Smeatharpe Stadium - Sunday 1st October 2023

The second day of the Saloon Stock Car World Final weekend commenced with a presentation to the Saloon Stock Car drivers participating in the 2023 National Series, as each entrant received a goodie-bag filled with treats from promoters Autospeed.

Saloon Stock Cars

The action did not take long to arrive, for in heat one 349 Michael Allard drilled 277 Jack Grandon into the pit bend plating causing significant front end damage to the 277 machine.  314 Bryn Finch took up the lead, whilst the star graders squabbled amongst themselves with Allard dropping a lap when spun around in the west bend.  Dutch driver H868 Bart Wouters found himself turned to the home straight plating at speed whilst on the entry to the back straight the top three tangled with 711 Anthony McIvor, and that saw the race brought under caution with 561 Aaron Totham taking over in the lead.  On the resumption, Totham reeled off the remaining laps as 902 Buster Jnr made a late surge to move from sixth to second as he got his National Series challenge off to a promising start.  The second heat saw 341 Austin Freestone move into a commanding lead as 677 Warren Darby found himself stationary on the home straight, being collected by 122 Zac Gilmour in the process.  The heavy hits continued with 151 Levi List being thundered into the Honiton Bend by H16 Jeremy van de Kraats whilst 760 Joey Reynolds and 329 Kegan Sampson entered into a tit-for-tat battle which hindered any progress and ended with a range of gesticulations on the centre infield, much to the amusement of the crowd, if not either driver.  Those that failed to finish in the top 10 in either of their heats had a further chance to qualify via the consolation race.  List motored into a lead which for a time looked under threat from Darby who had progressed up to third before pulling the car into retirement.  This left List with an unassailable lead, and he was well clear of the action behind, where bumpers were being used to tremendous effect by an array of drivers.  141 Richard Falkena, 121 Kai Gilmour and 8 Holly Glen all tangled on the last lap resulting in each missing out on a qualifying spot.  The Final featured an impressive field with the Pat Hudson Trophy on offer to the winner.  National Series entrant 116 Diggy Smith spun around on turn two before even reaching the green flag.  The west bend became a repository for battered cars with List and 261 Dom Davies amongst those who found their races curtailed.  Despite suffering numerous setbacks during the race Allard sped through to claim third behind British Champion 171 Adam O’Dell but neither could challenge Scotsman 600 Barry Russell.  Whilst still bitterly disappointed at missing out on the gold roof the evening before, Russell remarked in the post-race interview, “I’m back!” after his earlier season performances had been impacted by poor health.  After such a bruising weekend it was superb to see 32 cars take to the grid for the Allcomers race and once again there was plenty to entertain with Allard and Grandon renewing their acquaintances, Grandon eventually retiring, but what a great effort to get his battered car mobile again after such a crushing first race of the afternoon.  Around the rest of the raceway there were cars spinning in all direction.  Everyone concerned were able to catch a breather when yellow flags were shown for debris on the track.  The race order required some close review of the lap charts as the position of Sampson was debated, the driver’s transponder having proved temperamental over the course of the weekend.  In the end, his challenge when the race restarted was done for by Reynolds as 720 Archie Brown carved his way through the chaos to take the win and bring the curtain down on a weekend’s racing of the highest calibre.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

925 Jake Wilson led the field off in heat one and quickly found himself lapping 127 Matt Stoneman who had spun out on the entry to the back straight.  On rejoining, Stoneman forced his way past 935 Nathan Maidment who had progressed into second place, delaying him to the extent that it appeared to benefit Wilson.  Yet, the white top’s lead was not to last however as entering the back straight Stoneman spun Wilson around in his eagerness to recover lost ground, and this allowed Maidment to take up the running to the flag.  Former Autospeed Ministox silver top 654 Harley Soper led the early stages of heat two, but the race was brought under an early caution period after first 468 Sam Weston and 475 Leah Sealy tangled on the home straight and careered towards the pit gate before 979 Paul Moss and 895 Ben Goddard did likewise, but this time came to a crunching halt in front of the starter’s rostrum.  Soper made a good restart but was eventually overhauled by 560 Luke Wrench with Soper spinning out behind.  783 James Rygor went for a long distance dive heading into the final bend, but he was unable to shift Wrench wide with enough force and had to settle for second.  The consolation did not last long as most of the yellow graders tangled on the entry to the home straight before they had passed the green flag and then 542 Steven Gilbert and Goddard’s woes continued as they ended up in a heap on the pit bend with 97 Jack Bradburn and 259 Daz Purdy also involved.  Stoneman and 980 Charlie Lobb eventually overcame Soper who finished third.  The Final for The Graders Award saw 27 cars on the grid.  This time it was the blue and red graders who found themselves in a pile-up in the west bend with a complete re-run being required.  Soper and 828 Julian Coombes swapped places at the front of the field as 390 Jessica Smith found herself sent heavily into the turn two plating by 24 Jon Palmer.  On the restart there was a close battle for the lead between Coombes and Soper with 335 Jake Woodhull in third and 184 Aaron Vaight up to fourth.  By the last lap, Vaight had managed to get past Coombes to take his second successive final win, as 161 Ben Bate completed the top three.  The Helter Skelter was another eventful race with a tangle between 931 Rebecca Smith and 302 Dale Moon bringing out the first set of yellow flags, with a second set needed when Wilson went careering down the back straight, firstly on two wheels and then backwards.  Once the race settled down there was a superb battle between Stoneman and Vaight for third, the day’s feature final winner having to settle for fourth from the lap handicap.  Up at the front, Rygor was again closing in on the race leader, this time Maidment, but was just too far back again to force his way to the front.

ORCi Stock Rods

Each driver was set to contest two out of three heats with grid positions reversed for their second race to determine the grid positions for the West of England Championship.  415 Sean Gillett sped off into the lead in heat one, leaving 522 Chris Mikulla and 131 Stephen Cock to race door handle to door handle over several laps before Mikulla broke free into second.  Irish Masters and National Champion 944 Callum Hosie was ultimately be docked two places for contact on 311 Liam Shipway which saw the blue top spin.  As the lap boards came out, 151 Simon Vincent’s engine let go spreading oil around the west bend and whilst Gillett safely navigated the slippery surface, Mikulla was sent into a half spin, managing to just recover to retain his runner-up spot.  909 Justin Washer also got caught out and Hosie spun it around on the final lap.  Shipway led the field off in heat two.  Further back, Washer was joined by 32 James Horwell and 9 Chris Drake in a fierce battle for position.  Horwell almost managed to get into the lead but a rapid Shipway held firm, and Horwell tangled with 351 Rhys Langdown who had also made his way to the front.  That eliminated Langdown from the race.  Washer eventually found a way past Shipway to take the win, and opening heat winner Gillet made it up to fourth from the rear of the grid.  426 Keith Channon took a flag to flag win in the third heat, chased by Drake, as Mikulla got past Langdown to finish third.  Channon made the most of his front row start to lead the final.  The home straight ended up being temporarily blocked as 231 Simon Bassett, 37 Barry Trickey and 77 Tom Larcombe came to grief together, with the track clearing just in time before the leaders arrived on the scene.  Channon came under pressure as the laps ticked by, with Mikulla striving to make the outside line work.  However, he could get ahead, and Channon held on to win by half a car length, claiming the West of England Championship and with it, the coveted Ron Trickey Trophy.