Mayday Mayhem at Smeatharpe on Mayday Monday was another packed programme which produced numerous lively races on a surprisingly chilly afternoon.

Saloon Stock Cars

Slightly disappointingly, three drivers who had raced the previous afternoon at St Day were unable to contest the second day of the Mayday weekend, but the addition of half a dozen who were not in Cornwall still made for a reasonable showing of 18 drivers.  Sheffield visitor 422 Martin Taylor carved out a substantial lead in the first heat and was still ahead at the halfway stage.  151 Levi List bundled himself and 27 Jason Kingwell into the pits bend wall, and their clash continued into turn one, which ended with List spun.  Kingwell needed to be recovered, which brought about a race suspension with only three laps remaining and that massively reduced Taylor’s advantage at the front.  Taylor led until the start of the last lap when he was challenged by former British Champion 156 Darren Goudy.  Taylor spun, Goudy grabbed the lead, and was just out of range when 561 Aaron Totham aimed a charge in the final bend.  Whitford spun aside his fellow white grader Taylor at the start of heat two, but was then reeled in by 199 Phil Powell and Goudy.  Powell edged away and was sufficiently clear of 760 Joey Reynolds to avoid any last bend dramas.  Instead, that was saved for the scramble for third which went the way of 902 Junior Buster despite the efforts of 577 Harry Darby, Brown and 677 Warren Darby.  Taylor’s luck finally turned for the Bill Lomas Trophy final, as he shot clear at the start and built a commanding lead.  As the race progressed, Taylor was comfortably clear, and he enjoyed an untroubled run to the flag despite being deep in amongst a clutch of backmarkers.   Totham and Powell completed the top three, and during the trophy presentation, Powell spoke glowingly of Bill Lomas.  In the Allcomers, Totham went one better, to claim his first win of the day.  The race completed points scoring for the weekend, and across the two meetings there were new tyre grade awards for Whitford (white), Powell (yellow), Totham (blue) and 720 Archie Brown (star).

2 Litre National Bangers

Former double World Champion 239 Steve Carter made a rare home track appearance amongst a relatively modest car count.  Carter was swiftly back into form as he swept from the rear of the grid to the front and managed to grab the lead and the win from 648 Jamie Smith.  Heat two had a late highlight when 315 Dan Osbourne latched on to 200 Jai Simmons and buried him into the pits bend wall.  By then, 662 Jared Roe had won convincingly.  Simmons exacted his revenge in the final, taking his chance to plough into Osbourne after he had tangled with 177 Ryan Miles.  Smith and 562 Jayden James looked set to dispute the lead in the remaining stages, but Smith pulled wide with a puncture.  James won, with Carter surviving a last bend lunge from Roe as they finished second and third respectively.  Luke Gillbard completed the day with victory in the Destruction Derby, seeing off Morgan Hoskin and Ryan Miles.

Stock Rods

The non-contact Stock Rods had been regraded since their last outing, and that completely shuffled the starting grid.  Before racing began, sponsors Bird In Hand of Bishop Lydeard presented all drivers on the Grand Parade with some cider.  The two from three format made for some racing room in the heats but a much busier grid for the final.  A lively opening heat saw 103 Chris Horwell and 314 Jason Barraclough clash on the home straight, and as Barracolough was spun, he was collected by 285 Martin Walker.  Horwell went on to overhaul 779 Ross Sweetland but was subsequently docked two places, and thus 77 Tom Larcombe inherited the win.  835 Matt Westaway won heat two by a clear distance, with Horwell a distant runner-up.  Westaway won again in heat three, after a close tussle with 73 Terry Gallagher which ended when Gallagher suffered a puncture.  As Gallagher ran wide, Westaway was able to grab the lead, and he ran home a clear winner from 909 Justin Washer.  The start of the final saw Horwell and Polley career wildly across the infield, with Polley violently running headlong into the inner armco barrier.  The race was halted, and the unfortunate Polley was assisted from her car.  Sweetland led away the restart, but 287 Mark Hatch missed the green and that triggered some confusion behind him.  In marked contrast, 285 Martin Walker made a fabulous start and soon got into the lead, but he was soon joined at the front by Westaway.  Lap after lap Westaway stuck to the outside line and eventually made the move stick.  Westaway took control and was out front five laps from the end when the race was suspended after 220 Richard Short and Sweetland were tangled in the west bend and yellow flags were called.  Westaway completed the win, with Walker the runner-up and 275 Jeremy Hatch held on for third.  The first Grand National heat of 2025 saw Walker improve on his runner-up finish in the final as he claimed a first win of the season.

Ministox

Once again there were good numbers of youngsters as the Ministox continued their strong start to the season.  From pole position, 114 Charlie Lomas shot into the first bend, but having been tagged on entry he got out of shape clouted the fence, before retiring to the infield.  The race continued with 575 Caden Clark as the early leader, but Lomas needed assistance after injuring his knee, and that necessitated a caution period.  A hectic race developed when it resumed, with British Champion 475 Mason Sealy capitalising on the yellow flag spell to burst through the pack and into the lead.  Sealy went on to win from 511 Lexi Crosbie and 27 Leo Rabone.  Heat two looked like a win was coming for west Midlands visitor 99 Jayden Roff but with just two laps remaining, Clark spun Rabone the wrong way on the back straight.  The race was suspended for Rabone, during which time Clark was excluded.  From the single file restart, Crosbie got ahead of Roff, but Sealy surged into the lead, and a challenge by Roff saw spun Crosbie spun around.  Sealy won for a second time, 920 Wayne Wadge was the runner-up and Roff claimed third.  The final was halted early after a multi-car pile-up on the exit of turn four when 235 Kaitlin Harris spun and many from the pack were unable to avoid her.  117 Max Starr injured his knee and required assistance from his car.  When the race resumed, Clark, Roff, 522 Jacob Mikulla and Sealy contested the lead, before Sealy hit the front and saw out the remainder of the race to successfully defended the Reg Thomas shield and complete a hat-trick of victories.  Roff kept pace with Sealy to take a really decent second place with Clark completing the top three.