A bumper festive season crowd packed into the United Downs Raceway for Banger Bonanza Cornwall where, despite the winter chill, there was an abundance of action.

Bangers

A huge car count resulted in the best of the season, although the slight downfall was the failure of so many drivers to comprehend the format despite information displayed on the Notice Board.  From pole position Cornish Champion 862 Darryl Cock led the Last Chance qualifier to the closing stages.  With only a handful of laps remaining, he encountered backmarker 53 Chris James and spun him aside.  James rejoined after the spin, and on the final lap he ensured Cock tangled with him on the back straight.  Cock was bundled towards the infield and that left 881 Caitlin Emery to inherit the win.  It was teenagers to the fore in the Non-Qualifiers heat, as 242 Alfie Ellacott marked his debut appearance with a flag-to-flag victory, leading home his cousin, 162 Harry Ellacott.  The Supreme Championship produced a stunning race.  At the drop of the green, 31 Liam Shipway bundled into the lead, after sending 786 Grant Harris and pole sitter 196 Phil Chapman wide.  Barely a lap had been completed before the race was halted with 617 Reece Rixon in need of attention.  Shipway led the single file restart, from Harris, Chapman and 662 Jared Roe, with Roe swiftly climbing to third in the next few laps.  Harris overhauled Shipway at the front, but another stoppage was called when Emery’s car went on fire.  Once extinguished, the race restarted, and a special period of the race evolved, as Harris, Shipway and Roe were joined by former Supreme Champion 621 Scott Kendall in a compelling scrap at the front.  Kendall muscled his way past the others to take command, but he could not shake off Roe.  The lead pair stormed clear of the rest, and it was Roe who wrestled the lead back from Kendall.  Into the closing stages, Kendall looked content to ride shotgun and wait for a chance on the last lap, but heading into the final bend his attack carried insufficient force.  Roe rode out the hit, and held firm to clinch the Supreme title, whilst Kendall had to be content with second.  Having advanced from the Last Chance qualifier, 784 Henry Murray had made stunning progress to finish third, with Harris fourth and 803 Josh Boswell in fifth.  A spin on the back straight for 268 Kerry Birch kickstarted a huge pile-up at the start of the consolation, with 999 John Glover, 78 Max Weare, Emery, Chapman and 768 Tyler Cock all involved.  149 Dan Curtis spun 814 Will Trevorrow into the heap, and 323 Barry Phillips turfed aside 459 Dean Blight on the home straight.  A complete re-run was needed, and very soon another melee developed on the back straight, as Birch spun Chris James, which left 817 Michael Phillips and 249 Brandon Curtis nowhere to go.  Devon Champion 67 Harry Pritchard tried to squeeze by with 24 Matt Taylor, with the latter finding only enough room for some two-wheel balancing.  816 Josh Taylor led until the lap boards appeared, when Chapman took over at the front, and Taylor was dumped into a collection of cars in turns one and two.  Chapman won comfortably, with just ten cars going the full distance.  The meeting final saw 22 Hayden May and 714 James Sowden dispute the early lead, but when they were held up, Alfie Ellacott took over.  He was being tracked by 919 Oscar Berry with Harry Ellacott also looking to get into contention.  Harry Ellacott moved into second and when he reeled in Alfie Ellacott, he spun him, just as the lap boards appeared.  Harry Ellacott went on to win, with Chapman the runner-up after he just pipped Emery on the final lap.  Only eight drivers finished the Allcomers, which included a partial track blockage with cars coming and going from the stramash in turns one and two.  Harry Ellacott claimed his second win, as he finished a full lap ahead of any others, with 141 Toby Tiddy a distant runner-up.  The points haul for the day for Harry Ellacott earned him an instant upgrade to star.

Van Bangers

Seven drivers contested the opening heat for the Van Bangers, with 352 Carl Belfield in superb form as he spun aside many of the rest.  That delayed him in the latter stages, which allowed 988 Ryan Thomas to close on him, and they enjoyed several laps disputing the lead.  Eventually Belfield edged clear and sealed the win.  After early race problems, 511 Dan Crosbie got back into the action and joyfully parked his van across the track by the pit gate where he was duly clobbered by 841 Ryan Johns.  Heat two was dominated by 770 Austin Farrell, who was the only driver to complete anything like the required number of laps.  He spun Johns at the start, before a stoppage after a fire emerged from 838 Damien Tiley’s crusty Ambulance.  Crosbie spun Johns when the race resumed, which triggered the pair to reverse into one another, just before Farrell took the chequered and planted his car headfirst into Johns.  The Vans finale saw four drivers make it to the grid, but racing was of secondary importance to the Destruction Derby.  Belfield somehow limped every last morsel from his van, but eventually it cried no more and went on fire.  That left Crosbie, Johns and 165 Graham Middlewood, whose own van had already died, but he was given permission to use the Thomas van, with Thomas unable to drive it himself.  A lengthy and protracted battle saw numerous heavy hits, but it was Crosbie who outlasted the others to take the win in the late afternoon gloom.

Old Skool Bangers

A decent showing of 20 drivers produced some high speed action, with 242 Toby Doo making the most of his pole position start to lead for almost the whole race.  186 Lewis Fasey got the better of the battle with his father 86 Leon Fasey to lead the chase after Doo, but despite a last bend dive, Fasey could not dislodge Doo from first place.  There was a similar story in heat two, as 154 Joe Odhams made the most of starting on pole after the random draw was conducted.  838 Jamie Peters was second over the line, but docked for a jump start, which elevated 739 Jason Moore to the runner-up position.  Peters started the final from pole but was swiftly replaced at the front by Leon Fasey.  However, Moore was not to be denied.  He surged into the lead, and won from Leon Fasey, Lewis Fasey and 208 Kieran Barrett in fourth.