The wet weather did not dampen enthusiasm for the big cartie race in Brechin on Saturday.
Crowds of around 2,500 lined the course through the town centre to watch 69 drivers from 37 teams take part in the race.
The record number of competitors made it officially the largest cartie race in Scotland and many of the carts featured elaborate Halloween-themed designs.
The individually designed carts all had steering mechanisms and brakes but relied on the force of gravity from the town’s steep High Street to navigate a tight bend into Bridge Street before finishing at the town’s Leisure Centre in River Street.
Bill Sturrock, chair of Bravo (Businesses Retailers and Voluntary Organisations) Brechin and clerk of the course, said he was delighted at the support for the event, despite the incessant rain.
He said: “The longer track of 900 metres this year was a huge success. The professional drivers said there weren’t many opportunities for them to take part in real street racing.Click here for a full photo gallery“A few carts needed a push in the flatter section of Bridge Street but we had the fire brigade on hand to help with that. It turned out their cart was one of the ones that needed a push.
“Many of the carts had a Halloween theme and their designs were fantastic. Some of them were exceptionally well engineered and two carts completed the 900-metre course in under a minute.
“Crowds came from throughout Angus and even further afield we had a competitor come all the way from Leeds to take part.
“We were very pleased at the turnout, especially considering the weather and we appreciate everyone who stayed after the race to help with the clean-up operation.”
Although races were due to take place all afternoon, the damp conditions saw an early end to the competition just after 3pm.
The conditions were too wet for a scheduled performance by inline skaters down the track, through Brechin Pipe Band proudly piped down the track before the event got under way.
“By late afternoon the rain was pelting down so heavily, we decided to end the competition early,” explained Bill.
“We had a few incidents of carts going into the bales of hay, which is what they were there for. There were no injuries.
“We had hoped to give each cart four runs of the course but they each got two or three. The weather just wasn’t on our side, unfortunately.”
There were races for juniors aged between 12 and 15 and races for professional and amateur adults.
Paul Janson, a professional from Team Rocket, who were competing in the Scottish Cartie Association’s Championship, achieved the fastest time of the day, completing the course in 58 seconds on his second run.
The top amateur time of 1.08 was achieved by Arthur Gibson of Duncan McIntosh Trailers Racing, closely followed by Stewart Ferguson of Tayside Cycles at 1.10.
George Thomson, 13, from Laurencekirk was the top junior racer at 1.30 and a team of James Allan Hay and Rachel Nathanson won a sidecar competition.
Awards for best Halloween theme cart went to Brian McLaughlin for Grave Mistake, best engineered cart went to Crosshill Flyers and Brechin Fire Station were judged most entertaining team.