Smeatharpe Stadium - Sunday 18th August 2013

Report by Jon Wyatt

Questions, questions, questions - that was what faced the sizeable crowd that gathered at Smeatharpe for the penultimate BriSCA F2 Stock Car meeting before the big World Final date in September. Probably the most burning being could 886 Chris Bradbury possibly win an eighth F2 feature final on the spin ? (Although as far as I personally was concerned the BIGGER question was WHAT would Bradbury do come World Final night, bearing in mind he was lining up alongside 218 Robbie McSpeak on the front row.........?) Among other big questions that demanded answers were what award winning local F2 driver was seen earlier at an Exeter car-boot sale loitering with intent ? Would 430 Simon Edwards' awful run of bad luck continue ? Could Autospeed afford to pay DOUBLE prize money to an F2 driver should he win the GN from a lap handicap (not that it could happen) ? Could a RWD car possibly win the ORCi Stock Rod West of England Championship ? And had National Bangers been added to the race programme as a late addition or had the rules for Autospeed Bangers been changed for their allcomers race ? Almost all these - and several more - would be answered before the fat lady sung............. 

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

A reasonable showing of 35 BriSCA F2's assembled in the Smeatharpe pit area, even without the few no-shows it was a class line up without a doubt. Of course 886 Chris Bradbury was among the entry, fresh - or should that be damp - from taking heat and final wins at a wet Coventry the previous evening. Poor Chris though, his heart must have sunk a little as he watched the unscheduled arrival of the Silver No.7 car of a certain Gordon Moodie enter the pit area. Also among the list of talent - although not all of it un-tampered with (!) - was the man who convincingly won the World Final last time it was held at Smeatharpe 401 Barry Goldin. Add to that the cream of the local talent and we had the recipe for a good-day at-the-races for sure. 886 Bradbury's spirits were surely lifted for a moment when 7 Moodie suffered a gearbox failure in pre-race practice - after recording the day's fastest lap - but this was short lived as the Scottish star goes nowhere without a spare 'box these days and the part was changed before the 1.00 pm start time. Although pre-race practice was run on a dry track rain had fallen before the 18 cars lined up for heat 1 and track conditions were wet to say the least. 401 Goldin and 7 Moodie were among the starters but it was wet-weather specialist 830 Andrew Bennett that took the honours, although it was not an easy win as 189 Paul Butcher caught and indeed passed the yellow grader at half-distance but Bennett re-took the lead cleanly on the final lap through turns 1 and 2, with 522 Chris Mikulla by far the best of the stars finishing an excellent 3rd - and surprisingly 7 Moodie and 401 Goldin only managing to finish 8th and 9th respectively. Perhaps the National Points Champion was a little rusty after NOT racing Saturday night - prefering to attend a wedding instead. The track had dried out considerably by the time the 17 cars came out for heat 2 which saw the immaculate 886 car of Bradbury take its place at the back of the grid. At the green it was clear that the Winnersh man was in no mood to accept anything more than the win as he fairly flew through the field, up to 6th by lap 5 ! Meanwhile 528 Shane Hector was the early leader but he was under a black cross for an obvious jump-start, with 745 Lee Morgan following close in 2nd, while not far behind them was 430 Simon Edwards and blue grader 605 Liam Rowe. Half-distance and it is still 528 Hector but 605 Rowe is up to 3rd and 886 Bradbury 4th, next lap though make that 2nd and 3rd. With 5 to go 886 passes 605 and that is that, Bradbury storms to victory with 605 not too far behind in 2nd - with 528 Hector docked 2 places for the jump-start 430 Simon Edwards is promoted to 3rd, and there's no one more deserving. 14 non-qualifiers lined up for the consolation which was led initially by car-boot fanatic (!) 734 Glenn Sanders but just as it seemed he had the race under control a steering problem slowed the 734 car down just after half-distance and he was passed by 686 Jay Scott. Also suffering a problem, and not for the first time this season, was 116 Ashley Rundle which was a big shame as he was looking excellent value for a time in 3rd behind 476 Ryan Wadling. As the lap boards came out a good battle for the honours between 686 Scott and 476 Wadling went right down to the last bend on the final lap with 476 Wadling using a text-book move to dislodge leader 686 Scott, pushing him wide to snatch the closest of wins - with sole red grader in this one, 126 Jamie Avery, finishing 3rd. And so to the 'Steve Rich Memorial/St Johns Ambulance White-Top Trophy' final........ A few spots of rain began to fall as the cars took their places on the track and although there were 29 starters (as there were only 9 finishers in the consolation) in reality it was only ever going to be a two-car race. At the back of the grid, like a pair of Roman Gladiators, the red roof of the 886 Bradbury car sat a length or two ahead of the silver roofed 7 machine of Scotsman Moodie - question was would this be the same position in just 20 short laps' time? Remember too there was a certain 'St Johns Ambulance White-Top Trophy' to play for but at the green it was the back of the grid that most if not all eyes were focussed as 7 Moodie made an electric start, almost clearing all the red graders before the end of lap 2. A big pile-up then formed on the exit of turn 4 involving at least 5 cars - ineviatably including the luckless 430 Simon Edwards - which looked to spoil the fun and while 528 Shane Hector led the field at the back 886 Bradbury was having a shed load of problems himself. After catching and passing them all he was then re-passed by 935 Nathan Maidment, 7 Moodie, 401 Goldin and 676 Neil Hooper after 7 Moodie gave him a bit of a hurry-up through turn 3 which put him off his stroke but before any more places were lost 797 Dan Moss joins the carnage on the exit of turn 4 which now sees the 529 car of Paul Barker resting across the front of the 575 Tom Clark machine and the waved yellows make their first, but not last, F2 appearance of the afternoon. So with 17 laps still to run the cars are lined up in the order they were which sees 528 Shane Hector the leader from 734 Glenn Sanders - while further back it's 401 Goldin in 11th, 7 Moodie 12th and 886 Bradbury back in 18th position, behind 676 Hooper. No sooner had the green flag waved, and before we could all work out who had made the best of the re-start, an incident on the exit of turn 2 which involved 476 Ryan Wadling and, you guessed it, 430 Simon Edwards ended with the 'Flying Jockey' truly living up to his nickname finishing up on his side up against the turn 4 plating. Blimey, if he didn't have bad luck he'd have no luck at all but thankfully Simon was able to exit his car unaided to much applause from the crowd - but particularly me. Re-start number 2 again saw 528 Hector lead the now remaining 21 cars away, but this time 8th in the line-up was 7 Moodie - with 401 Goldin two cars behind and 886 Bradbury a further two cars behind him in 12th. The green flag saw Bradbury as quick as a rat up a drainpipe, clearing both 676 Hooper and 401 Goldin before the they got to turn 1 ! Whilst up ahead 7 Moodie was being no slouch and was already up into 5th and looking a match for anyone. 734 Sanders, a good bet for the White-Top Trophy, was doing his chances no harm at all by moving to the front at the expense of 528 Hector but both could probably already smell the Castrol 'R' steaming through the engine of the No. 7 car as Moodie was now up to 3rd ! A lap later and there is a Scotsman knocking on the door of the lead - and the bumper of the 734 Sanders car - but before pleasantries can be exchanged he's let himself in and it's 7 Moodie that takes it up to huge roars from the crowd. Not to be outdone 886 Bradbury has helped himself to 4th, behind a flying 605 Liam Rowe - with now the first 4 cars all within less than a car-length of eachother, and we're in for a stroming finish. 886 Bradbury soon cleanly passes both 605 Rowe and the gallant 734 Sanders and sets off in persuit of 7 Moodie and that 8th final win. As 605 Rowe moves past 734 Sanders ahead 7 Moodie is now about half-a-straight in front of 886 Bradbury but the lap boards are now out, the gap between chaser and chased narrows to about a car length as the 3 lap board appears, with 605 Rowe still there or thereabouts in 3rd. If 886 Bradbury is going to get that 8th final win he is really going to have to pull an ace from the pack but he draws a king and although it is plain to see he briefly thinks about a last bend lunge he backs off a little and to loud cheers it is 7 Moodie that takes the win to end an amazing run from the man who most fancy to lift that prestigious World title - or should I say 'fancied' as this win by Moodie has turned the form books inside out. Fair to say though that the cheers from the crowd would have been just as loud had Bradbury won, the crowd to a man thoroughly enjoying the superb racing. 605 Rowe, one of the most under-estimated drivers around in my humble opinion, took a well deserved 3rd place - with 734 Sanders taking the equally well desrved 'St Johns Ambulance White-Top Trophy' and a brand new Yokohama tyre to boot. I wonder if we'll see that for sale at a local car-boot sale in the very near future........... A 29 car field made up the Grand National, with 7 Moodie the handicap man hoping no doubt for at least one race stoppage to help his cause for double points for a top-ten finish. He didn't have to wait too long either as after a lot of early pushing-and-shoving ex Stock Rod driver 255Greg Radmore had a big impact on turn 4 which saw the waved yellows out and a lengthy delay whilst the stricken driver, making his Smeatharpe F2 debut after racing at Ipswich the previous evening, was extricated from his car by the excellent track staff and St Johns boys and girls. As the 26 cars lined up for the re-start 886 Bradbury was already up to 13th, just ahead of 522 Chris Mikulla - with 7 Moodie now in contention but back in 19th position. Bradbury made an excellent start moving into 10th place by the time the he crossed the start/finish line at the green as 734 Sanders took up the lead. Next lap and 886 Bradbury was showing in 7th, surely no one was going to stop him this time, and by the start of the next lap the 886 car was in 6th - with 7 Moodie now up into 9th. A lap later and Bradbury has taken over 4th, still just ahead of 522 Mikulla - with 7 Moodie now closing in 7th, and 734 Sanders still at the head of the pack chased by 519 John Scorse. Next lap and you guessed it Bradbury is in 3rd - with Moodie now 5th - and we are not yet at half-distance ! As the union-jack is shown the order is: 734 Sanders, 519 Scorse, 886 Bradbury, 7 Moodie and 522 Mikulla. As 886 Bradbury moves into 2nd behind 734 Sanders, 7 Moodie is only a couple of car lengths behind him and the sweat begins to show on the promotors faces as they do the sums.............. It is not long before 886 Bradbury moves to the front but 7 Moodie shadows him into 2nd and there is still nothing between these two. With 5 to go 522 Mikulla has taken over 3rd and 7 Moodie is climbing all over the rear of the 886 car, as the 4 lap board is shown 7 Moodie pushes 886 Bradbury wide into turn 1 and we have a new leader. Just then, as the 2 lap board makes an appearnce, it appears that Bradbury's NSR tyre is deflating and although perhaps not obvious to all it probably is to others and in particular 522 Mikulla who is now on the back of the 886 car and seeing his chance closes within striking distance of the slightly slowing Bradbury, waiting until the last corner of the final lap to send the 886 car wide into the corner with a big portion of bumper to snatch 2nd - with 886 Bradbury recovering for 3rd, just ahead of 401 Goldin and 519 Scorse. Another super race - and another win for the man from North-of-the-border. I said to him, as he climbed smiling from his victorious silver-roofed car, that he 'only won because Chris had a puncture' - to which he quickly replied 'aye, but I had a lap handicap......' Some people are just so easy to wind up ! Incidently 522 Chris Mikulla informs me that he has a new RCE built car nearing completion, having sold his current immaculate example to ex' rally driver and Karter Simon Harraway who hopes to give it its maiden outing in his hands at the Smeatharpe F2 meeting in October. Be interesting to see if rallying experience is an advantage in an F2 Stock Car.

ORCi Stock Rods

It was West of England Championship time for the Stock Rods and joining the usual suspects was lone visitor 364 Nathan Olden. Surprisingly it was veteran racer 306 Neil Truran who went fastest in pre-race practise, his RWD Toyota Starlet showing the more modern Vauxhall's that there is life in the old dog yet.........or DOGS if you include the car ! But that was just a fluke, surely ? The formula's current 'bad-boy' 909 Justin Washer had unveiled his super-smart new Peugeot 106 at St Day a fortnight ago but a head gasket problem had kept him out of the actual racing. Today he had kept faith with his old car just to be on the safe side - and the older machine was to serve him well. The grid for the title race was to be made up from points scored in the heats - with the top scorers at the front. All 20 cars lined up for race 1 and on a now dry track it was 22 Wayne Belcher who led the early stages in what was a very fast race. 3 Matt Peters was 2nd for a while but his car started making some worrying noises from under the bonnet and with 3 to go was forced into retirement leaving the way clear for 730 Brendon Sealy to chase leader 22 Belcher. And chase he did, last lap and there is little to choose between the first 2 cars and when 825 Josh Davey half spun down the start/finish straight in front of leader 22 Belcher, forcing him off the inside line, 730 Sealy pounced and took the inside advantage and passed the hapless Belcher on turn 3 to snatch an excellent win, with 437 Lewis Trickey 3rd. 19 cars for heat 2 which initially looked a re-run of the earlier race with 22 Wayne Belcher again taking the lead early on, this time though 730 Brendon Sealy made his move early on powering into 2nd even before half-distance. Another going well was 306 Neil Truran in the Starlet, the RWD machine soon up into 3rd. With 6 laps to go 730 Sealy managed to cleanly pass the 22 Belcher Vauxhall, going on to take his second win of the afternoon - and maximum points to clinch 'pole-position' for the feature final race. 306 Truran passed 22 Belcher and almost caught winner 730 Sealy in the closing stages but had to settle for 2nd - though it was a close run thing. The 'K. Turner Scaffolding' sponsored 'West of England Championship' final saw the 18 starters line up with the top points scorers from the heats at the front. This saw 22 Belcher line up next to pole-sitter 730 Sealy on row 1, with 306 Truran on the inside of row 2 next to 437 Lewis Trickey. After a rolling start it was 730 Sealy who as expected took it up, with 306 Truran in the Toyota and 909 Justin Washer in his Peugeot 106 chasing in 2nd and 3rd. 364 Nathan Olden made an excellent start too, moving up into 7th from his starting position at the back of the pack. A good battle for the lead between 730 Sealy and 306 Truran saw the two drivers nose-to-tail, with Truran trying everything he knew to pass the 730 Nova - and Sealy doing all he could to keep the RWD Toyota at bay, with a few spots of rain then beginning to fall to help liven things up too. The deadlock was finally broken when the leaders caught the back-markers, 730 Sealy had been keeping to a tight inside line throughout the race forcing 306 Truran to attempt to go the long way around the outside, problem being for Truran both cars were almost equally as quick but when 730 Sealy was forced to go wide in an attempt to pass back-marker 12 Kev Hockings 306 Truran saw his chance and moved to the inside - giving Sealy no other option but to tuck back in behind the Toyota and that was that. Truran lost little time passing the No.12 car and went on to take a very good win, with 730 Sealy having to settle for 2nd after his two earlier wins and 909 Washer a worthy 3rd. Thankfully Truran did not repeat the jumping-up-and-down-on-the-roof-of-his-Toyota antics that were very much a part of his celebration the last time he won a Stock Rod race - much to the relief of the little Japanese car and onlooking paramedics.

Autospeed Bangers

As is usually the case an excellent entry of 75 cars arrived at Smeatharpe this time to battle for their Devon Championship. The entry included defending Champion 246 Ryan Sparks but he really was going to have his work cut out to retain the fine trophy with so many cars in attendence. The first race on the packed programme though, and on a very wet track after the morning rain, was the Smeatharpe round of the FORDS mechanics event and among the entry were Autospeed trophy girls Lisa and Emily, so almost everyone present prayed that there would be no long race delays or stoppages for a broken finger nail or smudged eye-liner........and just as the 14 cars lined up a few spots of rain began to fall, so finger crossing seemed by far the most sensible thing to do. We need not have worried though, Harry van Someron in the 438 Dan Rice loaned car was the run-away winner, leading from the start, while behind him much pushing/shoving and general mayhem kept the crowd on their toes - with my Facebook friend Lisa Graber in the 677 Glenn Nash Honda lapsing in-and-out of control particularly entertaining !! Ministock sweetheart Emily Hector finished an excellent 2nd in the 881 Gary Emery machine just ahead of Simon Brooks in the 888 car - but credit to all those that took part though as conditions were far from favourable.

Race 1 proper produced 23 Autospeed Bangers and on a now dry track an extremely fast and almost incident/action free race saw ex Westworld Banger star 421 Chris Luke Junior make the best use of his front row start to power his way clear at the front, he might have won it too had he not fallen foul of back-marker 70 Jamie Thomas who spun him 4 laps from the end handing the lead to debutant 476 Adam 'Friday' Ridley who went on to take the chequered flag. 421 Lukey did manage to recover for 2nd, with 83 Ben Styles 3rd. Heat 2 was only a tad more exciting action-wise as the 22 starters sped their way around the Smeatharpe oval in an attempt to qualify for the later title race. The race was stopped however after waved yellows came out for the detached exhaust pipe of 311 Simon Rogers that was in a dangerous position on the main straight - but this is as exciting as it got. 187 Nathan Power led away the re-start from 88 Lou Howell but his lead was short lived as first 284 Leon Benjafield and then 88 Howell passed, with 88 Howell then spinning 284 Benjafield to take it up. 186 'uncle' Leon Fasey was storming through the field and certainly looked a contender for the win but 88 Howell kept his cool - and his right foot firmly down - even though 186 Fasey pushed him around turns 3 and 4 on the final lap probably faster than he had gone all race (!) and went on to score a maiden win in his super-smart Honda Coupe. Talking of super-smart Honda Coupes, 929 Sam Baker's example was an absolute peach and well worth the 'best presented' award he picked up too. Back to the race and 186 Fasey took a deserved runner-up spot, with that man 246 Ryan Sparks gradually winding himself up for the big race in 3rd. Heat 3 saw another 23 cars line up and was again fast and furious with not too much action. However an excellent battle for the lead between the Honda Civic of 677 Glenn Nash and the BMW of 185 Richard Coaker after half-distance certainly kept the crowd interested, these 2 way ahead of 3rd place man 333 Craig Partridge. 677 Nash hung to take the win, another for Honda, proving the marque was going to take some beating this afternoon. The consolation fielded a track-filling 34 cars and with so many out on the raceway it was inevitable that there would finally be action in this one - and action there was. With incidents breaking out all around the crowded oval it wasn't long before the waved yellows came out for a problem with 384 Scott Benjafield on turn 2. 311 Simon Rogers led away the surviving 28 cars for the re-start and once again the action came thick-and-fast, with a big pile-up forming on turn 4 which claimed several cars including 331 Duncan Kennard, who seemed to take more punishment than most which eventually saw the need for a further race stoppage. 24 Ollie Cope led them away once more and once more there was plenty of pushing-and-shoving, and doing more than his fair share of this was 247 Richard Sparks in his battered but rapid Honda CRX as he barged his way to the front and to the win - ending a three race 'drought' for the Sparks' family ! 910 Katie Dawe and 916 Luke Thomas were the runners-up. The 'Devon Championship' saw all 34 qualifiers out on track with 130 Chris Durrant and 421 Chris Luke making up the front row - and defending Champion 246 Ryan Sparks the back. At the green it was 421 Luke that again made the early running in what was again a fast run race, catching up with those at the back of the field by lap 3. Consolation winner 247 Richard Sparks was an early casualty whilst brother Ryan was on a charge from the back in the 246 Honda.  As 185 Richard Coaker took over at the front a big pile-up started on turn 2 and each lap it seemed to claim another victim, helped by the demise of cars - including many fancied runners - 246 Sparks found himself edging ever more closer toward the front and when 185 Coaker had an almost terminal coming-together with the abandoned 358 car on the start/finish straight, 246 Sparks it was that emerged as the new leader, going on to take the win and retain the title against the odds it has to be said. 83 Ben Styles was the runner-up, with an excellent drive from white grader 284 Leon Benjafield seeing him home in 3rd place.

The last 'proper' race of the day was the Allcomers race and 36 cars took to the track for what is traditionally the most exciting and action-packed of races on a normal Banger programme, be it 'Rookie' or 'National' Bangers. I've seen a few National allcomers races where there has been little or no contact, rare I know but it happens, but I cannot explain exactly what happened on Sunday as after a big pile-up occurred on turn 4 after 320 Dan Abbott got put into the fence flat-out. Next thing and almost the entire field are steaming in, one after another, in true National Banger style. Next there is a track blockage but still some cars are driving at speed into the carnage, with some even waving others in ! Obviously although entertaining this IS 'Rookie' Bangers and certainly not within the spirit of the rules and after a minute or so and with almost no cars running the steward declares 'enough is enough' and for the first time that I can certainly remember the red flags are shown and the race declared.  Even though I didn't think we had reached 4 laps, somehow 10 had been completed ! A surprised 475 Ben Sealy was given the win on the day - at the time with no other finishers - but after consideration of video evidence a full result has been published.

The annual caravan race was the last event on the packed programme and after the 14 entrants had caused the usual mayhem and destruction it was 154 Barry Pike that emerged as the winner of the 'Collander Trophy'. Highlight for me though was seeing 246 Ryan Sparks power flat-out deep into a big pile of wrecked caravans on turn 4 early on - where he remained for the entire duration of the race, unseen, only to re-emerge, on foot, through an open door of one of the wrecked caravans after the race had concluded !

NOTE - result of Allcomers for Bangers has been confirmed following a video review - for further info, click here