United Downs Raceway - Sunday 24th May 2015

Some rather unseasonal light rain was an unhelpful addition to an otherwise memorable occasion at the United Downs Raceway, St Day, where Truck Racing on a short oval circuit produced some incredible fun, for drivers and spectators.  Ahead of the start of the meeting, there was a poignant One Minute’s Silence, in memory of eleven year old Scot Kier Millar, who lost his life after an incident racing at Lochgelly in Fife, two weeks previous.

Trucks

Four trucks and two tractor units gridded for the first Truck Racing event, and in his hugely powerful Renault Magnum, 225 Richy Edmonds stormed to victory.  Putting the large Renault to the back of the field for the second race was the catalyst for some action, and one stage or another, just about every competitor spun around on the tricky surface.  The only exception was 224 Steve Williams in the ‘bin lorry’, and he took the win.  Unfortunately, the Seddon Atkinson of 540 Jason Walters suffered a puncture and other problems which prevented him gridding for the last event.  122 Dan Jeffery, too, was absent, after the brakes had seized on, on his crane lorry.  After some speed laps, the chequered flag and green flag were shown in unison to signal a DD, and what action followed.  81 Jason Nicks was first to concede, and then, in the most amazing moment of the afternoon, Williams launched his bin lorry up and over the rear of the big Renault of Edmonds.  Incredibly, that’s where it came to rest, only for Edmonds to reverse back and shake the bin lorry off the side of the tractor unit, to tip it on to its side!  Once Williams, laughing heartily, had stepped clear of the bin lorry, that left just Edmonds and 220 Paul Dunscombe.  Remarkably, Dunscombe managed to see off the Renault, to take the win at the end of a wonderful show from the Trucks racers.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

Unsurprisingly, F2 numbers were down on the usual levels, with just 19 drivers racing, after 979 Paul Moss withdrew, following engine issues encountered in pre-meeting practice.  Heat one brought a win for 116 Ashley Rundle, whilst 126 Jamie Avery got the better of 676 Neil Hooper in a fine star grade battle.  Heat two included a rollover on the exit of turn two for 663 Bryan Lindsay.  A good battle followed, featuring Hooper, Avery and 575 Tom Clark, but they were all some way behind the eventual winner, 605 Liam Rowe.  The final, for the Tyrone Snell Trophy, was a compelling race, made all the more enthralling by the ever-changing track conditions.  The first start of the race barely lasted a few seconds, before Avery had the misfortune of a stuck throttle sent him hurtling into the fence.  He was shaken up, and had to be assisted from his car.  When the race did get going, Clark overhauled white graders 572 James Lindsay and 526 Marc Rowe, to build up a good lead.  823 Sam Wagner made it up to second, but as the track dried, Hooper came on strong in the closing stages, as did Rowe.  Hooper passed Wagner to move into second, and Rowe relegated Wagner to fourth.  Up front, Clark looked set for victory, but with just one lap to go, Hooper just about got him in range.  Entering the final bend, Hooper dived at Clark, and connected.  Clark slid wide, but held on and looked to have saved himself for the run to the flag.  However, Hooper powered alongside, grabbing the inside line, and just beat Clark to the line by a very slender margin indeed.  Liam Rowe won the Grand National, quite comfortably, after Marc Rowe and 627 Gary Sillifant had made the early running.

Ministox

The youngsters in the Ministox served up a trio of very competitive races.  Heat one was littered with spins and incidents, whilst 911 Harrison Bryant emerged as the front runner who went on to take the chequered.  There was an untidy restart in heat two, and a thrilling last lap, where 922 Joe Parker edged out Bryant and 907 Cameron Lawrence to cross the line first.  However, Parker and Lawrence were docked for breaking ranks to jump the restart, and so Bryant won again, and 987 Ethan Pope took second.  The final also had a breathtaking finish.  Lawrence dived at Parker on the final bend, but Parker resisted and the two crossed the line almost glued together, with Parker a narrow winner, and 931 Jack Manhire completing the top three.

2 Litre Old Skool Bangers

Nearly 30 2 Litre Old Skool Bangers dished up some lively action.  333 Craig Partridge won a very hectic opening race.  The second heat saw 27 Kieren Bradford claim an impressive victory, whilst 947 Luke Purdy and 861 Jean-Marc Penaluna were both loaded up for failing to race to win, as they had a nonsensical private DD.  The final featured a half rollover for 284 Michael Hiscock, who was sportingly protected by 153 David James.  Numbers dwindled on the restart, and only seven cars went the distance, with 247 Richard Sparks winning from 650 Jamie Seery and 910 Katie Dawe.  Only a small number contested the Allcomers, to National Banger rules, and Seery won again, whilst 53 Chris James and 95 Marcus Bunt each found themselves on the receiving ends from heavy hits.