Smeatharpe Stadium - Sunday 8th June 2014

Report by Steve Linfield

The latest meeting in season 2014 at Smeatharpe Stadium was met with somewhat stereotypical weather for the venue in the Blackdown Hills with bright sunshine, rain and then bright sunshine returning again.  There was a packed pit area and a busy programme of events accordingly, which added up to five hours of entertainment for those who were on hand, or stayed on to the conclusion.

Stock Rods

The Stock Rods reached the fourth round of their new for 2014 National Championship Series, with the previous three being at Arena Essex, Ringwood and Barford accordingly.  There were a couple of first time visitors in 19 Alex Martin and 148 Wayne Shackleford amongst the 22 car entry.  A late yellow flag in heat one whittled 68 Levi Robinson’s lead right down and 136 Steve Gooch was in a position to pounce at the restart and he went on to take the win.  The second heat was ultimately the best race of the day for the Stock Rods with 7 Aaron Charles holding on under great pressure from 909 Justin Washer who put in a gallant effort around the outside whilst Gooch and 49 Kev Lock were right there too.  Charles made it a second win in heat three after finding his way past Robinson.  The track was wet for the Final and it certainly changed the complexion of it all for some.  49 Lock made a swoop around the outside of both Charles and Robinson early on to lead and at one stage it looked like he could hold on.  However, Gooch was once again on impressive form and caught and then passed Lock with three laps to run, and went on to win.  In doing so he put himself at the top of the National Championship Series chart.  Lock once again took a good result with second and 675 Martin Nash recorded one of his best results with third.

Bangers

For the Autospeed Bangers it was their biggest date of the year with the fourth running of the British Championship.  Whilst the 58 car entry was good, there is no getting away from the fact that there were over 12 no shows from those who had booked (and paid their entry fee) which did have an effect on the planned programme, as the consolation race ultimately needed to be cancelled.   Firstly, the the six of the nine would-be seeded entrants who were present from the qualifying rounds staged at St Day, Smeatharpe and Arena Essex were invited to stick with the position they drew on track prior to racing, or twist by going through the heats to try and better it.  Despite some lowly draws, they all opted to be seeded direct to one of the two Semi Finals.  The heats went to 372 Jay Matthews and 242 Ben Ellacott in one and two and then three and four to 28 Steve Linly and 416 Ben Borthwick.  The points scored from these determined the line-ups for the two Semis which would then set the grid for the feature race.   Despite being one of the seeded entrants to draw near the back of the grid, 247 Richard Sparks came through to win the first Semi Final, and then defending title holder, his brother 246 Ryan Sparks took the second Semi after 912 Simon Rees gave him a good run for it only to get taken out by the back marking 199 Chris Tester.   Richard Sparks won the coin toss to put the first Semi Final on the inside line and he duly converted that to the lead on the first lap.  However, 612 Lee Pink used his inside second row position to attempt to push him wide and this allowed Ryan Sparks to slip through and lead.  But, further back Rees was left stranded across the track which brought out an early yellow flag.  Pink was not able to keep terms with the Sparks duo after the restart who pulled clear in a race of their own.  The gap between them ebbed and flowed but Ryan Sparks always looked in command and went on to take the title for the third year in a row.  Brother Richard had to make do with second and Matthews was third.

Unlimited cc Old Skool National Bangers

Two weeks after Crasharama, the unlimited National Bangers were back, this time in a round of the ‘Old Skool’ series and there were 22 cars in attendance, including several of those who were part of the afore mentioned meeting and some giving the new/old concept a go for the first time.  One of them, 190 Steve Bailey came through to win heat one.  The track was at its wettest all day for heat two and 619 Ross Thomas went on to win by some margin.  It was back to the sunshine for the Final and it was without doubt the most spectacular Banger race of the day with lots going on throughout.  Perspectives of what is, and is not, ‘Old Skool’ differs but equally it is to be remembered that it is still Banger racing.  A pile up at the pit gate saw 162 Brett Ellacott charge head-on into 114 Nick Courtier, and when they tussled to get back in the race, 176 Ben King ran into the driver’s side of the 114 car, and was then collected himself by 383 Bradley Hutchings.  The red flags appeared for the injured Courtier.  341 Andrew Jones was disqualified for running 165 Paul Easterbrook around the west bend fence.  Just ahead of the reds, Bailey had caught right up with long-time leader 120 Mark Ashley – in his Triumph Stag and that is how they finished, with Thomas third.

Ministox

A significant showing of 18 Ministox were on hand to complete the quartet of formulae racing, including 117 Lauren Overy and 219 Harry Steward from the eastern side of England.  The first heat came down to a dramatic last bend with 986 Sophie Fasey pouncing in on race-long leader 906 Sam Rees and the latter impressively fended off the challenge to take the win.  Rees again headed off heat two but this time Fasey was through the traffic quicker and hit the lead with two laps to  spare and went on to win.  The Final was led by 943 Hannah Esau until she retired from the lead which left 951 Aiden Vincent ahead with Fasey coming through well.  A yellow flag with a trio of cars stranded on turn two brought the pack together and Fasey took up the running soon after the restart and she went on to win.  There was a good battle for second between Vincent, 917 Warren Darby and Steward was resolved in favour of the latter and it was 907 Cameron Lawrence who made third.