United Downs Raceway - Sunday 10th September 2023

In the stifling heat of late summer, there was a slightly lethargic air to proceedings at the United Downs Raceway, despite the best efforts of drivers who did their best in the sunshine.

Saloon Stock Cars

Seven of the 13 Saloon Stock Cars were eligible for the White & Yellow grade final which began with white graders 7 Pat Lines, 111 Thomas Ruby and 112 Rich James enjoying a fine battle at the front.  199 Phil Powell made his way into the mix, and having secured the lead, he looked to be set for victory.  577 Harry Darby progressed up the order to grab second three laps from home, but he was unable to reel in Powell.  314 Bryn Finch completed the top three.  Lines led the first heat proper until halfway, when Powell relieved him of first place.  277 Jack Grandon chased Powell, but just ahead of the last lap, Ruby and 760 Joey Reynolds got in a muddle in turn three.  That negated the chance for Grandon to dive at Powell, who duly collected his second win of the afternoon.  Heat two was led to the midway point by Lines, who then spun which gifted Powell the lead.  902 Junior Buster and 720 Archie Brown edged past Powell, as 33 Pete Hollett buried Ruby in the turnstile bend.  Buster led into the last lap, but Brown lined up a text-book last bend attack to steal the win at the last moment.  The Cornish Championship again saw Powell, Grandon, Buster and Brown to the fore, but it was Grandon who stamped his authority on proceedings to take top honours.  Junior Buster was the runner-up, and Powell’s successful day ended with a third place.

Special Rods

The visiting drivers in the Special Rods warmly embraced the one-off appearance in Cornwall, to produce a hearty showing of 18 drivers who raced to a two from three format.  The winner of last year’s corresponding meeting, 254 Nigel Manaton was out of luck from the start, as he crashed out in an early race skirmish in heat one, and regrettably that ended his day.  61 Beth Stevenson and 275 Jack Buckingham tangled on the back straight, and at the front 202 Mark Hall was balked by backmarker 35 Jane James.  It was 43 Andy Howard who took advantage, as he stormed into the lead and won ahead of 700 Ben Brice who had closed in late on in the race.  720 Dan Latimer was plagued with transmission problems in heat two, which hindered his progress.  60 Tom Bristow hit the front, chased by 445 Nik Loader.  The two raced fairly, side by side whilst Brice joined them late on, but by then Bristow had established a winning lead.  Heat three was halted when Hall spun in turn four and was heavily collected by Howard, as the crash left Hall with a lot of front end damage.  When the race resumed, Stevenson broke free at the front and won convincingly.  It was a similar story for Stevenson in the final.  From the front of the grid, she quickly built up a huge lead.  As the laps ticked by, it was only Howard who made any impression on the distant race leader.  Stevenson swept through some backmarkers to see out a resounding victory, with Howard the runner-up and Loader completing the top three.

Old Skool Bangers

Amongst a modest showing of Old Skool Bangers, 11 Grubby Frankson and 891 Darren Wade each gave new cars a first taste of action, whilst 452 Anthony Sleeman made his first appearance of the season.  Stalwart racers 282 Steve Hunt and 254 Richard Beere stormed to a the top two places in the opening race, and 262 Buddy James, who again appeared without booking in and thereby scored zero points, took the honours in the second heat.  James was the only one to negotiate an untidy pile-up in the pits bend at the start of the race, and as the rest looked for a route through the strewn cars, he was away and gone, building up an unassailable lead.  James looked set to double his win tally in the final, but old stager Hunt was on the trail of the biggest prize money envelope of the day, and he effected a timely pass on the last lap.  Beere completed the top three.  Only six drivers made it to the line for the Allcomers, and this time it was Beere who claimed the chequered.