Smeatharpe Stadium - Sunday 22nd July 2012

A large crowd turned up at Smeatharpe Stadium on Sunday, some to see if young Jack Aldridge could retain the 'Roy Goodman Perpetual Challenge Trophy', (indeed some to see Roy Goodman's amazing shirt) some to see the mayhem that is Caravan Racing - and some just to see what National Saloon Stock Cars looked like racing on a DRY track. As it was as far back as October since we last had a rain-free Saloon meeting at Smeatharpe. In the F2s there were more red grade driver's present than G4S staff at an Olyimpic venue, whilst in the Saloons and Bangers there was more than a hint of 'brotherly love' - or not ! It was a day of jump-starts, bump-starts and upstarts, with the sun and the driving skills of some driver's shining brightly, the crazy antics of certain other's rather leaving a cloud hanging over proceedings......though while we did have one unfortunate F2 driver almost seeing stars, we also had an attempt at launching the first Banger into orbit!

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

A good showing of 32 BriSCA F2s included no less than 12 red graded drivers, among them 921 Jack Aldridge, the 'Roy Goodman Perpetual Challenge Trophy' defending champion. With track conditions absolutely perfect, 15 cars lined up for heat 1 with 79 James Poltimore, in the ex' Luke Thomas 916 car, making the most of his front row start to lead, a position he held brilliantly until lap 12. But with the red graders in this one outnumbering all the other grades put together it was the star men that came out on top, eventually, with current track champion and fastest man in pre-race practise 676 Neil Hooper taking the win, from fellow red grader's 315 Justin Fisher, 605 Liam Rowe and the mis-firing 167 Bill Batten - with 79 Poltimore finishing a creditable 5th. Another driver suffering a mis-fire was new-boy 991 Ryan Hoskin in heat 2, the youngster frustratingly plagued with problems throughout the afternoon, no such problems though for 990 Paul Rice, the Ideford driver taking another red grade win after overcoming long time leader 602 James Horwell. With 935 Nathan Maidment opening his account for the afternoon finishing in 2nd, from 921 Jack Aldridge - 602 Horwell eventually finishing 6th. The consolation produced 16 starters, with 245 Paul Milsom the early leader looking comfortable at the front - that was until 797 Dan Moss dis-lodged him but that wasn't until the 4 lap board came out. Milsom did very well to survive a last lap lunge from 254 Richard Beere to hang on to a well deserved 2nd, with Beere having to be content with 3rd. 783 James Rygor the best of the reds in this one finishing 4th. The 'Roy Goodman Perpetual Challenge Trophy' final started badly for earlier heat winner 676 Neil Hooper, tangling with 522 Chris Mikulla on turn 3 and bringing out the waved yellow flags and the disqualification of both parties. 245 Milsom led away the 18 lap re-start but 797 Dan Moss was past him in a flash, also making a good start was 783 James Rygor from the reds - but so was 935 Nathan Maidment and he was a little further up the road ahead of the blues and soon looking menacing in 3rd. At half-distance it was 797 Moss, 254 Richard Beere, 935 Maidment and 783 Rygor, a couple of laps later a coming-together between 167 Bill Batten, 990 Paul Rice and 126 Jamie Avery on turn 4 results in a detached wheel, bringing out an instant stoppage - but not before 254 Beere had launched himself over the wheel, causing his retirement. 797 Moss led away the second re-start, from 935 Maidment and 783 Rygor, with 605 Liam Rowe then passing 783 Rygor moving into 3rd. 3 laps to run and the positions remain the same but 935 is certainly closing on leader 797 Moss, next lap and 935 Maidment takes over at the front, with 605 pushing the 797 car wide into turn 3 and taking over 2nd on the last lap. At the flag it is 935 Maidment from 605 Rowe, with 797 Moss crossing the line in 3rd but then docked two places for a jump-start at the second re-start, thus promoting 783 Rygor to 3rd, and 921 Jack Aldridge to 4th. The superb trophies were presented by Mr Roy Goodman himself, a man who has always been one of my absolute heroes.

The 24 car Grand National could well have been a good race but was marred by the actions of a driver who might well be more suited to one of the full-contact formulas...... The race began with 352 Dave Sansom picking 464 Matt Linfield at the end of the main straight and pushing him round the turn 3 fence, as 797 Dan Moss took over at the front. Next lap and 352 Sansom picks up the unfortunate 835 Matt Westaway and slams him flat-out into the turn 3 fence, with such force the impact destroying the front of the 835 machine and bringing out an immediate stoppage for the severely shaken Westaway. 676 Neil Hooper eventually took the win, from 522 Chris Mikulla, some reward for their early exit from the afternoon's final. With 797 Dan Moss taking 3rd after leading for a lot of the race.

Saloon Stock Cars

With this being the last chance for some practise before the big WF meeting, the entry included a handful of visitors including regular 618 Stuart Shevill and fellow Scotsman 620 Aaryn Triggs - both having raced at Cowdenbeath the previous evening - and 164 Neil Kent making his first visit to Smeatharpe, after having a miserable night at Coventry. Another welcome visitor was 156 Darren Goudy, with the notorious Webster and  lively Colliver brothers also in attendance. Line as many visitors up as you want but when 1 Eddie Darby is on form, there is no stopping him and he romped home for the win in race 1 - the 'Palmer Racing' sponsored Devon Championship. 24 cars had lined up and as 298 Ian Elms took the lead on lap 1, Eddie Darby had already cleared all the red grade and was almost up amongst the blues. Surprisingly 402 Shaun Webster's race ended on lap 2, pulling on to the infield with a problem, the next retirement though was far more spectacular. 2nd place man 710 Vince Stone got hooked-up with 460 Cliff Friend half-way along the main straight and as the two cars arrived at turn 3, with 164 Neil Kent, the 460 car hits an infield tyre and takes off, with the car almost standing upright on its back bumper at one point ! Thankfully Cliff re-enters earth's atmosphere safely but then the waved yellows come out - though not for this incident surprisingly but for 995 Ben Goddard whose car had come to a stop at the other end of the track in a dangerous position, but not before leader 298 Elms' car blows its motor. With all the excitement it was a big surprise to see that 401 Steve Webster had been in the lead at the time of the stoppage and it was the Sheffield man that led the field away at the re-start, with 1 Darby already up into 5th. At the green, Darby quickly passed 103 Chris Horwell for 4th and at half-distance the positions were 401 Webster, 100 Ian Govier with World Champion Darby now into 3rd after passing 916 Ross Thomas. Next lap and Darby had relieved 100 Govier of 2nd and set his sights on leader Webster, with 103 Horwell also passing Govier to move into 3rd - defending Devon Champion 120 Shane Brown at this point in time was back down in 8th. With several car lengths between 1st and 2nd it looks as if Webster might hang on but with just 2 laps to run, 100 Govier half-spins on the exit of turn 4, then backs onto the raceway just in front of the leaders, causing 401 Webster to brake and take avoiding action allowing 1 Darby to close the gap, slipping cleanly down the inside of the 401 car through turns 3 and 4 to lead into the final lap. So, World Champion Eddie Darby it is who takes the win, just from a recovered 401 Steve Webster, and the impressive 103 Chris Horwell 3rd - with 65 Ian Willis and 698 Danny Colliver both docked two places for jumping the re-start. The first of the two allcomers races produced 23 starters, including 460 Cliff Friend non the worse for his experience in the earlier race. 156 Darren Goudy seemed to be attracting a lot of attention in this one, with 120 Brown giving him a big hurry-up into turn 3 early on, and then getting acquainted with the fence on turn 1 courtesy of 65 Willis, bringing about the Stowmarket man's retirement. As in the earlier race there was a stoppage and once again an infield marker tyre played more than a small part - and we are not talking a 195x15 car tyre here we're talking Earthmoving machine tyre ! This time, and it could well have been the same one, Eddie Darby collided with a tyre on the entry of turn 3, launching it and sending it across the track, it eventually coming to a stop against the pit-gate, but not before bringing almost half the field to a standstill on the pit-bend, including 995 Ben Goddard, who needed a little attention which brought out the waved yellows. As the cars lined up for the re-start it was once again that man 401 Webster that led them away - with 1 Darby already up to 5th. Two laps later and the World Champion was in 3rd, with the lively 184 Marty Colliver between him and 401 Webster, it wasn't long though before Darby was in 2nd and it looked as though we might have a repeat of the earlier result but 401 Webster looked just a little further ahead in this one and indeed managed to lead the field across the finishing line at the chequered flag - only to be docked two places for jumping the re-start, handing the win to a surprised 1 Eddie Darby. 120 Shane Brown was promoted to 2nd, and as for that marker tyre, give it a number and let it take its chance in one of the 'last chance' qualifiers on World Final night....... The second allcomers race was no less exciting, though was a little down on numbers after 56 Georgie Boult's car had mechanical problems. Just 20 cars made the start and 1 Eddie Darby was an early casualty, getting spun by 698 Danny Colliver and then retiring - so no hat-trick of wins today for the World Champion. And no wins at all for the unlucky 401 Steve Webster as although he did lead for much of the race, after further stoppages for the unfortunate 620 Aaryn Triggs and 698 Danny Colliver - he was pushed wide by, of all people, younger brother 402 Shaun on the last corner of the final lap ! Brotherly love - so much for respecting your elders ! 30 Barry Hollett finished 3rd - in his new 'Webster' built car.

Bangers

Just over 70 Bangers were on hand to contest their Devon Championship, with 186 Leon Fasey the defending champion. The big question was always going to be whether 246 Ryan Sparks could possibly add this title to all the other major titles he currently holds in this formula this season, surely not, that really must be a step too far even for this talented driver - though he did arrive with a very smart 'fresh' Honda Accord for the challenge, complete with black 'metal-flake' paintwork ! 25 starters made it out on track for a lively heat 1, with 83 Ben Styles the eventual winner after a stoppage for a spectacular roll by 134 Jarret Bond at the end of the start/finish straight, the driver exiting his upturned car to loud applause from the crash-happy crowd. 877 Josh Lovelock finishing in an excellent 2nd. 23 starters lined up for heat 2, which included 246 Sparks, with the eventual winner being 735 Wayne Flint. Although not as destructive as the opening race a two-wheel driving display by 929 Sam Baker was not in the script, bringing about a stoppage. 246 Sparks was down in 14th place at the re-start but had worked his way up into 5th by the finish. Heat 3 produced 24 starters, with 58 Greg Stevens taking an easy win after spinning out early leader 199 Michael Guns, with 247 Richard Sparks runner-up. The consolation saw 34 cars out on track and with so many cars it was always going to be a lively affair, with 56 Ricki Stevens coming out on top, surviving several assaults. The Aldershot visitor really was in a class of his own, 372 Jay Matthews was the runner-up, just ahead of 929 Sam Baker. The 'Sparky's Taxis' sponsored Devon Championship final had 33 starters, with defending champion 186 Fasey and multi-champion 246 Sparks starting right at the back. 199 Michael Guns and 23 Barry Staples had a good battle for the lead early on before 23 Staples stamped his authority on things and pulled away steadily at the front. 246 Sparks really didn't seem to be making much impression on the leaders, and with 5 laps left to run 23 Staples looked so far in front that his lead looked unassailable - but this is Banger racing and anything can happen! Apparently, 23 Staples was unaware of his big lead and when he came across a back-marker in the shape of 242 Ben Ellacott, on the last lap of the race, decided to pile into him, simple as that. Unfortunately for him though, 83 Ben Styles and/or 372 Jay Matthews then arrived on the scene and he/they decided to re-arranged the 23 Staples car, leaving, you guessed it, a certain 246 Ryan Sparks to cross the finishing line to take the win!! A feat that surely ranks as an unlikely an outcome as Bradley Wiggins winning a bike race in France......... So, a tremendous feat for Torquay man Sparks, love him or loath him you have to admire his driving skills as it cannot be ALL luck. 23 Barry Staples managed to creep over the line for 2nd, and certainly the Ringwood man didn't look too upset at not winning, 372 Jay Matthews followed him over the line for 3rd. The allcomers raised 27 cars, including 246 Sparks, and was a fairly tame race after earlier events with just a few spinners. 247 Richard Sparks took over the lead towards the end of the race but brother Ryan almost pushed him across the line at the finish, so an excellent 1-2 for the Sparks family, almost a fairytale ending to an entertaining afternoon from the Autospeed Bangers.

Caravan Chaos!

An amazing 16 caravans of all shapes and sizes lined up for the annual 'Collett Family' sponsored Collander Trophy and with so many on track the action was always going to be lively! There were several stoppages for track blockages and roll-overs with the most spectacular being 183 Martin Horn. 28 Steve Linly's caravan chassis was attached to his car's rear window and as he towed in down the main straight it looked like a ramp, along comes 183 Martin Horn, at speed, drives up the 'ramp', completely clears the 28 car, somersaults and comes down on top of the turn 3 fence!! Superb stuff, the 183 driver then exiting his wrecked car to huge applause from the appreciative crowd, a beaming smile across his face! 28 Linly was eventually given the win but top marks to each and every driver that took part.