There was a large crowd on hand for the Bank Holiday Caravan Chaos at Smeatharpe Stadium with the Saloon Stock Cars Club 21 Trophy, Ministox Devon Championship and Bangers LEGO Trophy in memory of Brian Paramore all up for grabs.

Saloon Stock Cars

The final car count came to 15 cars, including 151 Levi List from East Anglia who was making his third south west appearance in three days.  444 Kieran Bellringer and 768 Joe Delahay battled over the race lead over the opening handful of laps before 84 Carl Boswell took command of the race. 577 Harry Darby and 720 Archie Brown led the charge from the back of the field, and Brown was able to move Boswell wide on the last lap to win with Harry Darby completing the top three behind Boswell. Heat two was a bit of a slow burner, after the initial exchanges saw Harry Darby pushed out of contention on the pit bend. 506 Bradley Eltham led until three laps to go, when he was caught by Boswell. Boswell had only just got by Eltham when 382 Corey Hunt was on the back bumper of the pair, and it was Hunt who went on to win. Eltham was pushed out wide, just out of range of Hunt’s back bumper, by Boswell who narrowly beat Eltham to second. Boswell made light work of getting to the front of the Final, as Harry Darby was the first star grader to show with the other four drivers spending the opening quarter of the race knocking lumps out of each other and slowing themselves down. Eltham and Bellringer exited stage left on the pit bend which allowed 799 Joe Powell, Hunt and Harry Darby to battle over second spot. Brown got himself clear of the star battle to join the dice for second with a couple of laps remaining, while Boswell was still the length of a straight clear and recorded a convincing win. Hunt attempted a huge last bend lunge on Harry Darby which put both out to the fence and allowed Brown up the inside to steal second, while Hunt was narrowly third ahead of Harry Darby. The Allcomers was halted after 199 Phil Powell was collected heavily by List on the home straight. Eltham led the pack away on the restart which saw synchronised spinning on the pit bend from 7 Patrick Lines and 759 Taylor Whitford. Eltham was knocked wide and clobbered by List, and just as Brown hit the front the yellows appeared to recover the Eltham car from its dangerous position. A poor getaway from Boswell allowed Brown to create a gap immediately in the lead, while 902 Brad Compton-Sage settled in second and List in third. Further back, Hunt attempted an audacious last bend move on both Harry and 677 Warren Darby for fourth place, but the positions remained static to conclude an entertaining weekend from the heavy metal brigade.

ORCi Ministox

The first of two qualifying heats for the Devon Championship made it all the way to four laps to go, when the yellow flags appeared for a spun 575 Caden Clark halfway down the back straight. When the race got back underway, 522 Jacob Mikulla led the field and found himself with a useful gap out front when 313 Charlie Weston was spun from second place, and despite being clobbered by 511 Lexi Crosbie both drivers continued. Mikulla went on to record a maiden win, ahead of 475 Mason Sealy and 99 Jayden Roff. 218 Rory Pearce led the opening stages of the second heat, but he was usurped by Weston who went on to record a comfortable win. Mikulla came through for second and Sealy for third. The Devon Championship grid put Mikulla and Sealy on the front row with 39 William Hunn and 176 Jack Jones behind. Mikulla led the opening lap, but Sealy swiftly succeeded him in the lead, and in no time he had created a big gap out front. 257 Kieran Hibberd appeared in third after Jones dropped back but the English Open Champion was soon back into the top three. A late yellow flag for a spun Roff on the back straight extinguished Sealy’s lead, which had grown to the length of a straight. Sealy took care of the restart, completing the remaining two laps to retain the Devon title with Jones getting the better of Mikulla for second. Further back, Weston was spun across the line in a scramble for the top ten positions and was fortunate to avoid being collected by the pack. A messy start to the Mum’s race saw 27 Alisha Hunt tangle with 182 Karen Simpson on the Honiton bend, necessitating a complete restart. There was to be a further stoppage with 511 Donna Crosbie spun against the fence on the Honiton bend, while 475 Christie Sealy and 476 Kay Vining had also fallen by the wayside. One time Ministox Points Champion 770 Kat Dawe led the restart and went on to win, ahead of Hunt, 505 Aimee Herzig and 182 Karen Simpson.

Bangers

A full format was deployed with just shy of 40 cars in the pits. The first heat was led initially by 7 Luke Yelland, with 290 Jay Tomkins the first star driver to show. 200 Jai Simmonds removed the 290 car from second place, which allowed 451 Nigel Belfield and 196 Phil Chapman to move into the top three. Belfield and Chapman made their way past Yelland, and the top three stayed that way until the chequered flag. Heat two saw a couple of early spinners, 551 Jack Belfield taking the back straight in reverse. This left 817 Michael Phillips with a big lead; one he didn’t relinquish. 303 Josh Jones made it to the front of the yellow grade and held off a fast charging 390 Alfie Tomkins for second. A straightforward Consolation race went to Jack Belfield, ahead of 78 Max Weare with long-time race leader 313 Oakley Hayes in third. Yelland and Hayes had spells in the lead of the LEGO Trophy Final, but Alfie Tomkins scythed his way through the field and was in the lead just after half distance. 786 Grant Harris was soon into second, and while Hayes clung on to third for another couple of laps Chapman got the better of him by the time the chequered flag fell. Alfie Tomkins was well clear by now, with Harris in second and Chapman third. 95 Marcus Bunt was an early retiree from the Allcomers, with Nigel Belfield in particular doing well to avoid hitting the 95 car on the back straight. After laps in front for 627 Aaron Kingwell, 268 Kerry Birch and 826 Lewis Martin, 768 Tyler Cock became the race leader. Weare and Simmonds battled over second for a few laps before Alfie Tomkins caught the flying yellow graders and took second, but not before sending Simmonds into a half spin on the home straight. Alfie Tomkins took the lead from Tyler Cock with a couple of laps remaining, and the latter was unluckily spun on the final corner by the pack, handing second to Weare and third to Harris.

Caravan Chaos

Six drivers gridded: 31 Liam Shipway, 79 Brian Edmond, 455 Shane Kennard, 814 Arron Lloyd and 919 Oscar Berry. Edmond raced into the early lead as Shipway and Powell lost their caravans early on. Berry, Kennard, Lloyd and Shipway set about each other and their caravans, Shipway mounting the back of Kennard’s trailer which broke the chain between the 455 car and caravan chassis. Lloyd and Shipway became stuck on the back straight, which brought the race to a close with Edmond declared the winner.