The Madman Writes - 9th May 2009

Tonight is like welcoming back an old friend that you haven’t seen for a while as the Saloons return to the Racewall for the first time in five weeks having been in action all over the place since we last seen them. A lot of Scots have been doing the circuit in particular, Stuart Shevill, who has done more meetings down South then he has at the Racewall this year which should elevate him up the National points. Doing as many meetings as is possible in the formula has its advantages more so than any other formula as many of the big meetings are designated to be World ranking events. The more points you get from them puts you nearer the front in the World final which ultimately is every drivers goal.

With the new grading in operation, things should be a whole lot closer as runaway winners from the start of the season such as Craig Millar and Dean Alexander find themselves with a whole lot of work to do if they are going to try to keep the sequence going. The driver to watch during the month could be Jonathon Lattka who, like brother Chris did last year, has made a slow start in the formula. When you speak to the drivers, it is a lot harder then you think to revert from a front wheel drive Stock Rod to a much heavier and less responsive beast like a Saloon. The formula gets another outing in a couple of weeks time before the big British weekend at the end of the month.

The number of meetings available to do in the Saloons is considerably less that in the F2’s where the 100 meetings in a year mark could well be broken. The road towards being crowned World champion is a lot less arduous with the British drivers only having the 5 scoring rounds from the World qualifying round counting towards the make up of the semi-final grids. The Scots are languishing someway down the order at present but that should all change over the next few weeks as Crimond stages the first of three rounds North of the border tomorrow with Knockhill and the Racewall following over the next few weeks. There could be a few visitors in the formula here tonight as they try to get some valuable points tomorrow afternoon. Mickey Brennan has already made the trek up there last month and it would be unsurprising to see him here tonight. The final is being held at Buxton this year, a track where Mickey has a great record so he has an incentive to do well in the qualifiers.

The third formula on tonight’s programme, Stock Rods, have yet another way of determining the World final qualifiers with drivers from each region being seeded thru to the main event which is being held right here at the Racewall in September. Scotland seems in the healthiest position as far as cars are concerned and are able to produce fields of almost 40 cars a couple of times this year. By contrast, some of the meetings down South has been lucky to produce even half that number. A new name is likely to be on the role of honour as current champion, Glenn Bell, is concentrating his efforts on National Hot Rods where he seems certain to qualify for the World final at Ipswich in July.

Having mentioned last week about Crimond Hot Saloon driver, Lee Duthie, who had to be cut from his car at their meeting a couple of weeks ago, I am pleased to report, having spoken to the chairman, Bill Barrack, that apart from being a bit sore, he is back home with no bones broken. Once again it is credit as to how the unsung heroes who provide such a vital service at stock car stadiums all over the country deal with situations at a moments notice.

Finally, next week sees the debut of a new formula, the first in Scotland for over 10 years, when Lightning Rods grace the track for the first time. The formula is very popular down South and if it takes off as planned then it should be sooner rather than later that international events come North. Start marshal, Graham Alexander, and I were discussing how much that the racing has evolved in Scotland over the years. When I first started watching racing there was only three formulas which raced every week with Bangers once a month. Now we have seven formulas and drivers race all over the country on a regular basis. How times have changed or perhaps it is just that Graham and I are getting old. Until next week, sit back and let the action commence.