A GLORIOUS summer’s evening greeted drivers, teams and fans as they gathered this past Saturday in numbers for the latest slice of stock car action at HRP Lochgelly Raceway presented by Hardie Race Promotion, writes our Raceway reporter Les Waller.

A cracking five formula line-up was on offer with a great blend of formulas providing spectacular action throughout the evening.

The Superstox were back in action and it was an absolutely crucial meeting for two reasons. Firstly, the first race would see the destiny of the 2016 Scottish Championship decided, while the meeting was also the last points scoring meeting before their World Championship at HRP Lochgelly Raceway on August 27 and 28.

Over twenty cars rolled into the pits for the Scottish Championship and each driver drew for their grid positions out of the hat. Adam Low and Stuart Bannatyne made up the front row with some very strong contenders behind them in the form of Bryan Forrest, Barry Stephen and David Frame in grid slots 3, 4 and 5 – defending Scottish Champion Stuart Gilchrist would start the defence of his title on the outside of row seven.

The bumpers came into full effect at the drop of the green flag and David Frame moved into the lead in the ex-World Championship winning car of Steven Jackson and looked comfortable until a caution bunched the cars back together.

Gilchrist had made a blistering start and found himself in second place with a lapped car between him and the lead on the restart. Gilchrist whacked Frame wide shortly after the restart on turns three and four and saw that hit paid back with interest on the next corner as Frame lunged at the 177 car eliminating Gilchrist and himself from contention in the process!

Bryan Forrest and Tony Lattka now found themselves at the head of the field with both drivers taking the lead during the ensuing laps but it was Forrest who made the decisive move to a lead that he would hold on to until the chequered flag when he claimed the title of Superstox Scottish Champion with Lattka taking an excellent second place ahead of Chris Miller in third and previous Final winner Dino Bruce in fourth having come from the rear of the grid. The next heat saw Adam low take an excellent win ahead of Miller and Paul Dunn while the last heat of the evening saw Miller underline his excellent evening as he finally took victory in a stop-start season with Allan Gibson and Kenny McKenzie claiming the other podium spots. An incredible evening of Superstox action which sets things up nicely for the World Championship in just over a week’s time.

The Ninja Karts saw some visiting interest in the shape of Toby Tyson, Jade Ellis and Kasey Jones, from England, plus the welcome return of Northern Ireland’s Aaron Ward.

The youngsters got proceedings underway as they always do with their whites and yellows race for those drivers who have not scored as many points as some of their peers. This race provides an opportunity for those drivers to enjoy time on the track without the faster cars bearing down on them and also offers them a great opportunity to take a trophy home. The race was won by Lanarkshire’s Logan Tweedie in great style with the previous whites and yellows winner Methil’s Jase Walle coming home in second place ahead of Thornton’s Jay Carruthers.

The first heat proper saw British Champion Charlie Hardie take the win ahead of points-chasing rival Robbie Armit and European Champion Declan Honeyman. The second heat saw Hardie return to victory lane with Armit again posting a runner-up finish with Ethan Doull maintaining his excellent form in third.

A bent axle in a pile-up put paid to Hardie’s chances of a hat-trick in the last heat of the evening and it was West Lothian’s Robbie Armit who took full advantage to add a race win to his two second place finishes on the night with Doull claiming second and Ratho’s Harry Robertson coming home in third to round off a good night of racing from the tiny terrors.

The ProStocks were back in action for the final time before their British Championship here at HRP Lochgelly Raceway on the weekend of August 27 and 28 and the Scottish drivers were joined by the current European Champion Stephen McCready from Northern Ireland, who was taking the opportunity to dial in his set-up prior to his British Championship challenge.

As with any ProStocks meeting at HRP Lochgelly Raceway; anyone with aspirations of victory must beat Tam Melrose. The Dalkeith driver has been in great form again this year and took victory in the first heat with ease.

The second heat saw Melrose take victory once again as he continued to dominate the event and he went into the feature final looking for an impressive hat-trick to stake his claim as a pre-race favourite for the British Championship.

Melrose sliced his way through the field in impressive style with McCready following him through for second place as the chequered flag fell - Kirkcaldy’s Ian Christie claimed an excellent third place in his new Ford Fiesta which may well be the first in the formula.

The Stock Rods were back in action at HRP Lochgelly Raceway after some of the drivers competed at the National Championship the week before at Hednesford Hills Raceway.

Scottish and National Points Champion Siobhan Martin managed an excellent third place and Chris Lattka came home in fourth in the big race that went to Englishman John Smith.

Back on the domestic front, it was great to see Jock McEwan and Pete Thomson return to the track and, with more drivers to come, an entry in the mid-teens was very encouraging.

Chris Lattka had won the final last time out and showed blistering pace as the Carronshore driver took an excellent win in the first heat after chasing down long-time leader Gary Dean who has been an excellent addition to the formula. The second heat saw Darren McAlpine take full advantage of his downgrading to blue for August as he stormed to victory ahead of Chris Lattka and Jonathan Lattka.

The feature final was another fast-paced race with McAlpine quickly taking up the lead and the Lattka brothers leading the chase to overhaul the Kelty driver. As the laps wound down, McAlpine maintained his lead but the gap was decreasing with every second but he held on long enough to take the chequered flag at the end of the 25-lap race to secure an instant return to red grade ahead of Jonathan Lattka and Chris Lattka to round off a superb night for the Stock Rods.

Five drivers will be heading to Northern Ireland for the British Championship this weekend including Siobhan Martin, Alan Cuthbert, Derek Conner, Jonathan Lattka and Chris Lattka and we wish them well.

The final formula on show was something new for Hardie Race Promotions as three-wheeled mayhem descended on HRP Lochgelly Raceway with the Reliant Robins returning to Scotland for the first time in several years for their Scottish Championship event.

The entry saw more Northern Irishmen and Englishmen on track than Scotsmen but the entertainment was first-class from all drivers with the Scottish Championship race being their first event of the evening. After some incredible rollovers and thrilling action; it was England’s James Ellis who claimed the title of 2016 Scottish Champion ahead of fellow Englishman James Sutcliffe and Northern Ireland’s Steve Bolton. The next heat saw a win for East Anglia’s Roy Gedge with Ian Bolton claiming the final heat of the evening for himself and Northern Ireland.

The Reliant Robins were fantastic and every single driver deserves a huge amount of credit for their efforts to attend this event and to thrill the crowd as only they can – they will be back in 2017!

A great evening of racing and entertainment was enjoyed by the large crowd in attendance. The next slice of stock car action at HRP Lochgelly Raceway comes your way this Saturday August 20th and features 1300 Stock Cars, 2.0 Hot Rods, Ministox, CC Rods and Ninja Karts with the action getting underway at 5:30pm.