Disappointingly, some unexpected poor weather blighted the first day of this year’s Autospeed Speed Weekend at the Racewall, Cowdenbeath, as overcast skies turned to heavy drizzle as the afternoon wore on.

Stock Rods

A full report of the Gilmore Engineering sponsored World Championship for Stock Rods is available on the ORCi Stock Rod website.
Click here to access this report.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

The entry of F2s was slightly disappointing, but in view of the timing – just one week before the World Championship – that was understandable.  In addition to a gathering of home based Scots, NI 747 Bradley McKinstry made the trip across from Northern Ireland, and 282 Ant Riley, 305 Colin Gregg and 24 Jon Palmer each travelled north from England.  Running to a two from three heat format, 7 Gordon Moodie took the opening heat, ahead of 652 Stevie Forster.  The positions were reversed in heat two, as Forster kept sufficiently clear in the lead of a race which saw Palmer crash out heavily in the pits bend.  In heat three, 3 Liam Rennie reeled in 236 Daniel Scrimgeour for victory.  Twenty one drivers assembled for the Mac 100 Trophy final.  922 Peter Davidson spun away his early lead as 71 Alex Gault took up the running.  Scrimgeour was next to hit the front, but only for a short time as Forster took over at the halfway point.  Moodie looked to be making fine progress, as he and 647 Chris Burgoyne made their way up the order.  Indeed, Moodie and Burgoyne got to second and third and were starting to reel in race leader Forster, when Moodie tangled with Gault as they came to lap him.  That opened the door for Burgoyne to move into second, and with four laps remaining, he edged past Forster to hit the front.  Burgoyne went on to win the Mac 100 Trophy for a third time, from Forster and 854 Robbie Dawson.  Gault, Scrimgeour and Forster, as the first white, yellow and blue grade finishers respectively, each won a new race wing for their efforts.  Strong demand from drivers saw a Grand National event added to the programme, and Dawson took the honours in that race.

Saloon Stock Cars

Four qualifying heats of the McGill Motorsport sponsored ORCi Championship were staged, with each driver racing three times; the points scored duly being used to determine the next day’s championship grid.  The track was damp for the first heat, which was led by 400 Ross Forrest, then 38 Barry Glen and 85 Kyle Irvine.  However, defending ORC Champion 349 Michael Allard charged through in the latter stages to win from Irvine and 207 Greg Honeyman.  Heat two was led by 301 Raymond Dick and 224 Andrew Mathieson, until Irvine took over.  Allard was sent spinning in a tangle with Honeyman.  The battle for the lead intensified when Irvine got caught up on the turnstile bend, and that let 171 Adam O’Dell into the lead.  However, he was caught by 399 Cole Atkins who edged past to win from O’Dell and 219 Luke Grief.  At the start of heat three Forrest and 73 James Letford made the early running.  Glen joined them, and then 107 Marc Honeyman added into the mix.  Marc Honeyman made his move and eventually took the lead but Forrest gallantly kept with him and made a thrilling last bend attack which almost paid off.  However, Honeyman held on to win and Forrest spun across the line for second with Letford third.  The fourth and final heat saw 600 Barry Russell make a first appearance of the evening.  Glen forced his way past Mathieson and into the lead.  Behind him, a battle raged involving 730 Deane Mayes, Russell, Allard and 661 Graeme Shevill.  Although Russell made his way into second, he was unable to reel in Glen who not only won the heat, but finished the night as the leading points scorer to earn himself a pole position start in the title race.