once more.

Raymond Brown has found form once more after a challenging few meetings where he has struggled, and he’ll be delighted to have came away with a victory in the opening heat on Saturday night.

He followed this up with a sixth place finish in heat two, and a retirement in the meeting final.

Teri Linden started off her career in the Stock Rods excellently, late in 2023, but a run of bad luck saw her form dip away.

However, Linden was back to her best on Saturday night, and was arguably one of the drivers of the meeting, coming away with two second place finishes in the heats, and a fifth place finish in the meeting final.

Fraser Anderson looks to have got to grips with the stock rod formula after a mixed season so far. Anderson took away a P3 in the opening heat, where he followed this up in heat two with a victory.

It was a hard fought victory though, as he had a train of cars in close contention not far behind him, led by Linden.

The heats were dominated by the lower-graded drivers, with only Kyle Hutchison being able to break into the top five from the blue or red-graded drivers.

The final was a different affair though, as National Points Champion, Siobhan Martin, put in a sterling drive to claim the victory, despite finishing outside the top 10 in each of the two heats.

This haul of points, with Gary Dean missing, moves her 50 points clear, and now in an uncatchable position as she once more is set to be the HRP National Points Champion.

The National Micro Bangers raced for the first time in 2024 at the Raceway, with it being round one of the Micro Banger World Cup Qualifying Series, where drivers look to stake a claim for a place on the Fife Medical Group World Cup come October.

A decent entry of cars took to the track and set about putting in an entertaining performance from the outset.

Heat one saw a few drivers get stuck in, with Keiran Tweed putting in a big hit midway through the race, ending his evening in the process, however, with some terminal damage to his car.

Jamie Sangster was in the mood too, as he set about spinning multiple cars out as he made his way through the grid. Joss Proctor also put in a few hits throughout the race, whilst taking a few along the way.

Tam Melrose raced his way to the front as he took the win ahead of Sangster and James Slater.

Heat two was another lively affair from the Micro Bangers, with numerous drivers all getting stuck in, and putting in some epic hits, follow ins and entertaining racing.

Sangster once more was moving his way through the pack, getting stuck in, before he found himself stuck onto another car and unable to move free, before being picked up himself in the process.

Dylan Skyes, Grant Barker, Chris Watson and Joss Proctor all got stuck in, with only a handful of cars completing race distance. Melrose once more took the win, with 2023 World Cup winner, Sean McConnachie finishing second and Grant Barker in third.

The meeting final once more saw some more big hits go in. Lee Clarke and Barker got stuck in, whilst McConnachie was in the middle of the action too.

Proctor, Barker and a few others put in numerous hits throughout the race, with Joss and Jake Proctor, Skyes and Chris Watson all actively participating in the DD with some big hits, head-on attempts and ‘killing’ each other’s cars. Fraser Combe joined in later, whilst Dale McCardle plodded round in his first banger event as well.

The Micro Bangers are back at the Raceway on June 29 in round two of their series, in an event which will also see a DD Champion crowned – with an additional wildcard spot available in the World Cup for the overall winner.

This weekend is a two-day special event at Lochgelly, with two British Championships being raced for, in addition to a few Scottish Open Championship events.

The A1 Containers R Us Superstox British Championship takes place on Saturday night, whilst the 2.0 Hot Rods British Championship takes place on Sunday afternoon.