Smeatharpe Stadium - Tuesday 5th June 2012

After the warm and sunny weather enjoyed by the large Bank Holiday crowd at St Day on the Monday, it was back to reality at Smeatharpe on 'Jubilee' Tuesday, with constant rain, wind and eventually mist greeting the still large and still enthusiastic merry band of crash-happy racegoers that arrived in Devon for Crasharama XIV. The wet weather was well publicised in the media beforehand but this did not seem to put off any of the crowd, who just packed another layer of waterproof clothing. A few of the booked drivers did fail to appear but a still healthy turnout of cars promised much - and delivered even more ! Atmosphere in the pits among spectators and drivers was at all times excellent. It was just how Banger racing should be, and were we going to let a few drops of the wet stuff spoil it for us ? Like hell we were ! And then The Bears arrived......... Also on the 13-race programme were the BriSCA F2s and the mighty Saloon Stock Cars, so the only question was 'When would there be time to get a drink or visit the toilet........?'

Unlimited cc National Bangers - Crasharama XIV

There was plenty to see in the Smeatharpe pits and even the most hardened Banger fanatics could not have failed to be impressed with some of the cars assembled. Among the 40 car entry there were two Daimler DS420 limos in the hands of 841 'Tomo' Perkins and the patriotic 88 Tim Wood, though one was more rust than metal.... Although there was not a single Mk1 or Mk2 Granada present there were equal numbers of Lexus' and 'Frog-eyed' Fords, several XJs, including a Sovereign for 282 Lee Treasurer, and lashings of Volvos. A cool 1972 Ford Thunderbird was the choice of 421 Nutty Nige, but the Lincoln Towncar of 360 'Jackstar' Reynolds was sexy and he knew it.......!! Star of the show, in more ways than one though, was the 1969 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow of 'The Wierdo in White' 920 Simon Sparrow that arrived, eventually, with a story to tell. It seems that when the boys went to load the beast in the morning, on firing the engine it was soon obvious that the motor was not keen to play and bang it went. Now with the weather being how it was, most would have called it a day and gone down the pub but not the Sparrow crew who set about changing the engine, not the easiest of tasks, which they did in record time, arriving just after the two heats. And a good move it was too as not only was the Roller a deserved winner of the oldest/rarest award it was also lively all day in the hands of top man Simon. With 6 Bears among the entry and 5 DWO there was definitely not going to be any shortage of action. Heat 1 produced 20 starters with most if not all of the Brighton Bears out on track, and 360 'Jackstar' in the Lincoln (that started life as a stretched limo) but none of the DWO firm, a sensible move by the promoters splitting the heats. There was an early pile-up on turn 2, with 360 'Jackstar' burying himself into 123 Scott Cooper among others involved, with the usual pit-bend carnage that included some savage hits, with 747 particularly destructive. 421 Nutty Nige meanwhile was just limping around the track, even stopping at one moment, and by half-distance hadn't actually hit anyone, though he did pile into the stationary car of 648 Jamie Smith on turn 4 soon after and then gave 201 a portion. 133 Karly Day got a cheer when he sent the 45 car of Anthony Croshaw into the pit-bend pile-up but then the reds came out for a problem on turn 3 - but 241 still decided it was a good idea to pile into the back of 421 Nutty Nige on the main straight a good few seconds after the reds. The race wasn't re-started and the win was given to 820, there were only 5 finishers. Heat 2 saw the DWO boys out on track among the 17 starters and was a lot less bruising than the first heat, surprising winner was 114 Nick Courtier who led almost from start to finish, with the DWO trio of 190 Pikey (Lexus), 162 Brett Ellacott (Frog-eye estate) and 239 Nemesis (Frog-eye estate) filling the next three places, nine cars finished this one. The Crasharama XIV title race had 33 starters, including Wierdo's Roller at the back of the grid, at the green it was 133 Karly Day that got his nose in front first as 841 Tomo spun in his Daimler, also spinning was 714 'No Show' with some help from 241, 421 Nutty Nige then got spun and 920 Sparrow piled the Roller hard into the Daimler DS of 88 Wood, and then got clobbered by almost everyone. 714 'No Show' then piles 421 Nutty Nige into fellow Bear 133 Day on turn 1 and then steams into the Roller for good measure at the other end of the track, where team-mate 208 'The Finger' launches himself flat-out into 207 Michael Woodward. 719 Chris Storey then flattens 123 Scott Cooper on turn 3 before 421 Nige takes a big hit from 239 'Nemesis' and then further punishment from the Lexus of 714 Smaldon, if that wasn't enough 162 Ellacott also piles into the now battered Thunderbird on turn 4, with 190 Pikey choosing to drive past. 521 'Ace' Ash in a Supra then gives 714 'No Show' a stiff rear-ender, and then gives 162 'Bad Boy' something to think about before getting some attention himself from 208 Randall in another Frog-eye estate, with 190 Bailey still seemingly just doing the laps. 989 Dean Arm then slams into 146 Steve Voss on the exit of turn 4 and we have a track blockage with 421 Nutty Nige sitting in the middle of it all. 162 Ellacott is the first to try and clear a way through, joined by 265 'Disco Stu' Foster, 190 'Pikey' then comes alive and aims one straight at 521 'Ace' Ash, backs off and then repeats the dose as 989 Deano manages to clear a way through. 360 Reynolds then arrives and introduces his Lincoln to the rear-end of Pikey's Lexus, 360 'Jackstar' then gets a portion from 989 Deano but both manage to get going again. As 521 Ash Riley abandons his car team-mate 207 Compo cops a huge hit on the entrance of turn 3, as this is taking place 360 Reynolds is on turn 4 and piling into any blue cars that come his way before 190 Pikey gives him some pay back. 207 Compo is still sitting on the entrance of turn 3, with his flattened rear end to the traffic, and as he tightens his belts 989 Deano slams into the back of him at speed, pushing the Bear's Volvo estate into the bend and turning it so it's facing the wrong way, by now Compo has had enough and in the knowledge that the next hit is going to be a head-on wisely gives the 'thumbs-down' and the waved yellows signal a stoppage. Thankfully Compo is only a little shaken and after a lengthy delay and more handshakes than an Oscar award ceremony we have a three-lap-dash for the four surviving runners: 265 'Disco Stu' Foster, 190 'Pikey' Steve Bailey, 719 Chris Storey and 47 Marcus A'Lee (there was a fifth, 162 Ellacott, but it was judged that he had received 'outside assistance' during the stoppage so was excluded). Now, with the fairly straight Lexus of 190, still sounding top notch, lining up in 2nd behind the V6 Volvo Estate of 265, the smart money would have been on the DWO man for sure but it would have been the bookies that were smiling as when the green flag waved, apart from an initial nibble from the Lexus and a half-spin on the exit of turn 4, 'Disco Stu' Foster simply drove away. As calmly as you like, no drama, no panic and no backward glance in his mirror - and there were many watching from the sidelines I know that would have thrown it all away just in the knowledge that 190 Pikey was behind them......( I did speak to Steve straight afterwards and he said the engine was a little down on power but he was not making excuses). So, a new 'Crasharama' champion was crowned, and a deserving one at that, the loveable 190 Bailey was an excellent 2nd, surviving the earlier 'war' and 47 Marcus A'Lee managed to overcome 719 Storey for 3rd, but to be fair to the Bridgwater man his car was well-used by then after his earlier run-ins with 123 Scott and others - not that I am taking anything away from 47 A'Lee. Oh, and if I have missed anything in this report - and I'm sure I have - I am just telling it as I saw it, I know others will have seen it differently and have their own opinions. Sportingly, 190 Stevie Bailey gave away his trophy to a surprised little boy and everyone was happy.............even 821 'Dingle' Tom Perkins, whose Daimler's rear axle stayed put on the track when the tractor removed the rest of the car back to the pits ! The allcomers was a savage affair with 521 'Ace' Ash's thundering full-length blitz on 239 'Nemesis' on turn 3 the best hit of the day after the DWO man had destroyed old adversary 262 Boogie's Volvo estate. The heavy action on the pit-bend brought out the red flags and 10 cars survived to take the re-start, including 521 Ash Riley, with 313 Tom Cattell leading the field away. Two laps in and 162 Ellacott had hit the front and that is where he stayed, 360 Reynolds did have a look at the back of 313 Cattell briefly but was spun by 241 before he had a chance to pounce. Before the end, 162 Ellacott did catch up with the limping 521 'Ace' and as expected buried himself in the back of the Supra but both survived and 162 'Bad Boy' went on to take the win, from 313 Cattell and the lively 989 Deano, who managed to survive an attack from Reynold's Lincoln on the run-down lap. The mist had almost completely engulfed the track as a creditable 13 cars made their way onto the raceway for the DD, including among others 920 Sparrow's Roller, 360 'Jackstar' in the Lincoln  and 88 Tim Wood in the Daimler DS 420 that had seen a great deal of work by him and his mechanics on the back end in order to make the line-up, top marks for effort to them ! Superb effort too saw three of the Bears managing to make it out in the shape of 831, 133 Karly Day and 521 'Ace' Ash, lining up against a formidable showing from DWO consisting of 190 'Pikey', 714 'No Show' (who had somehow missed the earlier allcomers) 208 'The Finger' and 162 'Bad Boy'. Unfortunately the mist obscured most of the raceway and I could only see what was immediately infront of me but what I couldn't see I could hear ! After the initial heavy exchanges, which included Bear 831 giving 190 'Pikey' a stiff one on the nose, 920 Sparrow slamming into190, 521 'Ash' giving 162 'Bad Boy' a rated head-on, and Sparrow in the Roller giving it to eveyone it came down to 208 Randall, 714 Smaldon, 190 Bailey and 47 Marcus A'Lee whose Jag could only seemingly move back-and-forth, trapped between two 'dead' cars. After some hard hits it ended up with 714 'No Show' and the 'trapped' car of 47 A'Lee, but in the end a Lexus with 4 punctures was no match for an XJ with no steering and the chequered flag came down on 47 Marcus A'Lee to bring to an end an excellent, if wet, day's racing - and as we returned to our cars for the long journey home the sun came out!

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

It had been a busy long-weekend for the F2 boys, with 3 meetings in as many days but a reasonable entry of 24 cars assembled in the pit area. Joining the Smeatharpe regulars were welcome visitors 768 Tom Adcroft, and National Points Champion 7 Gordon Moodie fresh from a trio of consecutive final wins at Cowdenbeath, Barford and Buxton. With the weather being yuk, the conditions were always going to suit the established wet-weather specialists, and that is indeed how it was. Running to the usual two-heats-from-three format 16 starters lined up for heat 1, surprisingly the rain had stopped, though only briefly, but the track conditions were far from perfect. Among the starters in this one were 522 Chris Mikulla and 783 James Rygor who had enjoyed a very close, and at times too close, afternoon in Cornwall the day before. Also in this one was 830 Andrew Bennett, and we all know how good he is in the wet, and sure enough the man from Hewaswater romped to victory, moving into 3rd on lap 5 behind white graders 476 Ryan Wadling and 245 Paul Milsom, and hitting the front on lap 7. Obviously the local fans knew who was going to go well in the tricky conditions but Northern visitor 768 Adcroft caught many by surprise as he stormed through the pack from the reds, eventually finishing in an excellent 3rd, behind 254 Richard Beere who has certainly found his new Motorworld car to his liking. The track was very slippery indeed after the two previous Banger races as the 14 starters lined up for heat 2, including 7 Gordon Moodie. At the green it was 734 Glenn Sanders that took it up with 126 Jamie Avery and 464 Matt Linfield going well from the blues, lap 3 and 7 Moodie was still right at the back of the field. 126 Avery soon took over at the front but also going well was previous day's final winner at St Day 605 Liam Rowe, even finding time to spin out the unfortunate 430 Simon Edwards across the start/finish line on his way through the field. 464 Linfield took over 2nd from 734 Sanders and at half-distance it was 126 Avery, 464 Linfield and 605 Rowe. As the laps counted down, a close battle between 126 Avery and 464 Linfield culminated in 464 pushing 126 wide into turn 3 on the penultimate lap to just get his nose in front but then 126 Avery returned the favour on turn 3 on the last lap but this sent both cars wide into the corner and that cheeky chappy Rowe slipped inside the pair of them to take the win. 464 Linfield did recover for 2nd but 783 James Rygor just managed to pip 126 Avery for 3rd. 7 Moodie eventually finished 7th, proving that even 'talent un-tampered with' has its off days....... Heat 3 was run straight after the Banger Crasharama event with the track was very greasy and it was raining hard again. 17 starters lined up and once again Scotsman Moodie was among them but his luck was worse in this one than the earlier heat, with only a 10th place finish. Not having much luck either was heat 1 winner 830 Bennett, spinning out early on turn 1 with a little help from 605 Rowe. Having much better luck was 464 Matt Linfield, the likeable lad from Billinghurst showing excellent form to master the slippery, wet raceway and record a popular win after overcoming early leader, the improving white grader 734 Glenn Sanders. 768 Tom Adcroft was again in supreme form from the reds, finishing a superb 2nd, with 254 Beere having to be content with 3rd after a spirited drive. 22 starters lined up for the 'Ermington MOT Centre' sponsored final and with three different heat winners it was difficult to pick an obvious winner, though 464 Linfield had looked the most comfortable in the wet conditions. 734 Sanders was again the early leader as two of the fancied runners, 605 Rowe and 768 Adcroft, had a coming together on turn 4, effectively ending their challenge. 734 continued to lead but 464 Linfield was lapping better than anyone and at half distance, as expected, he was through to take it up, with 254 Beere shadowing him in 2nd, and 783 James Rygor looking handy in 4th. Two laps later and 783 Rygor had moved into 2nd and looked to be closing on leader 464 Linfield and sure enough with 6 laps to run 783 Rygor slipped down the inside of 464 Linfield going into turn 1 to lead the field. By this time we had lost 7 Moodie, blaming a lack of grip for his retirement, also retiring was 464 Linfield with a suspected thrown rod, which was a great shame. So, with 3 laps left to run the order was 783 Rygor, 990 Paul Rice and 254 Beere, and this is how they finished, with 921 Jack Aldridge coming home in 4th after a quiet afternoon. 783 James Rygor recording his second wet final win at Smeatharpe for the season. 20 cars braved the elements for the Grand National, including 7 Moodie, run straight after the banger allcomers race and the slippery surface once again caught a few drivers out, with 254 Beere being an early spinner on turn 1. 476 Ryan Wadling was the early leader in this one, with 126 Jamie Avery showing good pace and moving into 3rd on lap 3, as 189 Paul Butcher spins on turn 2. Going very well once again from the reds was 768 Adcroft, very well indeed as before half-distance he had moved into 2nd behind white grader Wadling and by the time the union-jack came out had taken over at the front, though for a brief moment it did look as if 476 Wadling might re-take the place. 126 Avery was next to pass 476 and then he had 605 Rowe for company, the earlier heat winner passing to move into 3rd with 5 laps left to run. At the flag it was a deserved win for the man from Burnley, 768 Adcroft, just reward for an excellent afternoon's driving in very trying conditions, with 126 Avery picking up another strong result in 2nd and 605 'Chuckle Brother' Rowe a handy 3rd - with 476 Ryan Wadling definitely worth a mention taking 4th, driving the ex' Jamie Avery 126 car.

Saloon Stock Cars

21 Saloons arrived at Smeatharpe for some further practise before their big World Final race in August, including wet-weather maestro 402 Shaun Webster, National Points Champion 618 Stuart Shevill and surprise visitor 184 Marty Colliver, for once without brother Danny who was on holiday somewhere drier and warmer than Devon. All available cars made it out for heat 1 and from the off it was 104 Matt Horwell who made the best use of his front row start, taking the lead and staying there right until the chequered flag, as the rest of the field, particularly the star men, struggled on the very wet and slippery track, with 120 Shane Brown even spinning out on the main straight completely unaided on lap 2. Brown wasn't the only spinner as 184 Colliver and later 56 Georgie Boult also joined in the ballet. As expected 402 Webster was the first of the star men to show, pushing and shoving his way through the pack as he managed to find the line and grip that others failed to do, 100 Ian Govier was also managing the conditions well and was a safe bet in 2nd for most of the race. As the leader, 104 Horwell, began his final lap 402 Webster did manage to catch and cleanly pass 100 Govier for 2nd but even he had no answer to 104 Horwell who won comfortably. Heat 2 only managed to produce 18 of the 24 cars and once again it was 104 Matt Horwell who made the early running, by lap 2 though 402 Webster was already among the blues and going like a train. 100 Ian Govier was going well too and was soon sitting in 2nd before managing to pass leader 104 Horwell a little before half-distance to take it up. 402 Webster was having a good battle with 56 Georgie Boult in 3rd but with 4 laps to go, the youngster made a bit of a meal of removing 2nd place man 104 Horwell and 402 Webster slipped down the pair of them on turn 3 to take up 2nd and chase down the leader. The Sheffield man did manage to make up the ground and as the two cars came down the main straight for the final time, in went the 402 bumper and wide went 100 Govier, just enough to allow 402 Webster through for the win, 100 recovered well for 2nd, with 56 Boult a creditable 3rd. There must be a lot of Saloon Stock drivers now hoping that it doesn't rain come the 12th of August ! Before the 'Race Tech' sponsored final got underway the mist descended on Smeatharpe and it was difficult to see both ends of the track, but 16 Saloons still lined up to do battle. The first action saw 916 Ross Thomas get spun by 120 Shane Brown, pay-back I think for an earlier incident in heat 2, as 104 Matt Horwell once again moved to the front to lead. 314 Jason Barraclough was another spinner early on as 100 Govier moved into 3rd place behind 460 Cliff Friend, with 402 Webster already up among the blues and coping well with the rain and now the mist. Also going well this time was 120 Brown, and the Bridgwater man surprisingly passed 'rain-master' Webster with comparative ease. At half-distance it was 104 Horwell, from 100 Govier, 11 Richard Paris, 120 Brown and 402 Webster. As the lap boards came out it looked like 100 Govier would pass 104 Horwell but 120 Brown got to Govier first, pushing him wide into turn 3 and moving into 2nd, with 2 laps left to run. Next lap and 120 Brown goes cleanly down the inside of 104 Horwell on turn 3 to take the lead, with 402 Webster doing likewise to 100 Govier on the same corner to move into 3rd and at the chequered flag it is a good win for 120 Shane Brown, with white-grader 104 Matt Horwell 2nd, to end a superb afternoon, and 402 Shaun Webster 3rd.