Smeatharpe Stadium - Sunday 26th January 2014

The first race meeting of the year at Smeatharpe lived up to its billing as the Winter Open, with a day of perishingly cold weather, punctuated by some heavy showers.  The heavy rain throughout the morning had done its worst to spoil everything for all concerned, and it was a markedly reduced crowd on last year’s bumper turnout of spectators.

2 Litre National Bangers

A little under 50 drivers converged on Smeatharpe for the 10th annual Winter Open Championship, with a good showing of Gladiators, and an assortment of Cream Team and associates (several of whom were not in easily identifiable colours).  Mondeos and a few Cougars dominated the car choice, with the six cars selected for Best Presented Car awards being those of 17 Kyle Overy, 162 Brett Ellacott, 176 Ben King and 190 Steve Bailey, and the slightly more old school styles of 284 Leon Benjafield and 427 George Harris.  Another potential smart car was that of 218 Kev Plunkett, but unfortunately, it failed to make it out on to the track during the afternoon.
The first heat saw 20 cars grid, and Kyle Overy sped to a green flag to chequered victory.  Much of the action centred on the first instalment of Creams and Gladiators as they battled one another by the old pit gate.  Ben King ran in 637 Dan Smith and 539 Danny Allen was comprehensively followed-in in the west bend, by 648 Jamie Smith.  Allen seemed to take exception to this, and pulled across Smith to meet almost head-on, on the next lap.
In heat two, 997 Cameron May was on the receiving end of plenty of hits, with the Gladiators giving him quite a lot of attention.  May was also inadvertently clobbered by 237 Craig Launder.  348 Sonny Sherwood led almost from the start, but having taken the chequered he slowed down, and was unexpectedly caught unawares by Launder, who rattled him around the pits bend plating before the reds came out.  There was an excellent sporting handshake at the end of the race, between May and 349 Lewis Price, who had probably caused the Cornish racer the most damage with a savage hit.
Of the 17 starters for the consolation, seven of them were Gladiators, and despite some repeat efforts by 45 Anthony Croshaw to disrupt their flow, he could not halt 589 Simon Smith from taking the win.  The heaviest action came when 261 Jack Collins ran in 841 Tom Perkins.  Five of the Gladiators featured in the finishing order, to progress to the Winter Open final.
Some bizarre shenanigans as the grid formed saw Sherwood return to the pit area, and a couple of Gladiators retire to the infield before the rolling lap, as they opted to “save” their efforts for the Allcomers.  After a lot of first lap crashing, it was 47 Marcus A’Lee who led the first couple of laps.  Thereafter, 382 Jack Foster took over, and he proceeded to build up an enormous lead.  A’Lee ran regular foe Jones around the plating in the west bend, but then pulled to the infield.  As numbers dropped, with more and more withdrawals from the race, Foster extended his lead to around about half a lap.  Steve Bailey was a very distant second, with Ellacott third and Overy fourth – just in front of the race leader, Foster.  However, Having taken the two-laps-to-go board, Foster encountered Croshaw, and having got in a tangle with him in the west bend, the two of them ran aground by the fence.  As Foster reversed back to extricate himself, still with his lead intact, Croshaw also reversed back, and effectively trapped Foster up against the fence.  Bailey, who had been cruising in second place, some way behind, suddenly saw the window of opportunity open up for him, and he inherited the lead, almost as surprised as anyone.  Foster eventually broke free from Croshaw, who then eased forward and took to the infield.  An incensed Foster drew alongside Croshaw and gestured to him to rejoin the race, with an air of undisguised retribution.  Croshaw remained parked up on the infield.  Bailey saw out the remaining one and a half laps, to clinch the title, and Ellacott and Overy completed the top three.  After the race, more words were exchanged between Croshaw and Foster.
A bumper car count of 35 drivers lined up for the Allcomers, and from the front row, Foster was off and away like the proverbial scalded cat, as soon as the grid set off on the rolling lap.  Jones administered a huge blitz of Launder, which eventually finished his day, and a stoppage was needed late on, when the punishment handed out to 61 Darryl Theedom left his car in a fearful mess on the back straight.  Foster sealed the win, as only seven went the distance.
Fourteen cars made it back out for the DD, which proved to be a fierce and brutal contest.  Half of those who took to the track were Gladiators, and after the first couple of minutes of exchanges, there was a stoppage when 522 Chris Orchard and 330 Matthew Warr were on the receiving end, with the Wasp needing attention.  Just a handful remained, and numbers reduced again when the 542 Craig Oliver car went on fire.  When the contest resumed, only a few were left to battle it out to the finish, with Benjafield the first to be set upon by the remaining Gladiators, who then brought Hitchcock’s involvement to a close.  To finish, it came down to 206 Phil Milner, limping along at low speed and with minimal directional control, and 457 Dan McCormack, whose far healthier looking Mondeo estate proved just too tough for his fellow Gladiator, and he took the win.

Unlimited cc National Bangers

An extremely mixed and varied selection of unlimited cc National Bangers saw some terrific cars take to the grid, including a Lincoln Town Car for 801 Micky Plum, an Omega limo and a Volvo 9 series limo respectively for track debutants 922 Andrew Tew and 921 Kairan Wilson.  The Volvo saloon of 146 Steve Voss was particularly smart.  Amongst the cars which had raced before, 303 Nic Saintey returned his Jensen Interceptor from the Banger Bonanza, 842 Jack Perkins gave his Yank Limo a further outing, and there was a splendid Mk 1 Granada for 17 Kyle Overy.
In the first heat, 452 Anthony Sleeman tracked down long time leader Overy to move ahead with three to run, and that also left Overy at the mercy of 341 Andrew Jones, who spun the youngster to the wall on the home straight.  Earlier in the race, Jones had landed a thumping hit on the Perkins Yank limo.
It was 265 Stewart Foster who led away the second heat, which came alive when Wilson powered his limo into the stricken 74 Adam Hitchcock.  Fellow Welsh visitor Tew found himself broadside on the exit of turn four, and he came under fire from Jones and 239 Steve Carter.  It was Carter, and then Jones, who also brought about the termination of the Team Toilet Jensen of Saintey.  Up front, 190 Steve Bailey took the lead for a brief period, but Sleeman marched through once more for his second win.
Just ten cars were left for the Final, which included Jones following in the Micky Plum Yank at the end of the back straight.  The front of the Yank disintegrated, and the blitzed car was left hanging off the fence in quite a mess.  Perkins and the ever-entertaining Jones indulged in their own private battle by the old pit gate, whilst a close battle for the lead saw Bailey and Sleeman duel for honours, with Pikey just edging out Sleeman in the race to the flag.  Carter completed the top three.

Ministox

At the start of the meeting, 907 Cameron Lawrence was duly crowned as Points Champion.
A respectable showing of 15 youngsters contested the day’s trio of Ministox races, the entry having been boosted by three long distance travellers – 236 Ryan Polley from East Anglia, 119 Harry Steward from the south east and 629 Euan Millar, all the way down from Scotland.  Of the westcountry contingent, 917 Warren Darby and 911 Harrison Bryant were each making their track debut, whilst 667 Tommy Farrell raced a Ministox for the very first time.
From the rear of the grid to the front, Polley managed to charge his way to victory in the opening heat of the day, from Steward, and 986 Sophie Fasey.  A chaotic finish saw the west bend littered with spinners, but the leaders managed to safely negotiate their way through the mayhem.  In his first ever race, Farrell was ninth.
The second heat saw front runners Bryant and Darby tangle, with Darby being disqualified for turning Bryant inside out on the home straight.  Out came the yellow flags to rescue the stranded Bryant.  From the single file restart, Fasey led off 989 Joe Marquand, and that’s how they stayed to the chequered, with Steward completing the top three.
Bryant made a very good start to the final, and led for much of the race.  In the closing stages he was reeled in, and dropped back to sixth by the finish, but it was still a promising showing.  Victory went to Marquand, which ensured the day’s wins were all neatly shared out, whilst Polley just overcame Fasey for second.