United Downs Raceway - Sunday 26th March 2023

Whilst the threat of rain did not entirely depart the scene, the vast majority of the afternoon at the United Downs Raceway was dry, as BriSCA F2 Stock Cars raced on Yokohama tyres for the last time before the impending rule change, and the Ministox and Back 2 Basics Bangers raced for the first time this season.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

The entry of 21 drivers were canvassed for their opinion on a preferred race format, and the two from three system was a clear winner.  Despite the relatively sparse grids, each heat produced an entertaining race, with the opener particularly boisterous.  131 Dean Rogers got his BriSCA F2 debut off to an inauspicious start, as he took a wayward route around the infield on turns three and four even before reaching the green, whilst 663 Bryan Lindsay shot into a decent early lead.  From the star grade, 24 Jon Palmer looked the most likely to progress and he duly did so, to charge from the rear of the grid to the front, as he led home 980 Charlie Lobb.  Heat two began with 540 Dayne Pritlove crashing out, as 828 Julian Coombes and 302 Dale Moon caught the eye early on.  783 James Rygor was swiftly into contention from the star grade, and having nudge Moon wide to move into second, he then reeled in Coombes to take the lead just ahead of the 3-to-go board appearing.  In heat three, Rygor scored a second win, as he made his mark in the formative stages of the race, by barging past fellow heat winner Palmer and Track Champion 890 Paul Rice.  Rygor thus emerged as the lead star grader, and he relieved 303 Kurt Selway of first place before halfway.  All save for 572 James Lindsay gridded for the Voice of Autospeed trophy final, and ahead of the race, a few excerpts of Bill Dalley’s commentary was played over the Raceway’s PA system in deference to the man who contributed more than 50 years of service to the sport.  Pritlove was an early spinner, before a succession of crashes occurred at the turnstile end.  First to run aground in the fence was 194 Luke Johnson and then Selway, before 605 Richie Andrews thundered into the plating and careered around into the stationary Selway.  Andrews was the most shook-up, and after a lengthy delay, he had to be extricated from his car.  So much of the delay stemmed from the extended wait for an external ambulance to arrive.  When the race resumed, Coombes was at the front, but there was to be no stopping Rygor.  He swept to his third win of the day, with another polished performance.  Palmer relegated Moon to third, but Moon responded by stealing back the runner-up place on the final bend.  To round out the day, Moon scored a routine win in the Grand National, whilst 222 Adrian Watts added another point to his tally to clinch the Best White Top prize of a hamper of Cornish goodies.

Back 2 Basics Bangers

As they typically do at St Day, the Back 2 Basics Bangers produced a fine display of racing and crashing.  873 Beau Carlton-Barnes wasted little time taking control of the first heat.  He even enjoyed some air time as he bounced up and over 113 Jack Gill on the home straight to maintain his lead, and win by a clear distance from 786 Grant Harris and 422 Tristan Beresford.  Heat two saw 617 Reece Rixon bundle 330 Michael Williams into a spin on the exit of turn four, and that left Williams sat mid-track, forcing the oncoming traffic to split left and right.  That posed no problems for Harris, who cruised to the chequered, ahead of Beresford and 788 Darren Morgan.  Having been spun out of the early lead by 71 Zak Peters, Beresford performed a brutal revenge despatch heading into turn one some laps later, which deposited Peters heavily into the plating.  Harris continued to chase after long-time leader 56 Michael Collacott, and with just two laps remaining, he relieved him of the lead.  Carlton-Barnes completed the top three.  Half a dozen drivers contested the Destruction Derby, with Peters making two attempts to attack Beresford against the flow.  The latter partially succeeded, only for Harris to then blast Peters.  662 Jared Roe sportingly came to a halt in turn two, and 184 Brad Eddy obliged by steaming into the parked car.  That left Harris and Collacott to meet in a thunderous head-on in turn one.  That terminated both cars, to leave the result a dead heat.

Ministox

One quarter of the entry of 20 youngsters in the Ministox featured novice drivers, with four of them on their debut appearance.  The established drivers were warned to show respect to the novices, and this they did for the most part.  922 Kaydi Butcher set the early pace in heat one, only for yellow flags to extinguish her lead; the caution being called when 907 Cadan Davies was collected by 742 Kacey Williams.  When the race resumed, 920 Wayne Wadge emerged as the leader, but he could not quite hold off Points Champion 290 Alfie Tomkins who took the first chequered flag of the year.  Incredibly, 475 Mason Sealy charged from the novice grade all the way through to third.  Heat two was similarly frustrating for Butcher as her commanding lead was eroded by a caution period, this time for 966 James Payne.  A further yellow was needed when 550 Callum Herzig also spun in the turnstile bend, and narrowly avoided being collected by 567 Mia Batten.  British Champion 202 Cody Bradford got to the front, but was then overhauled by 617 Christina Sillifant, whilst 207 Alfie Flecken completed the top three.  The absence of yellow flags in the Mini Mayhem final was much more beneficial to Butcher, who led to the final third of the race.  Only Flecken and Sillifant were able to catch her, and thus Butcher recorded a first ever top three place.  Sealy and 870 Bert Farrell found themselves docked for contact, as a novice and with a novice, respectively.