Tuesday 8th July 2008 (Smeatharpe Stadium)

Smeatharpe Stadium - Tuesday 8th July 2008
The lone midweek fixture of the season at Smeatharpe, produced some scintillating F2 action in their World Championship qualifying round, as drivers from throughout England and Scotland battled hard under the floodlights.
BriSCA F2 Stock Cars A fine showing of 44 drivers contested the F2 World qualifier - the penultimate round of this season's competition. Heat wins went to 886 Chris Bradbury and 707 Jeremy Moss, before 642 Dave Luscombe headed home the rest in a consolation race which had 22 starters. A terrific final had to be re-run twice after a succession of incidents in the opening stages. That eliminated some of the fancied runners, but National Points Champion 7 Gordon Moodie made a cracking start and swept through the grid, to overhaul 315 Justin Fisher in the late stages. The win saw Moodie retain the A1 Windows & Doors trophy for a third year, whilst it also brought him his fifth consecutive Smeatharpe final. If the final was good, then the Grand National was even better. Comfortably the most exciting race at Smeatharpe this season, the race came down to a three-way shootout over the last three laps. 667 Tim Farrell held the lead, but with Bradbury breathing down his neck, a grandstand finish looked on the cards. However, 38 David Polley sat calmly in third, and eased Farrell and Bradbury even further aside, to hug the kerb and collect the chequered. Bangers - Vintage Tin Night Only a small handful of rear-wheel-drive, under 1400cc cars were present for Vintage Tin Night, but there were some terrific efforts amongst the entry, including a Hillman Minx for 55 James Ogborn, a Triumph Herald for debutant 155 James Gatland, and the incredible Triumph Herald Estate for 369 Gary Holmes. Heat one went to 199 Phil Powell in his Daihatsu Charmont, whilst 190 Steve Bailey took his Datsun 120Y to victory in heat two. On his first appearance at Smeatharpe this season, 523 Jon Swanborough took command of the final, to win in his Datsun Sunny estate. The DD came down to a battle between 88 Tim Wood and 714 Paul Smaldon, and it was No Show's Cortina which just outlasted Woody's Lada. BriSCA Heritage A slightly disappointing showing of Heritage Stock Cars made their annual visit to Smeatharpe, and their three races each yielded a different race winner. The heats brought wins for 763 Andy Bateman and 629 Helen Hart, whilst 505 Mick Whittle was the winner of the Heritage final. Results - see also BriSCA F2 Stock Cars H1 886, 401, 628, 176, 830, 538, 877, 504, 522, 105 H2 707, 76, 935, 38, 315, 467, 393, 752, 771, 812 C 642, 7, 992, 100, 667, 497, 438, 167, 677, 246 F 7, 315, 886, 38, 393, 628, 677, 467, 812, 522 GN 38, 886, 667, 254, 14, 105, 812, 167, 935, 830 Grade Awards - W 992, Y 707, B 315 Bangers H1 199, 452, 248, 32, 190, 444, nof H2 190, 452, 383, 523, 32, 714, 88, 199, nof F 523, 190, 199, 383, 714, 88, 32, nof DD 714 Best Presented 199, 190, 32, 523 Oldest/Rarest 369, 55, 155 BriSCA Heritage H1 763, 773, 616, 716, 686, 629, 505, 29, 791, nof H2 629, 763, 686, 7, nof F 505, 7, 686, 763, 716, 616, 629, nof

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