Ritchie Takes Hat Trick In Ministox

Race Results: Saturday 15th April

Ministox
Heat 1: 14, 68, 484, 60, 7, 165, 29, 167, 680, 84
Heat 2: 14, 484, 68, 7, 172, 60, 145, 84*, 29, 165
Final: 14, 629, 29, 68, 388, 484, 480, 888, 145, 172

CC Rods
Heat 1: 176, 170, 337, 91, 267, 06, 542, 171, 63, 76
Heat 2: 176, 91, 337, 267, 06, 542, 171, 63, 76
Final: 176, 337, 542, 06, 670, 171, 63, 267, 76

ProStocks
Heat 1: 127, 37, 805, 23, 213, 162, 170, 31, 231, 304
Heat 2: 127, 162, 213, 805, 31, 23, 37, 170, 304
Final: 213, 127, 23, 37, 31, 805, 162, 304, 170, 76

Superstox
Heat 1: 217, 446, 119, 453, 611, 171, 555, 99, 219, 128
Heat 2: 217, 119, 446, 128, 555, 453*, 611, 169, 99, 028
Final: 119, 446, 217, 611, 453, 128, 99, 171, 169

Ritchie Takes Hat Trick In Ministox

Saturday 15th April at Lochgelly Raceway seen some great racing throughout the night, with the Ministox stealing the show with every race being filled with action!

Right from the get-go, the youngsters in the Ministox started off with an eventful first race of the night. 30 cars took to the track, and within the first lap of racing, a complete restart was called for, with 78 Nicole Allardyce finding herself pointing the wrong way on turn 1, and clattered by a couple of other cars including 858 Rhys Anderson. A further race caution would be required, with 136 Shaun Boyle finding himself stricken against the wall mid-way through the race. Northerner, 014 Demi Ritchie would take a commanding victory ahead of 68 Charlie Burgoyne and 484 Dean Heeps. Heat 2 seen a few less cars on track having suffered some damage in heat 1, but this didn’t detract from the race itself, with some brilliant racing going on throughout the race. The drivers charging from the rear were always going to find good point scoring positions difficult to come by given the number of cars, and the competitive nature of the formula. A race caution through the race would be required following the coming together on turn 1, between 45 Dougie Kidd and 629 Kerr Paterson – Kidd seemed to hit oil that had dropped from the 858 car, and went hard into the wall, with a chain reaction following – Kerr Paterson spinning around and into the Dougie Kidd car, and current race leader 480 Ollie Sime spinning to the infield. The race would resume with a few cars retired to the infield, with Demi Ritchie leading the way. Ritchie would hold on to take her second race win of the evening ahead of Dean Heeps and Charlie Burgoyne. The final race of the night for the Ministox would be another great race, with a little less hold ups. Demi Ritchie completed her hat-trick, with up and coming white graded drivers Kerr Paterson and David Philp Jnr both racing excellently to take second and third positions.

The CC Rods were with us for the second week in succession, although car numbers were lower than what we have been used to in the formula, primarily due to a crash last week that seen several cars pretty badly damaged. Gary Nicholls who has only recently returned to action following a lay off for the best part of 2 years, continued his good form. The 176 driver drove superbly to claim victories in all three races, with the meeting final arguably being one of the best races of the season. Despite qualifying pole position for the final, it was Lee Scott 337 that got off to the better of the starts and found himself leading the race with Nicholls dropping in behind. The lead two cars dominated the race, with a few car lengths behind them for much of the race. Nicholls looked the quicker of the 2, but a stubborn and determined Lee Scott drove excellently, holding onto the inside line and forcing Gary to take the outside line. A couple of attempts at the move, and Nicholls would finally make the move stick with the two drivers having spent several laps side by side during the race. Richard Cairns was back on the pace following a disappointing meeting last weekend, and capped his evening off with a third place finish in the final, following the demotion of Gregor Whyte to 4th following a coming together with Kenny Pitcaithly.

The Superstox formula seen their best turnout of the season, with 17 Scottish cars taking to the track for the opening race – There were season debut’s for Dom Currie, Scott Devine and Jordan Black, with Devine having recently acquired the ex Steven Ballentine car. Jack Turbitt has been steadily getting quicker with each passing meeting in his new car, having taken a race win last time out, he excellently followed that up with a further two race wins on Saturday night. It wasn’t all plain sailing however, as in the opening race, Turbitt had to survive a few hits from the cars behind – with Dean Johnston, Aaron Riddell and Kenny McKenzie all in close contention, with the latter trio dropping further back behind Turbitt as they ensued in a battle amongst themselves for second place. Heat 2 seen Turbitt take victory again, with Aaron Riddell unable to close the gap to the leader enough in the closing stages of the race to make a challenge. The meeting final would see the double heat winner move upto the blue grade. Aaron Riddell and Dean Johnston both made good starts to the race, and quick progress and were soon in amongst the blue grade drivers, making their way to the front. Riddell would take victory in the meeting final, opening up his lead at the top of the track points in the process, with Dean Johnston in second and Jack Turbitt rounding out the top three.

The ProStocks seen a decent amount of cars booked in for the first meeting of the season at Lochgelly, although, a couple of no-shows on the night seen the numbers drop down a little. Heat 1 seen a good race with Mark Boyle taking the win, although, Becki Ritchie would see her night curtailed early following a coming together with John Mason which was deemed outwith the rules of the formula. The damage sustained by Mason seen his car retire for the evening likewise. Mark Boyle would go onto take a win in the second race of the night, in his new Corsa D car, finishing ahead of Graeme Flemming. The meeting final would go the way of Gavin Ritchie, who was also sporting a new car for the season, with Boyle finishing second, and Kevin Bell in third.

This weekend at Lochgelly Raceway we have the first speed weekend of 2023 taking place – the DPC Sponsored National Hot Rod European Championship takes centre stage on the Saturday night, although two great days racing are expected with large grids of cars in all formula! Be sure to join us for that one – 5pm start Saturday and 12pm Sunday.

View event laptimes on Speedhive