United Downs Raceway - Easter Sunday 9th April 2023

An overcast and chilly afternoon did not deter those in attendance from enjoying a busy afternoon’s racing. Proceedings commenced with the customary Grand Parade led by some impressive machinery from Steve Wills Haulage promoting The Truck Show Cornwall as part of their sponsorship of the meeting. Presentations were also made to the 2022 Track Champions, 677 Warren Darby, 351 Rhys Langdown and 23 Barry Staples, whilst Stock Rod racer 944 Callum Hosie paraded his Irish Open and Irish Masters titles won in Northern Ireland the preceding weekend.

Saloon Stock Cars

17 cars started heat one including a remarkable effort by 111 Thomas Ruby whose car had been left looking very second hand after Smeatharpe’s Good Friday meeting. 577 Harry Darby, his car newly signwriten, sped into an early lead as the bumpers clashed further back. Darby was untroubled by a late race suspension, called for Scotsman 620 Aaryn Triggs who was stranded across the home straight. After victory for Darby in heat one, he also proved uncatchable in heat two. Further back, there was plenty of bumperwork, with Northern Irishman 747 Matthew Stirling firing 199 Phil Powell towards the turn two plating on his way up to a fourth place finish as further back 677 Warren Darby, 129 Will Morphey and 561 Aaron Totham enjoyed a fine tussle for the minor placings. The Western Championship began with H. Darby receiving a black cross for a lightning quick start which saw him pass the other two white graders before the green flag had been waved. Stirling, 902 Buster Jnr, Morphey and 720 Archie Brown exchanged some heft blows over the opening stages as the race leader lost time after being squeezed into the turn two banking by the wayward Ruby. That allowed 227 Jon Kingwell into the lead until he was shortly overtaken by W. Darby with his younger Brother recovering to move back up to second by the time of the chequered flag. However, he was demoted four places for the jump start. An Allcomers race rewarded all those that attended with an extra race, and as it turned out, this served up the afternoon’s best entertainemtn. W. Darby was one of the first casualties being spun into retirement on the home straight. H. Darby was overhauled by Stirling for the lead, but it was Brown who appeared to be the main focus. The two drivers proceeded to swap places over the closing stages of the race at each end of the track with Brown leading into the final lap. Stirling made his move entering turn three at speed connecting with Brown’s rear bumper sending the young racer out wide and connecting with the plating, but Brown still managed to apply the power to come out into the home straight side by side with Stirling, the Englishman just making it to the line alongside his Northern Irish compatriot to conclude a thrilling race.

Stock Rods

Such were the number of cars, a two from three format was deployed. 73 James Brenton led the field off and remained in the top spot until the closing stages of heat one when he was overhauled by 415 Sean Gillettt who made a clean pass around the outside of the white top. Heat two did not get very far after 375 Jon Salvage got out of shape on the entry to the home straight with 79 Brian Edmond clipping him. 149 Dan Curtis led the field off on the restart but did not make the best of starts allowing the chasing pack to pounce with 77 Tom Larcombe diving up the inside for the lead which he kept to the flag as behind there was a scrap for second between 522 Chris Mikulla and 909 Justin Washer, the latter receiving a black cross for contact which saw him drop from second to fourth in the final results. The third and final heat was a scrappy affair with the blue and star graders all battling for the same piece of tarmac over the opening laps. Meanwhile 862 Darryl Cock took over at the front of the field. Later, Cock was challenged by Gillett, the two tangling momentarily but Cock held on to the lead. However, it was not to last, and all was about to change at the head of the field. Cock retired and Gillett and Larcombe tangled on the home straight, which allowed 286 Martin Walker Jnr through into the lead and the win. 20 cars made it to the final which saw a complete restart required after Mikulla, 220 Richard Short and 84 Paul Faralewski tangled untidily in a heap on the home straight, the former with heavy front end damage. A reduced number of 15 gridded for the re-run, with Gillett swiftly away and into the lead. By the midway point, nine cars were battling for second place, Hosie and 913 Ashley Bates eventually got to the front of the pack. Gillett was long gone, and Hosie was unable to overhaul Bates in a drag race to the line for second and third.

Bangers

A good entry of Bangers got their 2023 season underway with each driver contesting two out of three heats. In heat one, 208 Kieran Barrett ended up nose-first against the home straight plating with 696 Ashley Rawlings ploughing into the side of him, the 208 car somehow being able to rejoin. 422 Tristan Beresford had taken up the lead when the race was brought to a halt to rescue 144 Ashton Worthington who was stranded on the entry to the home straight having made heavy contact with the wall. Beresford failed to make the restart which allowed 235 Sam Galliford to lead and pick up the win. Heat two saw 386 Ryan Wagstaffe clatter off the turnstile bend plating before being collected by 8 Darren Rundle and then 323 Barry Phillips. 633 Nathan Ferrett bounced off Wagstaffe whilst leading, with second placed Barrett also piling in, but Ferrett held on for the win from 113 Jack Gill. The third heat saw 988 Ryan Thomas make heavy contact with the pit bend plating as 166 Luke Gillbard hit the front. On the final lap 161 Anton Ferris cruised to a halt between turns 3 and 4 and was collected by 165 Graham Middlewood resulting in severe rear end damage for Ferris who limped across the line losing a wheel in the process. Gillbard failed post-race checks promoting 23 Barry Staples to victory lane. The Final saw an early stoppage with Phillips making very heavy contact with the turn one fence. On the restart 230 Tom Shilling grabbed the lead as 919 Oscar Berry ended up facing the wrong direction on the home straight; just managing to clear as the lead pack closed in. On the back straight, Rawlings was spun sideways by Shilling, and then collected by 708 Julian Hellyer. As the race continued, with Beresford out front, Rawlings was bounced back out into a line of traffic by Tyler Phillips, where Shilling inadvertently caught him in the side. The race was immediately brought to a halt to attend to Rawlings, and the track’s medical team recommended extracting the driver from the car, at which point the unavoidable decision was taken to abandon the race with just eight laps having been completed.

Ministox

17 Ministox were on duty with the opening heat setting the tone for a hectic afternoon’s racing from the youngsters. 475 Mason Sealy and 922 Kaydi Butcher led the field off and enjoyed a fine battle over the opening laps. Sealy ultimately took up the lead and was well clear of the chasing cars when a late yellow flag was required for 497 Peyton Cockerill who had ground to a halt on the turnstile bend. 290 Alfie Tomkins was spun out of his fourth place on the restart and dropped down the field, but the yellow flags were flying once again with 567 Mia Batten facing the wrong direction at the end of the home straight. Sealy managed to withstand a fierce challenge for the lead from the chasing pack to hold on for his maiden win in the formula. Heat two saw a few drivers including Cockerill, 913 Ben Faulconbridge and 907 Caden Davies hit trouble as Butcher again took up the running at the front. However, she lost out to Sealy who, in turn, was forced out wide by the meddlesome backmarker Davies. A race stoppage restored some order at the front and Sealy led the field off. Behind, 617 Christina Sillifant was turned around by 207 Alfie Flecken with Butcher being collected by 770 Austin Farrell which led to another stoppage with four laps to go. On the restart there is a seven-car battle for the lead with Seally dropping down to fifth, as Tomkins took the win from 920 Wayne Wadge. Sealy exacted revenge on Davies, spinning him around as the race came to its conclusion. Despite the earlier action, all 17 cars made it to grid for the Final, but a complete re-run was required after 742 Kacey Williams and Farrell tangled on turn four, the two being collected by Sillifant and Tomkins. Davies and 202 Cody Bradford rekindled their rivalry on the restart, Bradford ending his race at the end of the back straight as Davies tried to recover lost ground spinning novice 505 Louis Herzig in the process. That unprovoked attack on the newcomer resulted in the disqualification flag being shown to the star grader for intentional contact on a novice grader. Davies ignored the black flag and the repeated calls over the raceceiver communication system and made further contact with other novices. Having ignored the black flag for a third time, the race was halted to remove Davies from the raceway; a most inauspicious end to his Ministox career. Flecken took over from Sealy on the restart with Wadge, Cockerill and 870 Bertie Farrell battling for second. Wadge broke free but on the final bend Farrell pushed Cockerill wide who came to a crunching halt after impacting the turn four plating awkwardly. Farrell edged 902 Reagan Davies out of room on the scramble to the line to hold on for third, and Cockerill showing incredible fortitude by recovering for seventh with only nine cars making it to the flag.