United Downs Raceway - Sunday 15th June 2014

St Day’s June fixture was greeted with some very pleasant summer weather, which was very welcome after the deluge of rain at the previous meeting.  For the BriSCA F2 Stock Cars it was their biggest date of the season in Cornwall with the World Championship qualifying round and they were supported by the Stock Rods and 2 Litre National Bangers in the latest round of the ‘Old Skool Series’.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

The St Day qualifying round has ebbed and flowed in terms of entries and interest over the past few years and it is probably correct to say that this year it sat somewhere in-between, with perhaps the lack of visiting interest making the entry of 35 cars (of which two did not race) look worse than had been hoped for or maybe anticipated.  It did however include 7 Gordon Moodie who, for the second meeting running, made the overnight haul from Scotland whilst other long distance travellers were last year’s winner 578 Mark Gibbs and 124 Ollie Skeels.   The first heat saw World Champion 783 James Rygor reel in and pass Gibbs in the closing stages to win whilst the second heat saw Moodie catch and pass 428 Tyla Keveth with a lap to spare and had the white grade not tangled with a back marker at the halfway point, he may have held on for victory.  315 Justin Fisher won the consolation.  This set everything up for the Neil Truran Motorsport sponsored Final and it got off to a bad start as 460 Matt Weston spun on the first lap and it triggered off a chain reaction crash behind that saw 124 Skeels and 605 Liam Rowe tangle and 676 Neil Hooper clattered into and ride the plating on turns three and four and finish up on the bonnet of 542 Steve Gilbert.  All of which necessitated a red flag and a complete re-run.   When they did get going again it was minus six cars from the first attempt and after Keveth had led until just before the halfway stage, Gibbs took over and had what, at one stage, looked like it might be an unassailable lead.  Moodie was the quickest of the star men and over the remaining laps he whittled Gibbs’s lead down until he was in a position to pounce and he made his move with two laps to go.  However, it wasn’t that simple as Weston found himself in the leader’s path on the last lap and this allowed Gibbs to attempt a last bend move, which Moodie was ready for and was able to ride out.  Thus it was a heat and Final double and maximum score for Moodie with Gibbs second and Rygor third.  A yellow flag for the tangled cars of Fisher and 756 Richard Thomas brought Moodie right into play from his lap handicap in the Grand National, but he ran out of laps to catch and pass 254 Richard Beere who denied him a National Points maximum, but nevertheless another day that can be considered a Cornish rout for Moodie.

2 Litre Old Skool National Bangers

The National Bangers ‘Old Skool’ series does have its critics, although we cannot understand why and really, who can argue with a 34 cat entry as was the case for this, the fifth round of the 2 Litre series.  This included some more new faces to the series and at least a little bit of variety to the Ford Mondeo and Cougar, which was the main choice of car.  The first heat was particularly lively with plenty going on all around the raceway, although it was brought to a premature conclusion with a driver somewhat inexplicably standing in a dangerous position on the track, after exiting his car.  It was 479 Jamie Jenkin who took the win.  More action in heat two, this time it was 929 Sam Baker who won from flag to flag.  The Final again saw another very lively event, some of it hard but nothing untoward with regards the ‘Old Skool’ rules.  131 Sam Hill took the win from 912 Simon Rees and 153 David James.  Unfortunately, the Allcomers race had to be abandoned.  97 Craig Deer was on the end of a thunderous follow-in from 133 Terry Hill.  Deer quickly got out of his car, but when the race was stopped for Rees, Deer began to feel unwell.  Medical assistance was called, and then the ambulance, which necessitated the abandonment.

Stock Rods

The Stock Rods are in the midst of a busy period, but still produced a 17 car entry, which would have been one more had 909 Justin Washer not failed in practice, which rendered his long trip from Sailsbury worthless.   The solitary heat saw 49 Kev Lock hold on, which he was going to do in any case, but the race was halted under red and chequered, with 12 Kev Hocking and 675 Martin Nash tangled together on the racing line.  The Final was headed off by Nash until 22 Wayne Belcher took over but all the while, 306 Neil Truran was coming through the traffic from the red grade and had caught the leader with five laps to run.  He found that Belcher only offered limited resistance and he made the move with three laps to run and went on to win.  Belcher held on to second and 151 Simon Vincent was third.   The Grand National saw a win for Vincent, whilst Truran, aided by a yellow flag yes, made it up to third place.  181 Lindsey Jones found himself excluded, after he had spun around 92 Adam Daniels.