United Downs Raceway - Friday 3rd June 2022

The BriSCA Formula Two Benevolent Fund Trophy was staged at St Day for the first time in its history, raising a strong entry of cars for the Jubilee Bank Holiday Friday meeting. In glorious weather, a packed field of Stock Rods also contested their latest round on The Road To Gold, with the programme completed by Bangers.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars Ladies

Thirty-seven cars contested the main meeting after 27 Kieren Bradford’s hand injury prevented anything more than a practice run. Proceedings began with the traditional Benevolent Fund Ladies Race for the Bill Batten Trophy, with a 12-strong field. Recent Ministox graduate 988 Stella Farrell led the way until a race suspension after 435 Hayleigh Eglinton’s second ride around the pit bend wall ended in a clash with 111 Kerrie Rundle which left the latter stranded on the home straight. On the resumption, 24 Sharon Ford passed 418 Samantha Borthwick around the outside to take second, then moved inside Farrell for the lead. Ford took a clear win, as Farrell also lost out to Borthwick and 161 Charlotte Bate. A half-spin for Borthwick then promoted Bate and Farrell to second and third

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

With the Benevolent Fund Trophy race running as heat two, and including all the higher-graded drivers who had already raced this season, heat one contained only Whites and Yellows, except for the returning 24 Jon Palmer on his first 2022 appearance. 475 Leah Sealy led from start to finish as Palmer carved through the field. He reached second just after half-distance, then reeled in Sealy, but his last-bend lunge was inches short of making contact. The 23-car Ben Fund field was led away by 194 Luke Johnson as 828 Julian Coombes and 320 Matt Hatch took a trip into the wall. 127 Matt Stoneman, 352 Dave Sansom and 542 Steven Gilbert were also early casualties after tangling on the turnstile bend. 890 Paul Rice got inside Johnson for the lead on lap four, with defending champion 126 Jamie Avery, 302 Dale Moon and 418 Ben Borthwick following over the next two laps. The lead quartet circulated at a good pace, dealing well with backmarking traffic and unable to make much impression on each other. As Rice motored to an untroubled victory to claim the magnificent Benevolent Fund rose bowl, the only change among the leaders was Borthwick managing to demote Moon from third three laps from home. 979 Paul Moss quickly came to the fore of the consolation, shoving 303 Kurt Selway wide to take a decisive lead before half-distance, while 667 Tommy Farrell passed Coombes for second in the closing stages. After briefs spells in the lead for 509 Jordan Butcher and 705 Martin Smith, 35 Charlie Fisher was quick to hit the front of the final. A caution was required after Palmer rode over the wheels of Gilbert then used the front of Sansom’s car as a ramp, with Farrell also getting caught up in the incident. That brought Borthwick and Moon onto Fisher’s tail and both soon passed the Yellow top before Moon cut inside Borthwick into the lead. But Fisher wasn’t done, and 184 Aaron Vaight also joined a terrific four-car scrap for the lead with multiple place changes. Borthwick was just starting to edge away when another caution period was required after 663 Bryan Lindsay went hard into the wall, front on and backwards, like a spinning top on the home straight. Borthwick and Vaight then edged away but Vaight’s challenge for the lead in the pit bend took both to the wall and allowed 560 Luke Wrench, Moon and Avery underneath. Wrench went on to win from Moon, while Rice also passed Borthwick for third and Vaight’s damage prevented him from finishing. “It all opened up in front of me really – Aaron did all the hard work,” admitted Wrench. Having been shuffled down to seventh in the final, Fisher would not be beaten in the Grand National. Sealy led a slightly depleted field for the opening half of the race but lost out to Fisher after having to negotiate the spun 572 James Lindsay. She then got pushed back to eighth in the closing stages by a pack of star-graders led by Vaight and Farrell, while a wingless Palmer – at the wheel of the car he used on shale last year – managed fourth

Stock Rods

A terrific 29-car entry of Stock Rods, at their World Final venue, led to an unusual full-format meeting, with eight cars to qualify for the final from each heat and the consolation. Making his debut, 415 Sean Gillett quickly hit the front to win the opener. Behind him, 728 Kris Woods impressed on the outside line to make progress through the pack and only just missed out on second place to 285 Martin Walker in a near dead-heat. The second heat was more spread out, with 286 Martin Walker Jr taking a comfortable win from 131 Stephen Cock. The consolation brought a second career win for 275 Jeremy Hatch who led most of the way from 231 Simon Bassett. The three star graders who were yet to qualify for the final all made it through at the second time of asking, headed by former British Champion 9 Chris Drake in third. All 24 qualifiers took their places in the final. Gillett again quickly hit the front and continued to lead until almost half-distance, while several of the Yellow and Blue-graded runners were caught out in the early skirmishes. 841 Dave Hosking, who had run well in his heat before slipping to sixth in the closing stages, passed Hatch for second and his pressure on Gillett eventually told. With 101 Dave Horwell dropping oil before retiring to the infield, track conditions deteriorated, and Gillett was one of those to lose out. Having grabbed the lead, Hosking kept out of reach, with Woods again impressing on the outside line. Woods passed 916 Luke Thomas for second and was bearing down on Hosking before running out of laps to challenge the delighted winner. Thomas completed the top three ahead of star men 151 Simon Vincent and 909 Justin Washer, with the oily track having made for some lively action. Gillett eased clear for his second win of the afternoon in the Grand National, from Martin Walker Jr and Hatch

Bangers

The 30 Bangers in action were split to contest two from three heats, which were each relatively quiet. 15 Ben Tovey broke away to win the first, then added a second victory with a dominant showing in heat three. In between times, Tovey’s travelling companion 144 Ashton Worthington took a comfortable win in heat two. A livelier final was led by 11 Jake Devine before Tovey took over. Behind them, 206 Matt Brewer was in destructive form, dishing out plenty of hits before a trip into the fence with 33 Nathan Boswarthwick. The latter later took a big hit from Devine, with 114 Luke Niles bouncing over a loose wheel which led to red flags and a one-lap dash to the flag. 182 Nathan James had moved into the lead from 23 Barry Staples but Staples produced a well executed last-bend hit and managed to nip through on the inside for a narrow victory. 891 Martyn Cleave had also sniffed a chance but had to settle for third as the trio crossed the line together.