Shevill celebrating another Scottish Saloon Champs win

It was some meeting with Saloon drivers Kai Gilmour, Cammy Deans and Scott Allardyce all rolling their cars in separate incidents.

The weather was dry but windy for most of the meeting, although there was a shower towards the end at the Cowdenbeath Racewall on Saturday evening, but that didn't deter the fans who turned up to watch another epic Saloon Scottish Championship.

There were 32 cars at the track, including the defending champion, Kennoway's Ross Watters, who was hoping to replicate the recent trend of being able to defend his title. Past holders racing were double winner, Ian McLaughlin, and quadruple champion, Stuart Shevill Jnr.

Having their first outings of the season were Cammy Deans and Kyle Hegg, having his first 2 litre Saloon appearance at the Racewall for many a year.

The practice sessions saw the usual set-up changes but not too many major problems. Stuart Adsley debuted his new Grief chassis and once all the cars had passed the scrutineers, the public draw took place and it was white grader Kalin Bryson who drew pole with Scott Allardyce alongside, whilst past winner, Ian McLaughlin, drew inside row two.

Kai Gilmour starts his roll which saw his race end! (Image: Jim Stark)

The drivers were paraded around the oval before the grid was formed. There was a loud cheer from the fans when the 32 engines fired up. The cars set off in the warm-up lap and then chaos arose when the green flag dropped with Dale Robertson being spun and in a flash Gary Paterson, Andrew Mathieson, Jay Carruthers and Kes Watson were caught up.

Ian McLaughlin led the field around on the next lap but when Kai Gilmour ended up on his roof the race was suspended. Marker tyres were replaced, broken cars removed and the grid was reformed.

Bryson again led but by the end of the lap McLaughlin was in the lead from Bryson and Gemma Russell.

Barry Russell had been spun and restarted in front of McLaughlin and by the time McLaughlin got ahead G. Russell had closed the gap. Making rapid progress was Stuart Shevill Jnr, who had appeared in third and was reeling in the leaders.

He just got ahead of G. Russell when the race was suspended with debris on the track.

The restart saw Shevill Jnr get ahead of McLaughlin to take the lead, only for another stoppage after G. Russell had stopped.  Shevill Jnr made a better restart than McLaughlin but when Kyle Hegg's throttle jammed he hit the wall hard before the car came to rest against a tyre.

Once the race restarted Shevill Jnr eased away before going through to win the Hillend Motors sponsored Scottish Championship, from McLaughlin and the defending champion, Watters.

There was a huge cheer when Shevill Jnr chambered onto his roof to celebrate his fifth Scottish title. The trophies were presented by Eck Rogan and Charlie Jones, son of the late Barry Jones.

The first Allcomers heat didn't last long and when Cammy Deans rolled his car on the main straight the race was suspended.  A few laps after the restart Allardyce rolled on the pit bend with Andy Ainslie hooked on to the underside of his car.

Derek Taylor led with Taylor Borthwick in close order but they were to spin out. In the end Shevill Jnr went on to win from Declan Honeyman and Zak Gilmour.

Allcomers 2 was suspended, when Barry Russell's car stopped on the back straight. Borthwick was the leader but she was brushed aside. There was a race stoppage for the stricken B. Russell car and when the race restarted Kai Gilmour forced his way through into the lead.

Watters and D. Honeyman retired and whilst K. Gilmour was first home he was penalised for an infringement, thus handing the win to Shevill Jnr who was ahead of McLaughlin and the penalised K. Gilmour in third.

Shevill gets in front as he looks for the title. (Image: Jim Stark)
The ORCi Ministox drivers were racing for their RGM Trophy with the drivers being presented with a momentum to mark the occasion.

Rubens Millar led the field away, from Caitlin Mitchell, but Robbie Scott was soon into third. Bailey Millar was closing in on the leading group but he soon had Charlie Hardie closing the gap to him. Scott dived inside of R. Millar to take the lead but whilst Hardie got the better of B. Millar he was being slowly caught by Rhys Kelly.

Then with one lap remaining Rhys Anderson was sent spinning suspending the race. The field lined up behind Scott, who made a good restart to go through to win the RGM Thistle trophy from R. Millar, whilst Kelly just edged out Hardie for third spot.

The first of the Allcomers heats saw Scott pick up his second win of the night, where he led home R. Millar and Hamish Plenderleith.  Allcomers two went to Scott who made it three wins on the trot in his last race prior to his retirement. He led home R. Millar and Kelly.

Also having his last race was Charlie Hardie and he too had a run on the pace car.
Michael Bethune was making his first appearance in the ORCi Stock Rods since his UK Championship win at Skegness.

The main race for them was the Alan Cuthill Trophy with Stuart McKinnon the winner last season.

There was a shunt on the opening lap that left Bailey and Stuart McKinnon, Stewart Paterson and Dylan Smart on the sidelines.

Although David Dignan led on the restart it was James Gray who went on to win from Cammy Doak and Dignan. Dignan then led heat two from start to finish, crossing the finish line just ahead of Doak and S. McKinnon.

Dignan got the Allan Cuthill Memorial Trophy final underway, and led from Chris Chance. The track was slippery due to a light rain shower. Making progress was Doak and he made a break from the star drivers.

As the laps dwindled Dignan came under pressure from Doak and when the former spun Doak took the lead and through to win from Chance with Jamie Dawson grabbing third place. The Cuthill family were on hand to present the trophies.

The Classic Hot Rods were having their first Racewall appearance of the season, with Zak Murdoch having his first run in a Classic at the Racewall. Amongst the others racing was Alfie Joynson, from South of the border.

The opening heat was won by Graeme Callander, who led home Kenny Purdie and John Buchan. Although Adam Low led at the start to heat two it turned out to be a close-run affair with Purdie just fending off Buchan for the win with Low in third.

The final was led by Adam Low but in the end, he had to settle for third place with Purdie winning from Buchan.

This Saturday the Saloons are back in action, along with F2 drivers. The meeting starts at 6.00pm as usual.

 Windygates' Gordon Moodie was racing his Formula II at the Northampton track on Saturday using his Polley built shale car.

Moodie finished as the runner-up in his heat and was the runner-up to Charlie Guinchard in the Steve Green Memorial Trophy final.

Moodie then rounded off a good night's racing with a third place in the Grand National.
The following afternoon Falkirk's Chris Burgoyne drew pole for the European Championship and went through to win, with Moodie in fourth place.

In the heats which followed C.  Burgoyne was the runner-up in his heat, Steven Burgoyne and Moodie both finishing fifth in theirs. In the final Moodie finished in fifth place and was then the runner-up in the Grand National.