United Downs Raceway - Sunday 27th December 2020

Banger Bonanza Cornwall attracted just shy of 100 drivers on a cold afternoon at the United Downs Raceway, where a sizeable crowd underlined the popularity of the venue.

Bangers

The format for the day saw two Last Chance qualifying heats ahead of the Supreme Championship.  55 Zac Davey looked to have the first Last Chance race in the bag, only to get caught up late on, which saw 796 Phil Chapman and Devon Champion 13 Lee Radford inherit the lead; the latter coming out on top, as 131 Steve Cock completed the top three.  The second Last Chance heat had an even more dramatic conclusion.  323 Barry Phillips had led all the way to the last lap, when he tangled with 149 Dan Curtis.  That opened the door for 931 Jack Manhire, 785 Nick Craddock and 8 Darren Rundle to grab the three places to advance to the back of the grid for the Supreme.  Despite a packed grid for the Supreme, pole sitter 916 Luke Thomas made light work of adding the title to his collection of successes for the season.  He edged clear of 196 Craig Cornelius and 898 Jack Semmonds, and as the race progressed, Thomas pulled further and further clear.  Elsewhere there were plenty of crashes, but Thomas was away and gone, whilst outgoing Supreme Champion 246 Ryan Sparks got the better of Cornelius in the second half of the race, to finish as runner-up.  Cornelius was third, and 891 Martyn Cleave took fourth.  Communal brain fade converged on the Bangers during the consolation, as numerous drivers transgressed the rules by blitzing stationary cars in the turnstile bend.  One of them was 261 Tom Ware, who threw away a winning position to join the ever-increasing pile-up.  That left just 690 Tristan Clement and 55 Andy Miller circulating, and they took first and second, respectively.  Just 21 qualifiers gridded for the meeting final, and 99 Ryan Parker marked his track debut with a flag to flag win.  842 Tom Perkins and 206 Matt Brewer completed the top three, but they were some way back from the speedy Parker.  Barry Phillips made up for his disappointment in Last Chance 2, when he romped home a convincing winner of the Allcomers race.

Old Skool unlimited cc Bangers

Track conditions were hardly ideal for the big, rear-wheel-drive cars, but racegoers were still keen to see them blast around the circuit.  In the first heat, 185 Richard Coaker sped clear and having built up a good lead, he ran out a comfortable winner.  382 Danny Hunt was the runner-up, but he was not to be denied in the second heat, as he won from 954 Jamie Beere.  That perhaps inspired Beere, who scored an emphatic victory in the final.  Coaker spun out gold top 190 Steve Bailey on the last lap, to clinch second, with 133 Terry Hill third.  As the race came to a halt, Hill bundled Coaker into the pits bend plating, whereupon Bailey charged at Coaker, just as the red flags appeared.

B2B Bangers – overs

Despite a disappointing number of no-shows, the slightly reduced entry of B2B Bangers still produced some entertaining moments.  The first heat was full of spins, as the drivers fought manfully to find traction on the slippery surface.  Amidst the mayhem, 332 Sasha Martindale kept a calm head, to record a first ever win, which he celebrated with an air punch from the driver’s side window.  Martindale was an early spinner in heat two, and he was not alone in clocking up some gyrations.  This time it was 786 Grant Harris who kept his BMW pointing in the right direction for the whole race, and he took the chequered.  The final was even more crazy.  77 Tyler Gwynne had a huge lead at the time of a stoppage, after the Harris car had caught fire.  As the cars assembled for a three lap dash, Gwynne’s hopes vanished, when his car developed an ominous fuel leak.  Just three cars set off for the conclusion of the race, and 266 Scott Gillbard led home 166 Luke Gillbard and 444 Mike Stacey.  Six drivers trundled out for the Destruction Derby, and the Gillbard brothers gamely battled one another.  There was a spectacular moment when Gwynne tried to attack them both but flipped his car over and back on to four wheels.  Having seen off his brother, Luke Gillbard then had just enough left to land the final blows on Gwynne.