United Downs Raceway - Sunday 27th August 2017

In glorious sunshine, the annual August Bank Holiday Sunday fixture provided plenty of spectacular excitement at the United Downs Raceway, St Day.

2 Litre National Bangers

A hugely explosive Boneshaker race saw just four drivers go the distance.  196 Phil Chapman led the early stages, and looked to be comfortable at the front, until backmarker 233 Liam Parkin intervened and ran Chapman into the parking lot which had formed in the pits bend.  776 Terry Senford inherited the lead, but only lasted half a lap or so at the front before he was bundled into the turnstile end fence, ironically by 845 Albert Haines.  Next into the lead was therefore 97 Craig Deer, on the occasion of his first appearance of the season.  Deer led the next four laps, as numbers began to dwindle significantly.  However, as Deer led into the final third of the race, he lost his front suspension and ground to a halt.  Incredibly, 162 Brett Ellacott suffered a similar fate right behind Deer, and from a long way back, 714 Paul Smaldon shot from third to first.  Despite the difficulty of navigating the heavily populated pits bend, Smaldon saw out the remaining laps, to win by a convincing margin, from 133 Terry Hill and 382 Tommy Hutchings, with 74 Adam Hitchcock the only other finisher.  The first Allcomers race saw 885 Ben French get bundled into the plating on the pits bend, courtesy of Hutchings, after which 190 Steve Bailey thundered Hill into the pits bend, brutally destroying his car.  Ellacott sped to victory.  The second Allcomers was won by Bailey, from pole position.  Action was at a premium, although when 352 Carl Belfield spun Haines, 196 Phil Chapman duly obliged by blasting the 845 car.  Considering the day’s overall entry, good numbers made it out for the DD, with 149 Dan Curtis coming under heavy early fire in his Nissan Serena.  A three-way attack saw the mini-people carrier topple on to its side.  Once restarted, Senford and Chapman took a pounding in turn four.  That left Bailey to attack 838 Peters, but when the roles were reversed, Peters silenced the Bailey Mondeo to take the win.

Saloon Stock Cars

The opening heat for Saloon Stock Cars was halted at the midway point, as an errant petrol cap was noticed on the track.  This was subsequently noted as having come from 447 Adam Hicks.  The race suspension negated the lead of 902 Junior Buster, who had been on the trail of a maiden victory.  When the race resumed, 27 Kieren Bradford made his way into the lead, and he led home British Champion 158 Shane Davies.  Heat two came down to a pursuit race, with Hicks unable to make much impression on long-time leader Junior Buster.  As the laps ticked away, Davies made it up to second place, but even though the gap closed, Davies was unable to land a blow, and the sixteen year old held on for his first win in the senior class.  Junior Buster led away the Cornish Championship, but was tracked by Hicks and 903 Adam Neville.  The three fought for the lead, but that only aided the cause of Davies who closed on them, and swept by.  Hicks held on for second, and Bradford completed the top three.

Ministox

958 Zak Carnell continued his winning ways, as he took a protracted first heat, which was suspended when 985 Sam Carter clobbered the pits bend fence.  The restart took three attempts to get going, as drivers were poorly behaved when asked to keep a single file.  Carnell eventually led away, and led home 911 Harrison Bryant and 667 Tommy Farrell.  Heat two resulted in multiple incidents, with 870 Stella Farrell sustaining a neck injury; and 946 Stacey Coombes rolling on to her side.  The race was halted, during which time the Cornwall Air Ambulance helicopter landed, but was not required.  The restarted race brought four fantastic closing laps.  Bryant overhauled 927 Owen Robbins, but was then spun by Tommy Farrell, which delayed 980 Charlie Lobb.  In a dramatic final lap, Farrell was sent wide, and as 677 Warren Darby and 917 Gemma Robbins fired into the turnstile bend, it was Robbins who emerged victorious.  In the JKL Engineering sponsored final, 970 Archie Farrell bumped into the spun car of Carter, which brought a race suspension.  Lobb was the race leader at the time, but he was adjudged to have jumped the start, and was issued with a black cross.  Lobb saw out the remaining laps, and took the chequered flag, but was docked two places after a Steward’s inquiry.  Warren Darby inherited the win, Gemma Robbins was the runner-up and Lobb was relegated to third.

BriSCA Micro F2 Stock Cars

The largest number of BriSCA Micro F2 Stock Cars ever to race in Cornwall, contested a trio of events for the infant racers.  783 Fin Carter won the opening heat, ahead of 25 Callum Johnson, but in the second race, Johnson stormed into a lead.  However, on the final lap, Johnson’s car lost power and 51 Jolean Maynard edged past to claim a late victory.  The final saw Carter get the better of Johnson in a close race, whilst 2 Josh Johnson completed the top three, and all drivers received an impressive “goody bag” from sponsors H N Sillifant & Son.