United Downs Raceway - Sunday 28th July 2013

Report by Jon Wyatt

The weather forecast promised 'sunshine and showers' and sure enough sunshine and showers is what the good people who arrived at the United Downs Raceway on a summer's afternoon in July for the annual 'Cornish Caravan Chaos' meeting got - though there certainly seemed more of the latter than the former. On the thirteen race programme supporting the caravans were the Autospeed Bangers, the youngsters in the Ministox - contesting their Cornish Championship - and the supposedly 'non-contact' Stock Rods.............

ORCi Stock Rods

Unfortunately the unfavourable weather forecast kept one or two drivers from making the journey to Cornwall - including Hampshire's 364 Nathan Olden who usually adds a little spice to proceedings. Another driver who can normally be relied on to liven things up, 909 Justin Washer, was also a non-starter - although at the track with his superbly turned out 'new' Peugeot 106 he failed to make the start of any of the races. A big shame. However 15 cars did make it and all lined up for heat 1 which was run on a very wet track. 22 Wayne Belcher eventually took the win in this one, after passing sole white grader 26 Alan Furse, but he had an almost race-long battle on his hands with the smart green Corsa of 12 Kev Hockings until the Exmouth man got involved in a turn 3 traffic jam after veteran 54 John Tait had spun a couple of laps from the end. 306 Neil Truran in the rear-wheel-drive Toyota Starlet, who had been the quickest in pre-race practise, kept the crowd entertained throughout with his drifting style through the bends, using every inch of the wet track on his way to a fine 5th place. The Stock Rod final was run on a drier, faster track and as in the earlier heat it was 22 Wayne Belcher who hit the front after passing early leader white grader 26 Furse - whilst behind them a right old battle was forming for 3rd between 675 Martin Nash, 12 Kev Hockings and 83 Adam Ignaczak. This backed the pack up considerably which allowed 22 Belcher to pull away at the front a little, with 26 Furse still holding 2nd, but when 441 Tom Major and 151 Simon Vincent joined the 3rd place fight it was going to take some brave driving around the outside to sort the men out from the boys. Step forward 441 Major, the Cheddar man made the break, closely followed by 12 Hockings and while 675 Nash kept the tight inside line - and the snarling pack behind him - these two set off after leaders 22 Belcher and 26 Furse. Just after half-distance both 441 Major and 12 Hockings caught and passed 26 Furse, with 181 Lindsey Jones then getting punted hard into the infield marker tyres on the start/finish straight bringing out the waved yellow flags - just after 441 Major had relieved 22 Belcher of the leader's responsibilities. The re-start saw a 3 lap dash for victory, with 441 Tom Major going on to take his first St Day win from 22 Belcher, who was only inches ahead of 12 Hockings at the flag. Blue grade Major's win was the first by a non yellow-grader in 14 races ! The rain had returned for the Grand National which saw final winner 441 Major on the usual lap handicap, so things looked good for earlier winner 22 Wayne Belcher, but in racing things seldom go to plan and although very much on the pace it was 675 Martin Nash who was first past early leader white-grader 26 Alan Furse. As the leaders go down the main straight 22 Belcher gets pushed onto the infield as he attempts to pass leader 675 Nash, stopping the 22 car in its tracks - and earning 675 Nash a black cross from the steward. With the leader still 675 Nash holding a very tight inside line and the very wet track making it extremely difficult to pass around the outside some over enthusiastic driving from the bunching pack around turn 3 ended up with a big pile-up involving half the field. At first 306 Neil Truran seemed to have come through unscathed to lead but he then spun almost immediately on turn 4 and it was indeed 151 Simon Vincent who inherited the leading position - with 437 Lewis Trickey moving into 2nd. Thankfully the rest of the race was less eventful and 151 Vincent went on to take the win - with handicap man 441 Tom Major finishing an excellent 4th - and the unfortunate 675 Martin Nash excluded from the results for contact.

ORCi Ministox

The annual 'Summer Fancy Dress Parade' was the first event on the programme for the youngsters and even the rain failed to spoil the efforts made by the various crews. All were excellent but particular credit to 951 Aiden Vincent whose 'Thomas the Tank Engine' entry saw large plumes of smoke puffing out of the 'chimney' of his Mini - as opposed to the exhaust that we have recently become accustomed to......!! Top marks also to 910 Tom Cadby who stripped to his nappy (!) in the damp conditions for his 'Royal Baby' themed entry - and if the child actually grows up to look like the Grampound red-grader then he's sure to break a few ladies hearts ! To the racing itself and it was a little disappointing to see only 11 cars assemble in the pit area to contest their Cornish Championship - particularly as there were some fine trophies, garlands and flowers put up by sponsors SP Services of Doublebois for the occassion. Heat 1 saw all available cars out on the damp track and at the green it was 987 Ethan Pope that took the early lead - and he almost went on to take a flag-to-flag victory but for a certain 907 Cameron Lawrence who pulled off a text-book move to push his way past the Illogan driver on the last corner of the final lap to snatch a superb win from his starting position at the very back of the field. 986 Sophie Fasey was never far behind winner Lawrence throughout the race and she was also able to take advantage of the winner's last corner lunge to take 2nd - with 987 Pope eventually finishing 4th. From the wave of the green flag there was always only going to be one winner of heat 2 as 907 Cameron Lawrence simply stormed through the field from the back, taking an uncontested win after moving to the front on lap 3 - and showing just why his immaculate car sports the top-points-scorer's silver stripe. The consistant 989 Joe Marquand finished 2nd just ahead of 255 Frankie Radmore. The Cornish Championship final on paper at least looked a foregone conclusion, with the 10 cars starting in the order of points scored in the earlier heats putting double race winner 907 Cameron Lawrence on pole position at the front. At the green, and again on a very wet track, it was indeed the Newton Abbot super-star that took it up but just as he began to get comfortable at the front an incident on turn 4, which saw the 951 car of Aiden Vincent hit the fence hard, brought about an immediate stoppage and after a lengthy delay the cars lined up for the re-start. 907 Lawrence led the remaining 7 cars away, from the very capable 986 Sophie Fasey and the now fully clothed 910 Tom Cadby and if anyone was going to spoil things for the on-form Lawrence it was going to have to be swift and it was going to have to be effective. As the green flag waved off went 907 Lawrence but 986 Fasey obviously had a plan and the flying lady took the only real option and comprehensively spun the 907 car aside as the field stormed down the main straight to take the lead, with 910 Cadby shadowing in 2nd. To his credit 907 Lawrence recovered well and set off in persuit of his prey but despite managing to claw his way back up into 2nd on the final lap it was Devon resident 986 Sophie Fasey that took the Cornish Championship - from the hard-charging 907 Lawrence and 910 Cadby. Representing sponsors 'SP Services' ex-Ministox multi-champion 942 Steven Gilbert was on hand to present the spoils to the deserved winners - and well worth winning they were too !

Bangers

An excellent 58 cars arrived in the St Day pit area including some quite unusual examples among which were an Alfa Romeo 156, a Toyota Celica and Vauxhall Tigra for Lightning Recovery team mates 254 Will Blight, 818 Terry Rowe and 720 Shaun Martin.
The first event on the programme was the Mechanics race in aid of the FORDS Care oval racing charity which produced 6 starters including glamourous some-time trophy girl Lisa Graber in the loaned 677 Glenn Nash Honda Civic but even she was no match for the Mondeo of 17 Gareth Austin who managed to master the very wet conditions like a seasoned veteran.
It was still raining when the 29 cars lined up for heat 1 proper, which was a lively affair with many getting caught out on a very slippery track including 910 Katie Dawe who made heavy contact with the fence on the exit of turn 4 bringing about a race stoppage. Ex National Banger man 421 Chris Luke led away the remaining 25 cars for the re-start which was no less lively with ex Ministox man 907 Ben Sillifant showing undoubted talent taking the deserved win after a good dice with 912 Simon Rees. Heat 2 produced 28 cars and although it had stopped raining - briefly - track conditions were still very wet and once again this caused several coming togethers and certainly kept the damp crowd entertained. The indecently-quick-super-smart almost over-prepared Mondeo of 916 Luke Thomas took this one after a late charge from the unusual Honda CRX Del Sol of fellow star man 247 Richard Sparks. The track had dried out a little as the 30 cars lined up for the consolation but the race still had its fair share of action. 818 Terry Rowe in his Toyota Celica was the early leader and looked good for the win as the sporty Jap machine seemed particularly suited to the tight United Downs track but back marker 847 Andy Whatley had other ideas and spun the 818 car on turn 2 with just 2 laps to run. Star grader 372 Jay Matthews thus inherited the lead and took a good win after a storming drive from the back, with 406 Chris Bridger getting his best result for a while finishing a close 2nd. The final began on a dry track and had 27 starters with an early pile-up on turn 4 taking care of heat 1 winner 907 Ben Sillifant among others. With plenty of action all around the track the race was brought to a sudden halt after 250 Moss Janson had gone hard into the side of the the 247 Dickie Sparks' car on the start/finish straight bringing out immediate waved yellow flags for the stricken Honda driver. Thankfully all was okay with the Newton Abbot star and 333 Craig Partridge led the remaining 20 cars away for the re-start. As 333 Partridge got into his stride at the front some storming driving from the back of the field had seen 938 Ashley Rice, multi-champion 246 Ryan Sparks and 87 Paul Lawer move into 2nd, 3rd and 4th but just as these three looked to threaten the leader the heavens opened once more, catching out 246 Sparks for one who half-spun away his hard fought 3rd place, with the Ford Puma of 87 Lawer moving up one but even he could do little to catch the flying Partridge (!) who went on to win by almost an entire straight - from 938 Rice, 87 Lawer and the recovered 246 Sparks. 30 cars contested the very wet Allcomers race and once again the slippery conditions added to the fun as the cars pushed and shoved their way around the greasy raceway. 247 Richard Sparks had mangaed to straighten his earlier t-boned Honda to make the start and what a good move that was as the rapid little machine was a cut above the rest in this one, using every inch of the track as he carved his way through the field from the red grade. There was even a complete roll-over on turn 1 but thankfully the race was allowed to continue and it was Newton Abbot man 247 Richard Sparks that took the thoroughly deserved winner's trophy - even finding time to spin brother Ryan on the run-down lap ! 372 Jay Matthews finished a good afternoon for him by taking 2nd just ahead of the Ford Puma 654 Mark Pope. So, another superb performance from each and every one of the Autospeed Banger formula, putting on an excellent show for the enthusiastic - if wet - crowd.

Cornish Caravan Chaos

The annual caravan race was the usual orgy of destruction and inspite of the now awful weather conditions an excellent 12 entrants lined up which included defending Champion 87 Paul Lawer in the Puma and representing the 'Handstand Appeal' - the charity the race is sportingly organised for - 250 Moss Janson in a car/caravan kindly supplied and built by Mark Sear and crew over at Sear Race Preparations in Falmouth. 429 Sam Trengove had the smallest caravan in the 'race' but surprisingly it was the longest survivor lasting several laps and countless assaults - but before long it had been reduced to just a chassis along with all the others. Everyone to a man entered into the spirit of the event and all deserved credit but there could only be one eventual winner and that was 847 Andy Whatley, the Illogan man looking particularly pleased with his win - or were the smiles because he was safe in the knowledge that it was not HIM who had to clear up the mess ?!!

On a personal note, a huge 'thank you' to everyone who made this year's event possible, a lot of money was raised for a VERY worthwhile cause - and I was lucky enough to be able to hold the little boy, Marshall Janson (for whom the appeal is for)  and we had a lovely chat and I know he had an enjoyable day. See you next year little man !