Smeatharpe Stadium - Monday 26th August 2013

Report by Jon Wyatt

Glorious sunshine greeted the sizeable Bank Holiday crowd to a Smeatharpe Stadium in tip-top condition for some super-fast racing. Anticipation was high for this meeting, particularly among the F2 Stock Car folk, with this being the final meeting for the formula ahead of the big World Title weekender next month. Personally I was a little surprised that there were not more visitors among the entry, or perhaps the World Final qualifiers felt they knew all they needed to know about the tight Smeatharpe oval - we'll see......... One man who it seems is always willing to learn is 7 Gordon Moodie, and the silver-roof super-star made his second visit to the Devon venue in eight days, and what a good move it was too. Also on the value-for-money 14-race programme were the hard-hitting Saloon Stock cars - with the Autospeed Bangers competing in their 'Team Championship'.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

After the absolutely superb racing last Sunday, which saw Scottish ace Gordon Moodie end 886 Chris Bradbury's amazing run of feature final wins, one might have thought that today was going to be a bit of an anti-climax but boy would you have been wrong. Perhaps the entry was not quite as star-studded as last week but with 886 Bradbury again in attendance nothing was certain regarding who was going to cross the line first in the afternoon's Club 21/John Gregory Memorial Shield final. 17 cars lined up for heat 1 on a track that was in perfect racing condition, with 7 Moodie, fresh from a final win at Barford the previous day, among the starters. From the moment the green flag dropped it was more or less a foregone conclussion as to who was going to take the win with the number 7 silver-machine carving its way through the pack with the precision of a surgeon - so the big question was who would finish second ? The race began with several spinners, including 613 Alex Sloggett, 575 Tom Clark and 845 Andrew Morgan, as 797 Dan Moss took it up from 830 Andrew Bennett - though after only 3 laps had been completed 7 Moodie was already up to 4th ! By lap 6 the number 7 car was in 3rd, with 830 Bennett - still on a high after winning the GN at St Day the previous afternoon - now heading the field. By half-distance Moodie was ONLY up to 2nd (!) with 522 Chris Mikulla going very well too up into 4th after his big crash at St Day on the Sunday. A lap later and as expected there was a Scotsman at the head of the field and I hate to say it but he had made it look easy, what was a surprise though was that 783 James Rygor had caught and passed 522 Mikulla for 4th, with 797 Moss just ahead of him and 830 Bennett still hanging on in 2nd. 522 Mikulla then re-passed 783 Rygor and with 7 Moodie now off into the sunset so-to-speak this is the battle we watched with interest. At the flag it was of course a win for Moodie but an excellnt 2nd place for 830 Bennett - with 783 Rygor re-established in 3rd just ahead of 522 Mikulla. 19 cars lined up for heat 2, including 886 Bradbury of course who for once hadn't won anything at all the previous day anywhere, Chris prefering to catch up on a spot of gardening back home at his Winnersh mansion - well we all know the problems if those pesky weeds take a hold.......... All those who expected another dominant display in this one were to be disappointed early doors as amazingly the 886 car pulled off at the end of the rolling lap with a broken rotor arm. Someone who did make the start though was one-time local favourite 667 Tim Farrell but a few lazy seasons in BriSCA F1s eating too many northern pies had obviously taken its toll (!) and the one time 'flying turtle' is more of tortoise these days but a brand new Higman might change all that next season............!! Definitely no slouch in this one though was white-grader 528 Shane Hector who looked very good at the front, leading way past half-distance before eventually being caught by 430 Simon Edwards with 3 to go and eventual race winner 676 Neil Hooper. A good battle between these two saw 676 Hooper barge his way past the Liskeard yellow roof at one point, only for him to re-take the place on the exit of turn 2, this only wound up the red grader who administered a big shot on the rear of the 430 car through turn 3 on the final lap which eventually did the trick. So a hard-fought win for 676 Hooper - to add to his final win at St Day on the Sunday - and an excellent 2nd place for 430 Edwards. Surely all that bad luck is now just a memory ? We'll see. The consolation sees 17 cars out on the raceway but with one of those 886 Bradbury, complete with a newly replaced rotor-arm, there was always only ever going to be one winner. The race wasn't without incident though as the waved yellows did come out after 544 James Rogers lost a wheel but 613 Alex Sloggett and 868 Ralph Tracey had already had a run-in with the fence on turn 4 and 851 Gary Smith had also come to grief and had to retire. 745 Lee Morgan led the field away at the re-start but he was soon passed by 575 Tom Clark who continued to lead up to and after half-distance - with 886 Bradbury though ever closer with every passing lap. With 5 to go 886 Bradbury does have to use the bumper to move 575 Clark to take it up but once there there was no way back for the Cornish yellow grader, though he does easily hang on for 2nd, almost a straight ahead of 3rd place man 745 Morgan. So 886 Bradbury takes the win but it is certainly not as convincing a win as 7 Moodie's earlier heat. So to the 'Club 21/John Gregory Memorial Shield' final, and if anticipation had been high before the heats it was past 30 on the richter scale now ! Although a full field of qualifiers lined up, just as last week most if not all eyes were on the back of the grid as the silver-roof of the number 7 Moodie car took its place next to the gleaming metallic red one of 886 Bradbury. At the green a quite bizarre thing happened, as 886 Bradbury made an electric start 7 Moodie missed a gear, and as the Winnersh man entered turn 3 at speed the man from Kennoway was trundling out of turn 2 - and although early on this was to be the deciding point of the race. Meanwhile at the sharp end 528 Shane Hector had made a Bradbury-esque start and by lap 2 was almost a straight ahead of 2nd place man 745 Lee Morgan but I doubt anyone apart from me had noticed as 886 Bradbury had already cleared all the red grade, apart from 783 Rygor who was really motoring, and was half-way through dealing with the blues - with 7 Moodie still a dozen car lengths behind. 528 was still on a charge out front with 734 Glen Sanders now the man in persuit, closely followed by 430 Edwards and 830 Andrew Bennett - though all still almost a length of the straight adrift. After his earlier scare Moodie had now got into his groove but with the damage done he was always going to be playing catch-up and although driving out of his skin as ever it was all falling nicely into place for 886 Bradbury who was now already up into 7th in a 30-car field and we had not yet reached half-distance. Struggling to deal with traffic leader 528 Hector had been caught by 734 Sanders who promptly dumps the early leader into the fence on turn 1 but his time at the front was very short lived as 430 Simon Edwards cleanly passes the 734 car to take it up. As we reach half-distance the order reads: 430 Edwards, 734 Sanders, 783 Rygor - and 886 Bradbury. Next lap and 734 Sanders is passed by both 783 Rygor and 886 Bradbury - and if he had cared to look in his mirror he would have seen the silver 7 machine of Moodie filling it. 430 Edwards is doing a masterful job of holding off 783 Rygor who in turn has his handsful trying to keep 886 Bradbury behind him. 4 laps to go and it is still 430 Edwards, 783 Rygor, 886 Bradbury and, a car length or so adrift, 7 Moodie with none of the top 4 actually seeming to close on eachother. With 3 to go there is a big four-car pile-up on turn 4 just as the leaders come round turn 3 but somehow 430 Edwards and his hard-charging persuers manage to avoid getting caught up in it but it does put 783 Rygor within striking distance and in goes the front bumper on the yellow 430 car and 783 Rygor is through. Last lap. As the leaders go down the start/finish straight 430 Edwards surprisingly launches a revenge attack on 783 Rygor, pushing him wide into turn 1 but 886 Bradbury somehow manages to slip cleanly down the inside of the pair of them to lead - with 783 Rygor then on the receiving end of an attack from 7 Moodie which sees him into 3rd behind the cheeky 430 Edwards and this is how they finish ! You couldn't script a race like this if you tried ! So Bradbury takes an amazing win with another truly superb drive from 430 Edwards seeing him finish in 2nd after his 3rd place in the final the day before at St Day. 7 Moodie was a magnificent 3rd but was closer to winner Bradbury at the end than he was when he missed that gear at the start - take from that what you will. I don't know about you but I am counting down the days to Saturday September 14already.......!! The Grand National was always going to be a bit of an anti-climax after such an amazing final - or was it ? A good entry of 28 cars, including 7 Moodie, lined up to do battle - with handicap man 886 Bradbury at the front of the pack hoping for a stoppage to help him catch the back of the reds. He didn't have to wait too long either as 851 Gary Smith spun shortly after the start, finishing up in a dangerous position facing the on-coming traffic on turn 2 which brought out the yellow flags. Advantage Bradbury ? No, because the Steward declared a red flag and they all lined up in their original starting positions once more. 676 Hooper came to grief early on turn 4 after the green as once more 528 Hector took it up, 845 Andrew Morgan then challenged 528 Hector for the lead but his efforts only resulted in the two having a coming together which saw the 528 car of Hector launched clean over the bonnet of the 845 Morgan machine on turn 4 which brought out the yellow flags out once more. Advantage Bradbury ? Yes. And no as at the re-start 7 Moodie was already up into 10th - with 886 Bradbury now tagged onto the back of the pack but still a lowly 22nd. 575 Clark had a good start at the green and made little work of taking over at the front - but 2 laps into the re-start 7 Moodie was already 4th ! Even before half-distance the number 7 car was shadowing leader 575 Clark  - but 886 Bradbury had moved heaven-and-earth to climb into 8th, then 667 Tim Farrell and 686 Jay Scott tangled on turn 2 and 254 Richard Beere had a problem and out came the yellows again. Advantage Bradbury ? Damn right but it was still going to take something very special from 886 Bradbury if he was going to cause an upset in this one. A lap before half-distance and we were off again, and with 575 Clark's 3 car length advantage over 7 Moodie at the time of the stoppage now gone it was no surprise to see the silver number 7 car right on the back of 575 Clark as we eventually reached half-way - with the surprise being 783 Rygor now up into 3rd and just ahead of the charging 886 Bradbury. 7 Moodie quickly passed 575 Clark and set about putting some clean air between himself and the rest, hoping that 575 Clark could hold up both 783 Rygor and 886 Bradbury but that was only wishful thinking as 575 was down to 4th in the blink of an eye. As the lap boards came and went the positions stayed the same with only 676 Neil Hooper's excellent recovery drive up to 4th the only change to the top 4 and at the flag it was another fine win for Scottish ace Moodie, his second GN win at Smeatharpe in eight days, with 783 a superb 2nd and 886 3rd. An anti-climax ? You decide !

Saloon Stock Cars

After some good racing from the Saloon boys at St Day the previous afternoon the scene was set for some heavy action around the tight Smeathape oval. With a few more cars swelling Sunday's entry - including visiting interest from north-of-the-border in the shape of newly crowned World Champion 618 Start Shevill, brother Graeme in the 661 car and, hoping for much better luck, 620 Aaryn Triggs - good things were promised. Also among the 17 car line-up were 120 Shane Brown, who had missed the previous day and 916 Luke Thomas again in the Eddie Darby rent-a-stock !  2 Paul Tuppen and new Cornish Champion 199 Phil Powell were the winners from Sunday and it was 199 Powell that took the lead early in a very lively heat 1, with Irish Open Champion 56 Georgie Boult particulary entertaining, but it was European Champion 120 Brown who reminded us all just how good he is by taking the win, with 199 Phil Powell continuing his good form in 2nd and my old mate former National Banger World Champion 158 Shane Davies in 3rd. 16 Saloons line up for heat 2 and after the usual pushing-and-shoving at the start it is 103 Chris Horwell who takes the lead from 199 Powell - with 56 Boulty again putting himself about this time giving World Champ' 618 Shevill the hurry-up through turns 3 and 4 as 176 Murray Jones retires to the infield with a broken steering arm. At half-distance it is still 103 Horwell from 199 Powell - with 620 Aaryn Triggs having better luck today now up into 3rd. 56 Boult has now set about 158 Shane Davies but never one to shy away from a duel the Gravesend boy is giving as good as he gets, almost launching the 56 car as they battle down the main straight. 158 adds further to the action by then being shoved hard into leader 103 Horwell by 995 BenGoddard - which means we now have a new leader and that is Scotsman 620 Aaryn Triggs. An explosive final lap sees 120 Shane Brown in 3rd launch a suicidal attack on 199 Powell on turn 3, making contact but it is only a glancing blow and with 199 Powell surviving and continuing to finish 2nd the 120 car is left spinning like a top. A good win then for 620 Triggs, making up a little for the lousy luck he had on Sunday, with 30 Barry Hollett finishing 3rd. Would we see a Scotsman win a Saloon Stock final at Smeatharpe ? We'll see. 16 Saloons line up for the final and with a different winner in each of the earlier heats it is going to be difficult to pick a winner. 217 Sid Madgwick and 56 Georgie Boult are early casualties at the start as 103 Chris Horwell takes it up once more from 199 Phil Powell, 620 Triggs gets punted into the centre by the mischievous 995 Goddard - and then gets spun by 120 Shane Brown as he rejoins. 103 Horwell is still the leader at half-distance, with 199 Powell still there in 2nd, 2 Paul Tuppen then turns 710 Vince Stone around to move up to 3rd. As the lap boards come out 103 Horwell and 199 Powell are still well clear up front but 120 Brown has now taken over 3rd and 199 Powell must be praying he doesn't get any closer as his ageing bones surely cannot take another attack from the European Champion ! He need not have worried though as the gap hardly shortened and at the flag it was a deserved win for 103 Chris Horwell - with 199 Powell taking his third 2nd place of the day and 120 Brown 3rd. Another good display from the ever-popular Saloon Stock Cars.

Autospeed Bangers Teams of Four

Something a little different for the Autospeed Bangers with their Team Championship. Nine teams of four were listed in the programme with many of the sports top names split among them. There were one or two fancied runners missing however after penalties were handed out following last week's allcomers 'wreck-fest' - but still it was going to be difficult to pick an obvious winner. One team that did look strong though was Team Blorange, tooled up with no less than 3 Ford Pumas for 654 Mark Pope, 87 Paul Lawer and Stock Rod refugee 151 Simon Vincent - with a fresh Ford Focus for another on-loan Stock Rod pilot 83 Adam Ignaczak. Could a sports car pedigree be the winning combination ? We'll see. The teams were split into 5 heats with 4 cars from each team allowed in each of their allocated races and each team allowed to start 3 of the 5 heats. Somehow we ended up with 27 cars in heat 1 which included the team of Pumas but unexpectedly they didn't clean up, in fact 654 Popey was the first car to be spun ! Also in this one was a Ford Sierra Estate in the hands of 636 Dave Kerswell, proper 'old skool' and although a bit of a handful very well it went too. 475 Ben Sealy made the best of his front row start to take the win from the Honda Coupe of 929 Sam Baker and the Puma of 87 Paul Lawer. Heat 2 and 26 starters this time around with big pile-ups at the start on turns 3 and 4 and at the opposite end of the track on turn 2 which 910 Katie Dawe manages to avoid to take the lead, briefly, as when she comes to a halt on turn 2 team mate 916 Luke Thomas is the man that takes it up. For a lap or two the 916 Mondeo of Thomas is flying but then he too comes to a stop on turn 2 and it is his team-mate 929 Sam Baker who now leads with 5 laps to run. At the flag it is still 929 Baker - with 60 Andy Bulled not far behind in 2nd, just ahead of the well-used Honda Civic of that man 246 Ryan Sparks. 23 cars for heat 3 which begins with the 87 Puma of Lawer getting spun by the Puma of team-mate 151 Vincent, a dirty lot these Stock Rod drivers ! Team-mates 816 Martin Gill and 113 Chris Jeanes who started together on the front row are the early leaders, with 28 Steve Linly in his very quick Mondeo looking threatening in 3rd. 113 Jeanes then comes to grief but his 2nd place is then taken over by another team-mate and family member 133 Jody Jeanes but he then gets passed by 28 Linly. Last lap and 28 Linly takes over at the front in what has been an excellent race and at the flag it is the garbage disposal engineer from St Austell that takes a well earned victory for his 'Underdogs' team. Heat 4 and by now there are many 'walking wounded' among the 27 starters but still the pace is quick and the racing lively. The rear axle of the well-used 654 Mark Pope Puma is completely banana shaped yet it still manages to get around the track quicker than the still fairly straight version of team-mate 151 Simon Vincent - and it is these 2 that take the early lead. 476 Andy Ridley then manages to remove both the rapid little Fords in one go which hands the lead to 133 Jody Jeanes - but then the waved yellows come out for a problem with the already flattened Puma of 654 Popey after being clobbered by 912 Simon Rees and the cars are lined up once more for the re-start. 133 Jeanes leads the remaining 19 cars away and never looks back, going on to take a convincing win from team-mate 816 Martin Gill and veteran racer 194 Alistair Buchan. 29 starters this time for heat 5 with a lot depending on the result which will decide which of the top 8 teams go through to the final. A big pile-up on turns 1 and 2 begins the action in this one with several fancied runners coming to grief almost before the start. Another pile-up on the exit of turn 4 sees the unfortunate Rachel Tavender in the 153 car get hit hard by several different cars, pushing her little Honda Civic a fair way along the start/finish straight - which brings about a race stoppage. 19 make the re-start which is led away by 38 Kevin Styles with action still taking place all around the raceway it is hectic stuff. The final lap saw 194 Alistair Buchan in a leading position but some tactical driving saw him hooked out by 910 Katie Dawe as he exited turn 4 for the final time, handing the win to 621 Scott Kendall, with 910 Dawe then taking the runner-up position and 938 Ashley Rice 3rd - with the quick thinking 194 Buchan recovering and crossing the line in reverse for a deserved 4th. So to the final and the race to decide which team will be Champions for 2013. With all four members of the leading eight teams qualifying the standings were: Green and Blacks 47 points, Underdogs 37 points, Balls Out (!) 34 points, RJS Messers 31 points, Rookie Blues 23 points, Team Blorange 21 points, SMD 21 points and Team Dave Weare 20 points. With everything still to play for 26 cars took to the track for the last race of the day. The grid draw saw 182 Nathan James (SMD) and 246 Ryan Sparks (RJS) make up the front row, Ford Mondeo verses Honda Civic - with four of the earlier heat winners: 929 Sam Baker, 133 Jody Jeanes, bin-man 28 Steve Linly and 475 Ben Sealy making up the last two rows. After the usual pushing-and-shoving at the start it was the Civic of 60 Andy Bulled (RB) 87 Paul Lawer (TB) and 113 Chris Jeanes (GB) that led with action all around the raceway. Surprisingly 87 Lawer tried to pass leader 60 Bulled - personally I would have buried him, nothing personal Andy but it seemed the better option (!) - but as he did this 113 Jeanes passed the pair of them as a big pile-up began to form on the exit of turn 2. 87 Lawer then attempted to spin 113 Jeanes which allowed 60 Bulled back past to lead again (should have buried him........!) and then the waved yellow flags came out for a shaken 910 Katie Dawe (BO) on turn 2 to spoil things. 60 Bulled headed the field for the re-start, with the four 'Green and Black' team-mates 113 Chris Jeanes, 816 Martin Gill, 475 Sealy and 133 Jody Jeanes lining up directly behind him ! One car that didn't make the 16 car line-up though was the now 3-wheeled Puma of 654 Pope, not for want of trying though as both car and driver definitely seemed up for the challenge, but the Steward he say 'no'. The re-start was just as lively with 60 Bulled once again showing his class at the head of the snarling pack, followed again by 113 Jeanes, 475 Sealy and 133 Jeanes with 5 laps left to run it was certainly looking good for the men in green. This is how it remained until the final lap and what happened next was quite bizarre, as the leaders came across the always menacing 28 Linly (U) half-way along the main straight the leader 60 Bulled passed and continued to the flag while all 3 of the 'Green and Blacks' piled into the orange 28 Mondeo on turn 3 ! This assault continued through turns 3 and 4 and down the start/finish straight, with the 4 cars coming to a stop on turn 2 - with 28 Linly attempting to shake off his assasins like a dog trying to rid itself of fleas - good to watch but hard to explain ! At the end though despite an excellent race win for 60 Andy Bulled the overall result was a convincing win for the 'Green and Blacks' team with 95 points and they became the 2013 Team Champions - and good value they were too ! Finishing 2nd overall were RJS Messers with 49 points and 3rd were 'Balls Out' with 46 points. Bringing to an end another excellent session from the Autospeed Bangers - and a thoroughly good days oval racing overall.