Summer arrived in style at the United Downs Raceway, as a large holiday crowd gathered in the sunshine for a fun-filled afternoon of action.

Stock Rods

The boom in numbers for the non-contact class continued, with a 30-car showing which led to a full format.  This was aimed at reducing the prospect of damage in the earlier races, but best laid plans and all that.  Heat one was suspended on lap eight when 249 Brandon Curtis needed to be recovered after a spin in turn three.  His father, 149 Dan Curtis led away the single file restart and withstood strong pressure from 286 Martin Walker Jnr (who was racing his new car for the first time), 909 Justin Washer and 415 Sean Gillett in an exciting second half to the race.  Heat two was led initially by 777 Nathan Congdon, until 476 Vic Wadling swept past, but both drivers then clobbered the fence of their own accord in separate incidents and retired.  That left 254 Kurt Selway out front, but he lost out to 946 Dave Taylor.  In turn, 51 Aiden Vincent joined the battle at the front, and as Taylor battled to hold on to the lead, he clipped the kerb coming off turn four.  Vincent dived into the gap, but the two clashed on the exit of turn two, and Taylor then struck the fence on the back straight, where he was further collected by 275 Jeremy Hatch and 913 Ben Faulconbridge.  Vincent led off the single file restart, to see out the remaining two laps, whilst Selway was disqualified when his exhaust became detached.  Just nine cars gridded for the consolation, and Selway was given a second technical disqualification as his exhaust came adrift again.  That left 779 Ross Sweetland out front, and he ran out a clear winner, with 862 Darryl Cock the runner-up.  A wonderfully respectful touch ahead of The Lego Trophy final saw Andrew Gold’s ‘Thank You For Being A Friend’ played in tribute to the late Brian Paramore – a most fitting choice of song.  With no white grade qualifiers, 286 Martin Walker Jnr and 891 Martyn Cleave were the front row of the grid, and they set a searing pace at the front.  314 Jason Barraclough tailed them for a while, but eventually Walker Jnr edged clear.  That left Cleave and Barraclough to dispute second place, and they were joined by Gillett.  The star graders made only limited progress, but it was Walker Jnr who took his new car to a fine victory, with Cleave in second and Gillett grabbing third late on.  Cleave completed his most successful Stock Rod outing yet when he swept to a maiden win in the Grand National.

Heritage Stock Cars

Although numbers were low after several drivers encountered mechanical issues the night before at Smeatharpe, there was the usual high level of enthusiasm amongst the nostalgic brigade, as evidenced by a colourful fancy dress display on the Grand Parade.  In the opening race, 342 Ross Taylor left it late to chase down 198 Alan Nicholson but just managed to get ahead late on to clinch the John Taylor Trophy with 761 Andy Whitehouse third.  Whitehouse scored a similarly late win in the next race, after Nicholson had led until the closing stages.  The South West Championship final began with a hugely spectacular home straight rollover for 455 Alfie Fleckett.  When the race resumed, it followed the same well-worn path, as Nicholson got into the lead, but was hunted down late on.  This time 734 Richard Johnson was the only one to catch him, and thus Nicholson completed a hat-trick of runner-up finishes, with Taylor completing the top three.

Van Bangers

The low number of Van Bangers failed to detract from the entertainment as the drivers set about one another in style.  838 Damien Tiley parked his Transit high top minibus across the track and 989 Saul Campbell clouted it with his Citroen Despatch before 988 Ryan Thomas did likewise.  That ended the involvement of Campbell, and Tiley saw to it that Thomas was eliminated too.  It was hugely destructive and may well have been the end of the Van Bangers had it not been for some sterling work in the pit area.  That did ensure a Destruction Derby was possible, although Thomas was a sitting target.  Campbell weighed in on Tiley’s much larger van, but there was only ever going to be one winner, and Tiley celebrated by blitzing the Thomas van, which smashed the roof off in one go, much to the crowd’s amusement.

Back 2 Basics Bangers

A mixed bunch assembled for the Back 2 Basics Bangers, with smartly cars from 314 Anthony Hambley and 312 Leeta Rawling-Aldridge who were in fund-raising mode as they sought to support The Green – a local care home.  The first heat was won at a canter by 401 Nicky Stevens, after former Ministox racer 525 Harry Stone had led early on.  Heat two brought success for Hambley, after he came out on top in a duel at the front with 233 Liam Parkin.  The final began with Stevens gamely parking at the end of the back straight, but for much of the race, the rest opted to leave him in peace.  Stone again got out front but then lost the lead to the impressive Rawling-Aldridge, but in turn she was overhauled late on by Parkin.  As for Stevens, his peaceful time ended abruptly a lap from home when 696 Jago Carveth ploughed into him, triggering the start of the Destruction Derby which ended with a heap of cars piled up in turn three, and the last hit was delivered by 405 Liam Curtis-Stevens, which notched him the victory.