An important date in the Autospeed annual calendar to remember and pay tribute to the much-missed Duncan Pike generated some superb racing from the BriSCA F2 Stock Cars, with a double-dose of Bangers in support for the appreciative Bank Holiday crowd.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

Coming at the end of a busy weekend’s racing, the field necessitated the two from three format to be deployed.  Following the customary Grand Parade, the opening heat saw 605 Richie Andrews hit the front early on and gain a lead that he would not lose.  Behind him a great battle in the midfield pack with the likes of 667 Tommy Farrell, 418 Ben Borthwick, 186 Kasey Jones, 618 Ben Lockwood, 315 Charlie Fisher and 931 Rebecca Smith which did little to help their progress to the front but was nonetheless enthralling to watch.  Andrews took another flag to flag victory in heat two but there was once again an exciting clash between Farrell and Smith joined by 776 Dan Roots and 915 Jamie Jones which saw bumpers being traded on each bend.  In the third heat 870 Bruno Farrell and 458 Layton Mush shot away at the front.  Newcomer Mush was looking particularly comfortable out front until passed by 00 Brad Morgan.  In the closing laps Roots forced his way past Morgan to take the win.  The Final aptly served up the race of the day for the Duncan Pike Trophy.  The initial start didn’t go very far as 510 Matt Stone found himself facing the wrong direction halfway down the home straight with the pack bearing down on him.  Jones was the unlucky driver to clip him, flying over the front of the Stone machine.  As the incident was dealt with the spits of rain in the sky became more substantial and it was a different track surface facing the drivers for the second attempt.  This time, Jones, who had been able to rejoin, found himself in another incident in the west bend along with Farrell and 121 Vinnie Neath-Rogers.  979 Paul Moss looked most at home on the slippery surface, but as quickly as the moisture had appeared, it stopped.  Just after halfway, 131 Dean Rogers and Andrews got in a muddle on the back straight and out came the yellow flags.  The delay helped the track to dry still further, and as the closing quarter of the race commenced, the surface was back to almost dry conditions.  With that, Jones was now the quickest on track and was on the tale of Moss before taking over at the front.  Behind them, Roots had also caught Borthwick as they entered the last lap.  Roots timed his hit to perfection entering turn three sending Borthwick wide and snatching third at the last gasp, but it was teenager Jones who had run out a comprehensive winner.  The Grand National also served up some excitement when, at the start, a group headed 4 and 5 cars wide into the pit bend with Moss and 95 Joe Willcock spat out into the plating.  That required a yellow flag to tidy up the carnage.  Andrews led on the restart but was being hunted down quickly by Farrell, although his efforts to close the gap were on occasion hindered by some quick backmarkers.  Heading down the back straight for the final time, Farrell was around four car lengths back but he decided to go for the last bend hit.  Whilst he connected with the rear of Andrews’ car he lost control of his own, the car sliding backwards to the plating, as Andrews corrected his car to race to the line, his fist punching the air in delight.  Jones returned from the lap handicap to place second and Farrell’s all or nothing attempt left him empty handed, but what a gallant effort.

Bangers

The run of large entries continued with a full format meeting.  The lower graded drivers were to the fore in both heats with 193 Ollie Turner taking a flag to flag win in the opener, despite the challenges of being hunted by 54 Jake Moore and working his way through the backmarking traffic which included 776 Terry Senford, who had found himself in the midst of plenty of knocks and bangs earlier on.  In the second heat 78 Max Weare took another white graded flag to flag win as an excellent battle for second unfolded behind him, between 390 Alfie Tomkins, 96 Craig Cornelius and 768 Tyler Cock, the trio eventually finishing in that order behind the race winner.  The consolation was a lively event with spins and shunts around the circuit.  803 Josh Boswell exited the race on the last lap as his car slid to the plating, nose first, on the pit bend.  154 Barry Pike crossed the line first but following post-race technical checks an irregularity with mismatched tyre sizes resulted in his exclusion; 290 Jay Tomkins inheriting the win.  Pike, for his part, took the decision on the chin, explaining his unawareness of the rule which resulted in his disqualification.  The Final saw a busy track and the race was quickly brought to a halt with 99 Ryan Hall tipped onto his side in the west bend.  On the restart, 166 Connor Charlton sped into the lead, but he was eventually bundled down the field, whilst the resumption of the race was the downfall for 451 Nigel Belfield.  He caught the Steward’s eye for being very quick away at the restart.  Alfie Tomkins took up the running to win the race, with Belfield’s second place eventually ending up as fourth following a two place docking for the jump start after the stoppage.  Belfield was also the focus of the attention in the Allcomers, but this time for a spectacular rollover on the home straight from which he engaged gear and sped off, negating the need for any stoppage.  153 Rhiannon Tavender and Moore were battling for the lead when an intervention from Cock saw Pike take over and this time the win was confirmed as he bounced back from the earlier disappointment.

Old Skool Bangers

The entry of 11 cars was below par and as a result there was little in the way of excitement to note during the afternoon’s quartet of races.  Furthermore, it places in jeopardy, the forthcoming fixtures for the class, and if numbers do not improve, some dates are likely to fall by the wayside.  362 Johnny James took a straightforward win in the opening heat.  The second race saw 891 Darren Wade spin out early on.  James had once again made it to the front and despite 114 Nick Courtier closing on the last lap he held on for the win.  6 Troy Jones (on double duty whilst also racing in the Bangers) and 862 Darryl Cock both had spins during the Final as 246 Ryan Sparks broke the James stranglehold to win.  James was back to the front come the Allcomers having passed 301 Jack Botfield on his way to his third win of the afternoon.

Caravan Chaos

The latest Caravan Chaos event saw 55 Joe Watts, 919 Oscar Berry, 166 Connor Charlton join Easter Monday winner 79 Brian Edmond, and for good measure, two more caravans were placed strategically as targets on the back straight.  Watts expired early, but Charlton wreaked havoc, and after a brief stoppage, Berry was dragged out of heavy wreckage to join in the destruction.  Charlton landed a heavy blow on a back straight caravan and that just left Edmonds to seal another win by parking in a caravan entering turn four.  As a race, it was nothing much, but as a move to destroy more caravans, another six were left obliterated, to the clear delight of the cheering spectators watching on.