United Downs Raceway - Sunday 18th March 2018

There was certainly an interesting and memorable start to the new national Stock Car racing season in Cornwall, as racegoers and competitors experienced weather conditions that ranged from bright and sunny to snow showers at the United Downs Raceway.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

The concerns over travel conditions for the journey back from Cornwall, dissuaded some drivers from further afield from making the trip, and that left a 19-car showing of F2s.  Unsurprisingly, the opening heat was especially lively, with new season enthusiasm to the fore.  After just five laps, the race was suspended, as 920 Wayne Wadge ground to a halt at the pit gate.  That nullified the big lead which 398 Ian England had carved out for himself, and soon into the restart he found himself relegated down the order; eventually placing seventh.  542 Steven Gilbert took the win, from 468 Sam Weston and Track Champion 302 Dale Moon.  The action moved up a further notch in heat two, which was the race of the day.  The first flurry of sleet arrived at this time, which started to dampen the track.  Again, it was England who led early on.  689 Joe Marquand moved ahead, but was then relegated to second by 111 Lewis Geach.  Marquand responded with a wild attack on Geach, entering turn one.  That sent Geach to the fence, and Marquand spun off the back bumper of Geach, to also hit the plating, where he was then heavily collected by 572 James Lindsay.  Out came the yellow flags to rescue the assorted damaged cars.  418 Ben Borthwick led off the restart, but he was overhauled by Gilbert.  However, in a thrilling battle, back came Borthwick, and he regained the lead, just in time to see out  the last couple of laps and clinch the win.  The snow was at its heaviest for the Voice of Autospeed F2 final, which saw Gilbert grab the lead when 528 Shane Hector and 667 Tommy Farrell ran very wide as they disputed first place.  Once ahead, Gilbert stretched his lead to a significant advantage by the midway point, with Geach trailing in second.  Weston had to retire with a broken wheel guard, and that really was the last point of note in an ordinary race, as Gilbert finished way clear of Geach and Borthwick.  Just seven cars braved the elements for the Grand National, which was won by Moon, from Geach, whilst Gilbert returned to third from the mandatory one lap handicap.

2 Litre Old Skool Bangers

The appearance of a number of drivers who had not originally booked, was a helpful contributory factor in an entertaining showing from the 2 Litre Old Skool Bangers.  The first heat was full of incident, with quite a lot of crashing at both ends of the circuit.  836 Adam Oldham swept to victory, from 907 Cameron Bradford.  Heat two was the first race that the Bangers had to contend with some snow.  Bradford came from the back of the field to the front, but Oldham overcame a slow start, to reel in Bradford, and edge past him to take a second win.  Only a small number of drivers remained for the Final, and Oldham again showed the rest a clean pair of heels, as he stormed to a third straight win.  Bradford was the runner-up once more, and 113 Jack Gill completed the top three.

Ministox

The second Cornish date of the year for the Ministox brought a good car count, as 16 youngsters did their best to cope with the tricky conditions.  The opening heat was won at a canter by 946 Stacey Coombes; her maiden victory.  She hit the front early on, and was comfortably clear at the chequered, with 972 Jack Soby a distant runner-up.  Heat two followed a similar pattern, as Coombes got into the lead.  The gap between her and Soby did ebb and flow, but Soby was unable to mount a telling challenge, and thus Coombes won for a second time.  Into the Mini Mayhem Trophy final, sponsored by Lindsay Motorsport, and Coombes yet again set a fast pace at the front.  In an untidy start, 677 Warren Darby made good early progress, but although he climbed to second place, there was to be no catching Coombes, as she completed a hat-trick of wins.