Smeatharpe Stadium - Monday 7th May 2012

Although the weather forecast was anything but spring-like a reasonable May Bank Holiday crowd gathered at Autospeed's Smeatharpe HQ. Yes it was COLD, and yes it was, at times, WET - but with National Saloon Stock Cars on the programme the racing was never going to be DULL ! Add to that the annual 'One Sunny Day' outing for the National Bangers, it was certainly going to be an afternoon full of (far) Eastern Promise ! The rising young stars in the Ministox were also on hand to entertain.

Saloon Stock Cars

With a full 24 hours since the running of the English Championship at St Day, several drivers were recovering from either the over indulgence of celebration, the drowning of sorrows for what might have been, or in the case of 512 Darren Barnett just recovering - as the man from Norfolk and his car had a very heavy afternoon at the Cornish track. After the almost perfect racing conditions of Sunday, the wet Devon weather was really going to test the visiting drivers skills and an excellent 32 cars arrived to do just that. As well as almost everyone who raced at United Downs on Sunday, visiting interest was swelled by the arrival of Scottish and National Points Champion 618 Stuart Shevill and fellow Scotsman 620 Aaron Trigg. Thankfully the rain had ceased by the time the cars lined up on track for heat 1 but the conditions were far from ideal. Running to a two-heats-from-three format the line up included new English Champion 120 Shane Brown and runner up 1 Eddie Darby both at the very back of the grid. The race started with spins for 620 Trigg, 460 Cliff Friend and 360 Carl Waterfield, with the latter's car coming to a halt in a dangerous position bringing out the waved yellows and then the red flags for a complete re-start. At the second time of asking the race began and 103 Chris Horwell was the early leader but a problem for 995 Ben Goddard at the end of the main straight brought out the waved yellows once more. Eventually the race did get underway and 103 Horwell it was that drove away at the front but from the back World Champion Darby was picking up from where he left off on Sunday and crashing his way through the pack. 120 Brown took a big hit from 618 Shevill on his way toward the front but managed to regain his composure as 103 Horwell continued to lead. 1 Darby was soon on the 103 car's rear bumper and with 4 laps to run slipped cleanly down the inside on turn 3 to take it up, with 618 Shevill now up into 3rd, just in front of 120 Brown and this is how the positions remained to the chequered flag. Heat 2 had fastest man in pre-meeting practise 402 Shaun Webster among the line-up but the track had dried out a little since then and at the green it was 298 Ian Elms that took the initial lead. 56 Georgie Boult was going well in 2nd until a mechanical problem saw him retire whilst further back 402 Webster was indeed quick and working his way steadily through the field, followed by fellow red 428 Lee Sampson as 298 Elms continued to lead. Someone had dropped oil on the exit of turn 2 and this was catching a lot of the field out and 402 Webster really capitalised on this and as leader 298 Elms encountered a problem on turn 4 Webster it was that took it up with 6 laps left to run. 428 Sampson had been shadowing 402 Webster from the start and followed him into 2nd place, with World Champion Darby moving up into 3rd. On the last lap 1 Darby had closed the gap on 428 Sampson and as the two cars approached turn 3 the World Champion went for the lunge but although contact was made the Kings Lynn man somehow managed to hang on and at the line the two cars were absolutely neck-and-neck, with 298 Sampson getting the benefit by no more than the width of a Rizla paper. A good win then for the Sheffield man, just proving that a night in Newquay the day before was just the tonic he needed after relinquishing his English title ! Another excellent drive too from 1 Eddie Darby. Heat 3 began with 402 Shaun Webster giving brother 401 Steve the hurry up into turn 3 as at the front 103 Chris Horwell began his assault on the lead by moving up to 3rd on lap 2. By lap 4 he was up to 2nd, moving into the lead on lap 6 by passing 672 Simon Paris down the inside at the end of the main straight. Just after half-distance a big incident involving 2nd place man 30 Barry Hollett, 184 Marty Colliver, 512 Darren Barnett, 698 Danny Colliver, 156 Darren Goudy, 65 Ian Willis and 995 Ben Goddard brought out the waved yellows, with 184 Colliver hitting the wall very hard causing some concern. 103 Horwell led away the re-start for the final 4 laps with 428 Sampson once again going well and at the flag it was 103 the winner, from 428 with 120 Shane Brown and 618 Stuart Shevill 3rd and 4th. The track was very wet after another shower of rain for the 'Autospares of Bridgwater' sponsored final, this was obviously going to play into the hands of the wet-weather experts and the race was delayed for a few minutes while the drivers changed tyres. At the green 460 Cliff Friend was an early spinner, joined at the opposite end of the track by 360 Carl Waterfield, as the cars skated round in the slippery conditions, with 995 Ben Goddard and 512 Darren Bennett also joining in the ballet ! 672 Simon Paris though was managing to keep his head and led the pack, while further down the ranks the rain-master himself 402 Shaun Webster was making steady progress from the back as 360 Waterfield spins again on turn 4. Scotsman 620 Aaron Trigg was another spinner, as was 916 Ross Thomas, as 672 Paris gingerly holds on to the lead from 56 Georgie Boult, with 402 Webster creeping ever nearer the leaders. 56 Boult takes over at the front as 360 Waterfield spins yet again, with 428 Lee Sampson now in 2nd and 2 Paul Tuppen soon moving up into 3rd and 156 Darren Goudy up to 4th. At half-distance it is still the impressive young 56 Georgie Boult that leads, from 428 and now 156 Goudy. As the lap boards come out 428 Sampson and 56 Boult are going at it for the lead, with 156 Goudy holding a watching brief in 3rd, with 5 laps to go 428 gets the better of 56 Boult but then 402 Webster arrives on the scene and somehow 428 Sampson gets clobbered on turn 2 and remains stranded against the fence, being passed by 156 Goudy, 402 Webster and 56 Boult, and this is now the order with 3 laps left to run. Last lap and it is still 156 Goudy from wet-weather specialist 402 Webster and as the two star men arrive at turn 3 for the final time Webster just gets his nose down the inside and leans the 156 car out toward the fence on turn 4 and takes the win by the narrowest of margins to win his second Smeatharpe final of the season, from British Champion Goudy, with 56 coming home in an excellent 3rd. Despite the conditions a superb session then from the brilliant saloons - and I know someone who will be praying for rain come August!

National Bangers All Japanese/One Sunny Day

With the format changed slightly this year to allow a few more of the smaller cars from the land-of-the-rising-sun to compete it was always going to be interesting to see what the drivers would choose as their weapon of choice. Several did indeed favour the original Nissan Sunny in various guises but there was also a fair few of the 23 car entry that chose the Nissan Almera - among them gold-roof 162 Brett Ellacott. There were no awards for 'oldest and rarest' simply because there were none (!) but top marks for effort on the preparation front must go to 815 Dan Ainscough, his Almera looking stunning - with the fact that he had travelled all the way down from Preston in Lancashire even more to his credit, especially when some drivers who had booked in from Devon hadn't bothered to even turn up.......... Heat 1 certainly began lively with 284 Leon Benjafield getting picked up by 162 'Bad-Boy' Ellacott and followed-in hard into the turn 4 fence, with team-mate 187 Stu Harrop doing the decent thing and piling into the rear of the 162 car before taking a rear end portion himself from the Honda of 452 Anthony Sleeman. 278 Shaun Brokenshire was the next man on the scene, giving 452 'Lurch' a jacking just as the red flags came out for the driver of the 284 car, probably to remove the rear axle of his car from around his ears ! Several seconds after the flags came out the 123 car piled into the 278 Brokenshire machine, much to the disgust of the driver and the meeting steward who promptly loaded him. 14 cars made the re-start and 162 Ellacott carried on very much as he had left off before the stoppage, with a rear puncture the only obvious damage from the earlier follow-in as he spun 333 Craig Partridge before giving a stiff jacking to 844 Mark Clarke. Autospeed Banger star 246 Ryan Sparks went on to win what turned into a bit of a roddy second half to the race after the mayhem at the start. 17 starters lined up for heat 2, including lone 'Team Toilet' man 69 Tommy Meaker who, for reasons best known to himself races under the nick-name of 'The Toucher'......but he got demolished on turn 2 early doors before he had the chance to interfere with anyone. At the green there was a big pile-up on turn 1 involving 74 Adam Hitchcock, 45 'Lips', 511 Dan Crosbie, 246 Sparks, 310 Luke Woolway and 110 Derek Tyler, with 511 Crosby setting off again and spinning 246 Sparks once more. The race then went quite roddy until the final stages when 815 Ainscough, who had been going very well indeed toward the front, picked up 511 Crosby and piled him in flat-out into the dead 310 car of Woolway on turn 3. 133 Terry Hill took the win in a very smart Almera, with the similar cars of 141 Toby Tiddy and 162 Ellacott 2nd and 3rd. 15 cars made it out for the final, with a further shower of rain making the raceway extremely slippery. 162 Ellacott started things off by giving 311 Simon Rogers a stiff one up the back on turn 4, with 50 Neil Rogers giving 841 Tom Perkins a similar portion on turn 3. Meanwhile 45 Anthony Croshaw is doing the laps at the front as 841 Perkins pays back 50 Rogers by slamming him hard into the fence on turn 2, as 511 Crosbie puts 246 Sparks in. That was it as regards the action and 45 'Lips' went on to win his second National Banger final in as many meetings at Smeatharpe, with 278 Shaun Brokenshire coming home in 2nd and that man 162 Ellacott 3rd, after a tame race by his standards. A surprising 12 cars came out for the DD, including the still straight cars of 815 Ainscough and 133 Hill. After the initial exchanges, which included 815 and 133 having a big coming together and 841 Tom Perkins having a stonking head-on with 162 Ellacott - and then waving the 'Bad-Boy' in for further punishment - it came down to a straight fight between the lively 511 Crosbie and the ever-present danger that is 162 Ellacott. After exchanging blows it was surprisingly the 162 car that gave up the ghost first and so the victory went to a deserving Crosbie, who it has to be said had been in the thick of it all day. A good display from the Nationals, not helped by the weather

Ministox

With no visiting interest it was down to the 18 'locals' to entertain, among the line-up was 942 Steven Gilbert, the young man from Doublebois in Cornwall had travelled through the night down from the north east of England after competing in the Gold Cup meeting at Barford the day before where he finished a superb 2nd, after winning a heat. A great excuse for not handing in his homework on time come Tuesday.......  The last meeting for the juniors at Smeatharpe had one driver winning both heats and the final and we almost had the same outcome today as 935 James Flint won both the heats. 925 Amy Collett was an early leader in heat 1 but 935 Flint took over at the front on lap 2, and immediately stamped his authority on things, although the two lady drivers 955 Frankie Radmore and 986 Sophie Fasey had a very entertaining battle for 2nd at one point. 903 Adam Neville, the young man who won each of the three races at the privious meeting at Smeatharpe, did catch 935 Flint on the last corner of the final lap but was just not close enough to dis-lodge him and prevent the Tiverton youngster from picking up an excellent win. Heat 2 saw 935 Flint hit the front again on lap 2 but this time he had the 942 car of Steven Gilbert chasing him for almost the entire race, and as in the opening heat the man in 2nd caught the leader on the very last lap and again tried to dis-lodge him through the final bend but the 935 lad was getting wise to this now and once more hung on superbly to take his second win of the afternoon. With 932 Sam Moore finishing in 3rd, as he did in heat 1. The 'Collett Family' sponsored Ministox final saw 935 Flint once again make excellent progress at the start, moving into 2nd on lap 2 behind 919 Jack Clegg, and taking over at the front a lap later. 932 Sam Moore was also on a flyer in this one and had moved into 2nd by lap 6 but 986 Sophie Fasey was going even quicker and passed the 932 car to take 2nd a lap later. As the race got exciting 977 Kieren Bradford piled into 907 Ben Sillifant on the start/finish straight very hard and the waved yellows bring the race under caution. At the re-start 986 Fasey managed to pass leader 935 Flint to take it up, with 932 Moore also passing the 935 car. Next lap and 942 Steven Gilbert had passed the 935 car to move into 3rd as 986 Fasey and 932 Moore battled for the lead at the front. 942 Gilbert then joins in and clatters the unfortunate 986 Fasey hard against the fence on the exit of turn 4 and 935 Flint moves back into the lead with 903 Adam Neville now up into 2nd ! Next lap and 932 Moore goes down the inside of both 935 and 903 to lead going into the final lap, managing to hold on to the flag, with 903 finishing in 2nd and 935 Flint finishing off an excellent afternoon in 3rd.

Saloon Stock Cars 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Heat 1 1 103 618 120 2 499 401 382 360 641
Heat 2 402 428 1 512 499 65 511 149 382 199
Heat 3 103 428 120 618 156 698 360 56 199 460
Final 402 156 56 120 2 641 511 916 499 618
Ministox 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Heat 1 935 903 932 986 907 936 955 919 942 946
Heat 2 935 942 932 907 903 986 977 910 987 936
Final 932 903 935 942 955 910 994 987 925 946
Grade Awards W 987 Y 935 B 932 R 942
National Bangers 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Heat 1 246 45 133 511 141 47 162 333 110 nof
Heat 2 133 141 55 162 511 74 nof
Final 45 278 162 133 815 452 55 141 nof
King of Crash / DD 511
Best Presented 45 333 384 284 123
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