United Downs Raceway - Sunday 3rd March 2013

Report by Jon Wyott

The first BriSCA F2 meeting of the new season took place at a far from Spring-like United Downs - but if the weather was a little on the chilly side the on-track action was hot, indeed at times almost sizzling (!) with all three of the formulas on the programme well represented.  The BriSCA F2's were competing for the fine 'Voice of Autospeed' trophy, the second running of the event that remembers the much-missed comentating legend that was Bill Dalley, and an excellent 31 cars enabled a 2-heats-and-consolation format to be adopted.  The Stock Rods were making their second visit of the season to the Cornish track and the Autospeed Bangers were battling for the coveted 'Taiya Densham Trophy'.  Although cold, and belive me it most certainly was, it was dry and track conditions were good.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

At the start of the Grand Parade, wily Superstar 676 Neil Hooper was presented with his award for winning the 2012 St Day Points Championship by co-promoter Crispen Rosevear - also receiving a bottle of the hard stuff for recording the fastest timed lap at the recent 'Press and Practise Day'.  785 Liam Deeble was also a deserving recipient of the All Saints shield, having led more laps of feature finals at St Day in 2012 than any other driver.  Along with several new names in the formula there was the normal array of new cars, the pick of which had to be the RCE built machine of last year's 'Voice of Autospeed' winner 522 Chris Mikulla, which was absolutely stunning - though there were also fine examples of engineering from the workshops of both John Harding's Motorworld and Colin Higman making their track debuts.
 
16 cars lined up on track for heat 1 including 522 Mikulla in the RCE and it was the Wick St Lawrence man that laid down the gauntlet early by winning the first F2 race of the new season from 116 Ashley Rundle, helped a little by two race stoppages that closed up the pack in what was a lively opening race.  Early leader had been new-boy white grader 575 Tom Clark in the superbly turned out ex 2010 car of Jason Phillips - the race stoppages doing him no favours after an impressive start.  Heat 2 produced 15 starters with 785 Liam Deeble taking the early lead but 189 Paul Butcher took over at half-distance and went on to take a deserved win from 290 Jay Tomkins, back after serious illness forced him out of the latter half of last season, and 676 Neil Hooper.  14 non-qualifiers took to the track for the consolation which was yet another incident filled race, with new driver 627 Gary Sillifant having a real baptism of fire in a high-speed coming together on the start/finish straight which saw the waved yellow flags out.  There was a further stoppage when 835 Matt Westaway and drinking buddy 302 'Dangerous' Dale Moon got acquainted on turn 2, and yet another after eventual winner 'Flying Farmer' 830 Andrew Bennett had disposed of long-time leader 785 Liam Deeble by punting him into the stationary car of 686 Jay Scott on turn 3.  954 Jamie Beere the runner-up in this one.  The 24 qualifiers lined up for the 'Voice of Autospeed' final next and with a class entry a thrilling race seemed in prospect.  Now one of my favourite things in life is sticking sharp pins in clay models of Cheryl Cole but something I enjoy almost as much is seeing the 'new' drivers that come into the BriSCA F2 ranks each new season at the sport's opening meeting.  I remember fondly the debut's of drivers such as Chris Cumming and Simon Edwards, their first appearances, super-quick, straight-out-the-box performances, and the impact they each had in their 'Rookie' seasons and each year I wonder whether the new crop of drivers will produce just such a talent - and from the drop of the green flag there was certainly an obvious contender.  575 Tom Clark hit the front from the off, the white grader driving superbly in only his second F2 race while behind him the field battled hard to get on terms.  785 Liam Deeble was also flying the flag for the white grade and doing a stirling job holding 2nd, pursued hard by the far more experienced 116 Ashley Rundle but neither were making much impression on leader Clark who was already carving his way through the backmarkers that included one or two of the red grade stars.  Past half-distance now and 116 Rundle has moved into 2nd at the expense of 785 Deeble but still 575 Clark heads the pack but the gap between the two leaders is now closing.  With just five laps to run 116 Rundle does catch and cleanly pass leader Clark but the impression has already been made and I for one doubt that the roof of the 575 car is going to be coloured white for long.  A waved yellow flag stoppage for the stranded car of 315 Justin Fisher on turn 4 and a surprising coming together that involved 167 Bill Batten and 676 Neil Hooper  on the exit of turn 2 set the scene for an exhilarating final three laps - particularly as 522 Chris Mikulla had worked his way up to 5th behind 783 James Rygor, 785 Deeble and 575 Clark.  At the green it was the talented 116 Rundle that kept his head, cruising to the win, with 522 Mikulla passing both 785 Deeble and the impressive 575 Clark but not quite managing to catch 2nd place man 783 Rygor, but it was close, with 575 Clark eventually coming home an excellent 4th.  A good result then for 116 Ashley Rundle who was the first to admit that he had rather lost his enthusiasm for the sport last season, hopefully this fine win will be the beginning of a successful year for the Callington man.  The Grand National event was again led by 575 Clark but just as he began to build up a good lead the waved yellows came out for 605 Liam Rowe who had come to grief on the back straight, his stricken car then threatening to ignite.  Not for the first time this afternoon 575 Clark led away the re-start but as he began to put some distance between himself and the following pack out came those waved yellow flags once again, for a hard coming together between 352 Dave Sansom and the fence, and 290 Jay Tomkins on turn 2.  Leader 575 Clarke had the rapid 783 Rygor right behind him at the re-start but the Westbury man had a N/S/F rapidly deflating tyre, behind Rygor though was 676 Hooper, desperate to salvage something from the opening meeting of the season but oblivious to this 575 Clark made another superb start and almost managed to hang on for the win but was passed on the last corner cleanly by both Hooper and 126 Jamie Avery to finish 3rd.  An excellent day's racing from the BriSCA F2's.

ORCi Stock Rods

The Stock Rods were making their second visit of the new season to United Downs and with the first being a wet affair it was going to be interesting to see if the winner then, 364 Nathan Olden, would be as quick on a dry track.  19 of the little non-contact machines lined up for heat 1 and it was 315 Trevor Ashworth that took an almost flag-to-flag victory.  71 Andrew Harvey had held his inside line solidly to keep 2nd place for most of the race which did rather bunch up the field behind him, but eventually 364 Nathan Olden managed to find a way past but even with a late race stoppage for a big incident on turn 2 that involved almost half the field after 71 Harvey had spun, 315 Ashworth just hung on to win the one-lap-dash and take the deserved honours.  The second race of the day for the Stock Rods was their final with 20 starters out on track.  Ex Ministox driver 825 Josh Davey made full use of his white grade advantage to sweep to his maiden victory, taking the lead on the opening lap after passing 778 Dave Horwell around the outside at turn 2.  315 Trevor Ashworth came close but had to settle for 2nd after not finding as quick a route through the backmarkers as leader Davey, and with 22 Wayne Belcher finishing an excellent 3rd it was a clean sweep for the white grade.  364 Nathan Olden being sidelined with mechanical gremlins this time around.  The Grand National saw 778 Dave Horwell take the lead at the start but waved yellows meant an early stoppage for the 54 John Tait car that had come to a standstill on the exit of turn 4.  Leader 778 Horwell was the next casualty after the re-start, hitting the fence hard also on turn 4, which again had the yellow flags waving.  22 Wayne Belcher led the field away once more but he soon had 364 Nathan Olden for company but just as things really seemed to be hotting up at the front 22 Belcher slammed into the fence on the exit of turn 4 in an almost identical crash to that of the unfortunate 778 Horwell and we were into yet another race stoppage.  Thankfully things settled down after this and 364 Olden went on to take the win from 315 Trevor Ashworth.

Autospeed Bangers

Among the 54 Autospeed Bangers that filled the St Day pit area were a couple of unusual mounts.  A Honda CRX for 247 Richard Sparks but tool of choice for 20 Nick Manning was the very rare Baur BMW 320 Cabriolet - with customised metal roof section I hasten to add.  Could either of these exotic beasts be an answer to the brace of Ford Pumas of 87 Paul Lawer and 654 Mark Pope that dominated the earlier February meeting?  28 cars took to the track for heat 1, including the 20 BMW which looked very strange indeed, and from the start it was action all the way, with a roll over on turn 3 by ex Ministox pilot 903 Adam Neville bringing out the waved yellows.  45 Mike Reed ran out a fairly easy winner after the re-start from 511 Dan Crosbie.  26 starters for heat 2 included both the Pumas but it was the Ford Focus of 491 Charlie Fulbrook that made the early running.  When he came to grief it was 426 Chris Gill who took over only to be spun on the last corner of the final lap by 916 Luke Thomas who took the win of what had been an entertaining race – Thomas punching the air in celebration as he crossed the line.  The consolation raised 25 cars and began with action at each end of the raceway before 912 Simon Rees topped the lot by rolling down the back straight which got the yellow flags waving.  The re-start saw 320 Dan Abbott hit the front but he was soon relieved of the lead by the flying Puma of 87 Paul Lawer, with the Camborne man going on to record a resounding win.  25 qualifiers for the 'Taiya Densham Trophy' final which was fast, furious but largely uneventful.  845 Albert Haines was the long time leader of this one, throwing his well-used Mondeo around the raceway in fine style with the chasing 426 Chris Gill, 416 Ben Borthwick and the BMW Cabrio' of 20 Manning having an excellent dice for the the other placings but storming through the field once more was the rapid little Puma of 87 Lawer and with 4 to go he'd passed everyone but 845 Haines.  Try as he might the big Mondeo was no match for the baby Ford and it was the flying 87 Lawer that took the win.  A late charge saw 20 Manning pass the 845 Mondeo also but 3rd place for Bugle man Haines was indeed a superb result, with 20 Manning justly pleased with his performance in the unusual BMW.  The final event of the day was the Allcomers which saw 22 cars out on track, although not as lively as this event normally is a good battle between the Mondeo of 438 Dan Rice and the double race-winning Puma of 87 Lawer kept the crowd entertained.  At the chequered it was the 87 car that crossed the line first but the Puma pilot was docked four places for starting in the wrong position (should have been at the back of the grade as a race winner), handing victory to 438 Rice.  247 Richard Sparks finished 2nd in the little CRX - the highest finish for a member of the Sparks family all day, now that is unusual!!

BriSCA F2 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Heat 1 522 116 605 315 126 254 575 890 first 8 to final
Heat 2 189 290 676 935 783 476 167 229 first 8 to final
Consolation 830 954 352 797 991 756 785 979 967 950
Voice of Autospeed Final 116 783 522 575 352 254 126 935 605 676
Grand National 676 126 575 890 783 954 797 116 254 476
Grade Awards W 575 Y 116 B 783
Stock Rods 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Heat 315 364 909 54 825 22 181 9 151 675
Final 825 315 22 54 49 909 40 437 196 151
Grand National 364 315 437 909 40 151 9 83 825 181
Bangers 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Heat 1 45 511 416 247 194 321 185 186 183 406
Heat 2 916 426 845 246 910 372 929 847 154 429
Consolation 87 320 862 903 71 20 first 6 to final
Taiya Densham Trophy 87 20 845 416 186 246 929 426 862 903
Allcomers 438 247 372 916 87 246 929 71 938 804
Best Presented 20 121 254
Grade Awards W 845, 416, 426 Y 20, 862, 438 B 87, 929, 511 R 246, 916, 247
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