United Downs Raceway - Sunday 23rd March 2014

Report by The Newshound

Good numbers of BriSCA F2 Stock Cars and Stock Rods, were supplemented by a reasonable showing of unlmited cc Old Skool National Bangers, on a day of Spring sunshine at St Day.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

A fine showing of 30 drivers assembled for the first Cornish date of the year, including 572 James Lindsay on his career debut.  In the opening heat, 542 Steven Gilbert set the early pace, but when 430 Simon Edwards clashed with 627 Gary Sillifant (the former having pushed the latter sideways for over half of the back straight), the teenager’s advantage at the front was eroded.  Undaunted, Gilbert again set about building up a lead when the race resumed.  However, World Champion 783 James Rygor was on a charge and he hunted down the white top to take the lead with a couple of laps to spare.  Heat two served up a fascinating battle between 575 Tom Clark and 991 Ryan Hoskin.  Repeatedly, Hoskin repelled Clark’s attacks, until late on when Clark finally managed to shift the obstinate youngster.  Clark went on to win, 76 Chris Rowe nipped by for second, and Hoskin was third, whilst the last bend saw lone red top 676 Neil Hooper tangle with 935 Nathan Maidment and neither made it into the top ten.  526 Marc Rowe led for a long time in the consolation, and it was only in the closing stages when Hooper and Maidment pounced to take first and second respectively. The Voice of Autospeed Trophy final was fiercely contested, although surprisingly in view of the packed grid, the race did nearly run its full course without any cause for caution periods.  Gilbert again managed to get out into the lead, whilst heat winner Clark made short work of the yellow grade to lead the pursuit of the youngster.  The complexion of the race altered, when Gilbert encountered Sillifant, who had spun in the pits bend.  As Gilbert approached, and opted to go around the outside of the #627 car, Sillifant tried to edge out of the way, and inadvertently succeeded in hindering Gilbert.  Clark needed no second invitation and pounced, to grab the lead.  With victory seemingly in the bag, out came the yellow flags after a series of incidents.  Although parked out by the fence in the turnstile bend, Marc Rowe had indicated all was well, until a gaggle of cars were bundled into him.  Amongst the pack, 116 Ashley Rundle had shoved Sillifant into the Rowe car.  Sillifant then ground to a halt on the back straight, and 30 metres further up the track, Rundle clattered into the plating on his own.  Further confusion on the back straight saw 254 Richard Beere and 315 Justin Fisher tangle bumpers.  After the yellow flags, the single file assembled, and Clark had 476 Ryan Wadling on his tail, with gold top Rygor sat in third.  However, only two laps remained.  At the drop of the green, Gilbert was away like the proverbial scalded cat, and he got the jump on Wadling and Rygor, to snatch second place.  Rygor overhauled Wadling and then relegated Gilbert down the order, but Clark was away and gone.  Clark clinched victory, Rygor was second, and Maidment got third in the very late stages of a very entertaining race.  Another clash between Sillifant and Edwards at the start of the Grand National, left the former with plenty of front end damage, and also enabled Clark to negate his one lap handicap by joining the back of the single file grid.  Wadling showed well in this race, but the star men came good at the end, as Rygor led home Hooper and 522 Chris Mikulla, with Wadling fourth.

Unlimited cc Old Skool National Bangers

Although slightly short on numbers, the unlimited cc Old Skool National Bangers did offer so variety of car, with a Rover SDi, some Jaguars and Volvos, and the pick of the day with 120 Mark Ashley’s wonderful Triumph Stag.  It was Ashley who led much of the opening heat, but in the second half of the race, 619 Ross Thomas edged past 114 Nick Courtier, and reeled in the Stag to claim victory.  Heat two looked to be heading to 82 Danny Hunt, who had built up a comfortable lead.  However, his car expired with less than three laps to run, and 113 Aaron Brown inherited the lead, and the win.  Thomas swept to a second victory in the final, as he ran out a convincing winner, with Courtier the runner-up for the third successive race.

Stock Rods

The second outing of the season for Stock Rods in Cornwall saw eighteen cars grid; with 675 Martin Nash prevented from making his first appearance of the year by a misfire.  The entry included former Points Champion 306 Neil Truran making his first appearance of 2014, and a return to Stock Rods for star driver 354 Mark Sear, who was at the wheel of the 429 Sammy Trengove car, whilst the usual pilot was sidelined with a wrist injury sustained in a charity rugby match.  The opening heat was cautioned when there was a loose spring on the track, and a further caution period was called with 12 Kev Hockings stranded in the pits bend.  68 Levi Robinson also spun off at this point.  Star grader 776 Simon Jones swept impressively to the front, and took the victory.  In the final, 71 Andrew Harvey showed the rest of the pack a clean pair of heels as he stormed away to build up a useful lead.  Again it was Jones who made the best progress from the star grade, but this time he could only climb as high as second, whilst 3 Matt Peters completed the top three.  The Grand National heat saw 22 Wayne Belcher out front, pursued by a red top trio of 40 Rick Cornell, Jones and Truran.  Cornell suffered an engine problem and was sidelined, and Belcher stayed clear of the two stars to record his first win of the season.