The first Bank Holiday of the year saw mixed weather conditions greet the good crowd on hand with a heathy turnout of cars across the three formulas on show.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

925 Jake Wilson took a flag-to-flag win in the opening heat, with 00 Brad Morgan in second, both being hunted down at the flag by 915 Jamie Jones, whilst World Champion 1 Luke Wrench just managed to get into the qualifying places on the final lap.  In heat two, it was recent Ministox graduate 207 Alfie Flecken who took his first Smeatharpe win, and in comfortable style too, leaving behind both 194 Luke Johnson and 542 Steven Gilbert, who each spun out of contention at different points in the race.  The lower grader domination continued in the consolation with 128 Jake Ralfs taking another flag-to-flag win.  The trials and tribulations continued for Gilbert as he exited the race by lap 4.  Behind Ralfs, 525 Charlie Knight and 359 Gary Wrench withstood the star grade challenge to lock out the top three positions for lower graders.  The Final proved a stop-start affair with the stranded car of 206 Matt Brewer on the pits bend necessitating the first bout of yellow flags, whilst a tangle between 605 Richie Andrews and 126 Jamie Avery brought out the yellows for a second time.  A pile-up on turn four claimed Wilson and Flecken which allowed World Champion Wrench up into the lead before half distance, a lead which he held onto with little threat.  Jones and 468 Sam Weston completed the top three.  980 Charlie Lobb was heavily involved in an eventful Grand National, tangling on three separate occasions during the race.  Wilson led from the early stages but was eventually caught and passed by Flecken to round out a good afternoon’s racing for the lower graders.

Saloon Stock Cars 

A good entry of Saloon Stock Cars was bolstered by some fine travelling efforts from the likes of 151 Levi List and 760 Joey Reynolds, whilst 670 Ross Watters completed his weekend’s racing in the West Country before heading home to Scotland. 178 Keiran Bowman, a recent convert from the National Banger formula again looked on his track debut in the Saloon Stock Cars, taking a flag to flag win in the opening heat.  Behind him, 768 Joe Delahaye, 27 Jason Kingwell and 382 Corey Hunt found themselves in a muddle on turn four, whilst 759 Taylor Whitford and 364 Nathan Olden found spun around as they approached the finish line which dropped them both down the order.  Heat two was a frenetic affair with 677 Warren Darby sent spinning as the green flag dropped.  561 Aaron Totham took up the running at the front of the field by half distance after Whitford, the leader over the opening stages, spun out.  Olden and 112 Rich James were also sent around on different occasions, with the star graders finding it tough to make an impact, 720 Archie Brown heading them home in third.  The Final saw an entertaining chase for the lead over the closing stages.  Bowman had taken over at the front from Whitford by the halfway mark but had Darby and Hunt closing him down.  Hunt eventually forced his way through to the lead, and despite trying everything he could Darby had to settle for second, finding himself too far back to mount a last bend lunge.  The Allcomers race saw Hunt, James, Kingwell and 162 Bradley Fox all in a heap on the pit bend as Brown eventually overhauled Bowman to take his first win of the afternoon.

Bangers

Such was the number of drivers seeking to contest the much sought after Gus Garrett Trophy, a full format was deployed with three heats and a consolation event required to whittle down the challengers to contest the Final.  551 Jack Bellfield eased to victory from the front of the field to take a flag-to-flag win in the opening heat.  The second heat was a more eventful affair.  Although 95 Marcus Bunt took the win, again in flag-to-flag fashion, there was plenty of action behind with the luckless 717 Donna Cotterill being met head on by the chasing pack after being spun on the home straight.  Behind Bunt, a fine battle developed between 235 Sam Galliford and 786 Grant Harris for the runner-up spot, Harris coming out on top only to then lose a wheel after crossing the finish line.  298 Dave Greening found the going tough in heat three, spinning around on three separate occasions as 99 Ryan Hall took the win, the third successive race to see a driver lead from start to finish.  It was a pattern that continued in the consolation; this time 54 Jake Moore taking the victory.  The qualifiers only Final was a lively affair and saw 803 Josh Boswell take up the running early on before a caution period for an errant wheel.  On the resumption Hall, 662 Jared Roe and 390 Alfie Tomkins enjoyed a fine battle for position behind Boswell.  The outcome was decided on the last lap.  Boswell led, but Tomkins made an audacious lunge, connecting with sufficient control to beat Boswell in the scramble to the flag.  Roe completed the top three.  Boswell was in another battle for the lead come the Allcomers, this time with 617 Reece Rixon but this time he held on for the win.  The afternoon was brought to its customary chaotic conclusion with the first Caravan race of the year.  The winner was declared as 79 Brian Edmond who had swapped his Stock Rod for the day, although his win was helped by his experience of avoiding contact whilst the other drivers set about each other much to the delight of the crowd, leaving the traditional scene of utter carnage.