Smeatharpe Stadium - Saturday 18th June 2011

A chilly evening at Smeatharpe was brightened by some terrific race action from all four formulas on duty.

Saloon Stock Cars

Just shy of 40 Saloon Stock Cars contested five qualifying heats for their National Championship.
Each heat yielded a different winner, with 511 Craig Barnett, 382 Danny Hunt, 18 Jamie Clayton, 219 Luke Grief and 184 Marty Colliver victorious.
Heat five produced some dramatic late action, which ultimately affected the line-up for the title race, with Hunt grabbing pole position during the closing stages.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

Over 50 F2s were present, and their races began with a slightly controversial Young Guns Championship. Just as the grid was formed, down came the rain to soak the track. Drivers quickly dived out of their cars to make settings adjustments, before setting off on the rolling lap. Pole sitter 921 Jack Aldridge was away very quickly, and duly got a black cross. As the race progressed, 768 Tom Adcroft overhauled Aldridge, to take the lead, whilst 797 Dan Moss charged into contention. As the race neared its final stages, a last lap shoot out looked on the cards, and that was how it proved. Aldridge dived at Adcroft and the two cars momentarily tangled. However, as Moss looked to take advantage, he bumped into the tangled duo and spun himself. Aldridge got away first to cross the line, but was docked two places for the premature start, which saw Adcroft elevated to the winner’s circle. 124 Ollie Skeels inherited second and Aldridge was third. The next two heats brought wins for 189 Paul Butcher and 886 Chris Bradbury, and then 290 Jay Tomkins took the consolation, after first over the line 127 Matt Stoneman was docked two places for jumping one of the restarts. In the Dave Wilson Memorial Trophy final, 783 James Rygor made a good early break from the blue grade, and was swiftly in control of the race. 276 Murray Jones kept up the chase in second, but was always some way behind Rygor who won convincingly. 7 Gordon Moodie just pipped Stoneman for third in the closing stages. 438 Mike Rice (white £60), 124 Ollie Skeels (yellow £40) and 990 Paul Rice (blue £30) scooped extra bonuses as first to finish in their grade (beyond the top three in the race). A huge entry of cars gridded for the F2 GN – 42 in total, and Moodie stormed through from the rear of the pack to take the win.

Nissan Sunny Bangers

As ever, the Nissan Sunny Bangers produced a magnificent combination of racing and crashing. In excess of thirty drivers competed in One Sunny Evening, with six drivers earning themselves a Best Presented Award.
The opening heat saw action at both ends of the circuit, and on the back straight, where both 943 Paul Golden and 239 Steve Carter were blasted heavily in separate incidents. 607 Gary Sillfant swept to victory in his first ever race in the National Bangers. Heat two brought a win for 45 Antony Croshaw, but it was Carter who again excelled in the entertainment stakes. Involved in more crashing in the pits bend, Carter somehow managed to limp his crippled car around on three wheels for a number of laps, and he placed eighth. Carter thundered into 146 Daniel Broome in the One Sunny evening final, as part of payback for his second heat trashing, and quite a parking lot formed in the pits bend. Top honours went to 409 Joey Collins, who led home 452 Anthony Sleeman and 451 Nigel Belfield.