United Downs Raceway - Sunday 26th August 2018

The traditional August Bank Holiday Sunday fixture was blighted by miserable weather, which left the race track particularly difficult for drivers.

Saloon Stock Cars

Despite an entry of just 13 drivers, the action served up by the Saloon Stock Cars was enthralling.  The first heat featured a fine battle between star grader 56 George Boult Jnr and English Champion 27 Kieren Bradford.  476 Ryan Wadling forced his way into contention and got to the front, and although 130 Chris Durrant spun late on by the pit gate, the race continued, with Durrant tucked on the wide outside line.  Wadling saw out the closing laps to claim a first Saloon Stock Car win of the season.  Heat two was a race populated by many spins, as drivers struggled for traction.  447 Adam Hicks was turfed aside on the home straight, and he clattered into the marker tyres entering turn one.  Ultimately, the race came down to a duel between 276 Ben King and 529 Jason Secker.  King had a wayward moment on the home straight and Secker grabbed the lead.  King responded and when able, he mounted a challenge entering turn three.  King connected, but slid fencewards, and thus the Scot held on for a win on his track debut.  The Cornish Championship was led for ages by Hicks, as 902 Junior Buster tailed him, ahead of King and Secker.  As the race neared its closing stages, Hicks spun away the lead unaided and in the confusion, 399 Cole Atkins benefitted most.  Atkins grabbed the lead and Boult Jnr moved into second.  Into the very last lap, Atkins looked out of range, but Boult Jnr had other ideas, and he took a very, very long dive into the turnstile bend.  He just tagged Atkins, who went sideways.  Almost welded together, the two young stars scrambled for the line, with Boult Jnr getting there ahead of Atkins by a very slender margin.  199 Phil Powell completed the top three, finishing just a few metres behind the lead pair.

National Micro Bangers

The influx of eight drivers from the North Cornwall region, helped to give numbers a timely boost, and all of the drivers in the group contributed strongly to the meeting.  The opening heat included a bout of heavy crashing on the exit of turn four, with 12 Andi Moyle, 964 George Swift, 2015 Matt Cottle, 531 David Hosking and 323 Barry Phillips all involved, before World Champion 74 Adam Hitchcock waded in.  376 Steve Hill tried to bundle himself and 451 Nigel Belfield through the heap, but that only resulted in Belfield being flipped upside down.  Red flags were called, whilst 45 Anthony Croshaw gallantly pulled his car across the upturned 451 car, to protect Belfield.  The restarted race was less eventful and 133 Terry Hill led home 838 Jamie Peters.  There was plenty more action in heat two, at both ends of the track, although the hit of the race came when Phillips zeroed in on 838 Jamie Peters with a stunning blitz in turn one.  160 Jamie Warr continued to take hit after hit as he limped his battered car around the circuit.  190 Steve Bailey took the win, from Terry Hill.  Another deluge of crashing occurred in the final, with Phillips twice being pummelled by 162 Brett Ellacott.  The second left Phillips a little shaken and he had to be assisted from his car.  842 Jack Perkins and 196 Phil Chapman proved uncatchable at the front, and that is how they finished, with Bailey in third.  A hugely entertaining DD had ten starters.  Hitchcock came under fire early on and 229 Connor Dix took a fearsome pounding in turn two.  Three drivers were left for the closing battle – Warr, Bailey and 84 Matt Marchant.  When Marchant spun around on the home straight, Bailey pounced with a devastating hit.  That left him a sitting target for Warr, but his car was unable to travel far enough to attack, and thus Bailey took the win, having landed the last hit.

Banger Vans

Some unannounced entries helped result in reasonable numbers of Banger Vans.  161 Anton Ferris was bundled into the turnstile bend fence early on in heat one, and there was a stoppage needed when 313 Jason Hambley was rolled over on the back straight after 841 Tom Perkins had spun him into the marker tyre in turn three.  The restarted race saw 40 Nicky Stevens sent into a spin in turn one, and that formed a chicane for the onrushing traffic.  Perkins sealed a trouble free win, whilst 690 Tristan Clement’s spin of 190 Steve Bailey was the only incident of note in the second half of the race.  In heat two, 405 Graham Harris was left parked in the turnstile bend fence, and late on 147 Phil Purdy sent Hambley wide and into the 405 van.  479 Jamie Jenkin ran out the winner from Bailey.  The final brought a win for 847 Andy Whatley, as the race was halted a couple of laps early.  32 Danny Symons had been ambling around the track the wrong way, when Clement encountered him, and with a thumping hit midships, he sent the Symons van up and over on to its side.  That enabled some other vans to be untangled, ahead of the DD, which was finally won by Jenkins after some hefty crashes.

Ministox

There was a lively start to the first heat for the youngsters, as 927 Owen Robbins and 569 Adam Langridge tangled at the pit gate, and 946 Stacey Coombes took a wayward route across the infield.  Multi-Champion 368 Charlie Santry wasted little time in getting into the lead, and he won convincingly from 577 Harry Darby.  Heat two was messy and untidy, with a lot of niggly racing.  584 Charlie Sime heavily ran 619 Max Langmaid into the pits bend fence, but as they bounced off the plating, Langmaid broke free and left Sime to tangle with 506 Bradley Eltham.  The race was halted, and Sime removed as the cause of the stoppage.  504 Danny Elbourn continued to lead, whilst Langmaid spun 677 Warren Darby on the back straight.  When Darby rejoined, he was heavy with his contact on the unsuspecting white grader 907 Cadan Davies.  Elbourn took the chequered, with 980 Charlie Lobb the runner-up.  From row three, Santy made a perfect start to the Cornish Championship, and he had grabbed the lead by the end of the first lap.  A combination of Lobb and Langmaid spun Eltham at the end of the back straight, with Langmaid then able to get clear of Lobb as he pursued Elbourn in second place.  Late on, Elbourn clashed with Davies, and that enabled Langmaid and Lobb to secure second and third, but Santry was an emphatic winner, some way in the distance.