The summer season’s second Monday evening fixture at Smeatharpe brought a busy pit area as the Stock Rods and Bangers turned out in good numbers, whilst a modest showing of BriSCA F2 Stock Cars made their last appearance at the circuit before the World Semi Finals date later in the month.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

Yet again there was a disappointing car count from the BriSCA F2s, with so many local drivers failing to embrace the multitude of extra awards on offer.  Accordingly, a two-thirds format was adopted.  Heat one had only gone two laps before yellow flags were called to retrieve 315 Charlie Fisher and 654 Harley Soper after they tangled on the exit of turn two.  Race leader 53 Phil Mann set a strong pace at the front, but long distance visitor 411 Reece Winch swept by to claim a first ever Smeatharpe win.  820 John Ovenden opened up a commanding lead in heat two, with 464 Matt Linfield and 234 Tom Shilling striving to get on terms.  Further back, 980 Charlie Lobb and 890 Paul Rice fought out an entertaining tussle.  Linfield held on to second but could not get close enough to challenge, and hence there was a maiden win for Ovenden.  The circuit was slightly damp from light drizzle by the time of heat three, and lap times lengthened as drivers struggled with the slippery surface.  Mann again headed the field, but late on Lobb and 126 Jamie Avery surged by, finishing in that order.  The Silverline Trophy final, with its customary clutch start, started badly for a gaggle of blue tops who tangled and slid to the fence on the exit of turn four, and a caution period was ultimately needed for that, as well as 83 Sy Harraway sending himself and 12 Craig Driscoll into the Honiton bend plating.  When the race resumed, Avery incurred damage and retired, which left Lobb as the clear favourite for the Taffy & Bryn Thomas Trophy series.  Lobb lost out to 24 Jon Palmer before the midway point as they continued the pursuit of race leader Soper.  As the race moved into the final third, Palmer and Lobb edged past Soper, and that is the way it stayed to the chequered, with Palmer winning the glorious trophy originally donated to the sport by his father, the late Les Palmer.  With sponsorship of the meeting from Weston & Edwards (including Ablemove), two smart removal lorries ferried the top three on the lap of honour, which made for an eye-catching spectacle.  In the Taffy & Bryn Thomas Trophy series, Lobb topped the multiplier factored points chart, from Avery and Rice, with Richard Thomas and friends and family overseeing the presentation of awards.  Lobb completed a fine evening with a second win, as he headed home Winch and Linfield after a close contest for the lead in the Grand National, whilst 736 Josh Weare and 468 Sam Weston lost out when they tangled in the west bend.

Stock Rods

Although there were just shy of 30 drivers present, including 35 Jimmy McDermott and 808 Jack Southwell, each of whom were making their debut appearance in the class.  Regrettably, mechanical problems encountered during practice denied 131 Stephen Cock and 204 Georgie Polley the opportunity to race, and thus numbers were ready-made for a two-from-three format.  The opening heat featured plenty of outside line passing, particularly by 415 Sean Gillett and former British Champion 909 Justin Washer, but they were both left trailing some way behind 51 Aiden Vincent.  McDermott led heat two until retiring with a mechanical issue, and that opened the door for 779 Ross Sweetland, who scored an emphatic win, with Washer the runner-up and 286 Martin Walker Jnr in third.  The race also included a bizarre incident, which followed National Champion 914 Callum Faulconbridge collecting some damage.  He proceeded to tour at slow speed for a couple of laps before tangling with 835 Matt Westaway and 944 Callum Hosie.  In heat three, Walker Jnr hit the front early on, with 891 Martyn Cleave and 320 Matt Hatch also in contention.  When Walker Jnr slowed and retired from the race, Cleave assumed the lead and Gillett swept past Hatch, but he could not reel in Cleave.  Hatch made it into the lead at the start of the final, whilst Vincent gamely tried to overhaul him.  However, as Hatch and Vincent disputed first place, Washer joined them and took full advantage to sweep past them both.  Gillett finished fourth to continue his good set of results and further back, Westaway brilliantly made good use of the outside line to climb from twelfth to fifth in the space of a handful of laps.  The night ended with a Grand National that 220 Richard Short led initially.  A terrific battle then brewed between Vincent, Gillett and 231 Simon Bassett.  Each had a turn in the lead, but it was Gillett who was there when it mattered to take the chequered.

Bangers

A fine field of 40 drivers was very much welcomed, and it proved to be an intense affair with the points battle heating up.  The night also attracted some smart cars with 198 Owen Nichol and 299 Kayne Rutterford both producing fresh, tidy motors for the event.  A split heat format meant that heat one raised 20 cars, which was led by 54 Jake Moore for most of the race.  When the lap boards came out, 511 Dan Crosbie seized his chance and punted Moore on to take the lead.  Meanwhile, recently crowned National Bangers World Champion 362 Johnny ‘Drifter’ James was living up to his namesake, sliding his BMW from the back of the grid to fifth after a compelling battle with 881 Caitlin Emery.  Crosbie ended up taking the win ahead of 196 Phil Chapman.  Heat two proved to be a lively race meanwhile, with 166 Connor Charlton getting involved by putting the bumper in on everything in front of him.  This however soon put him on the naughty step, when points leader 390 Alfie Tomkins came to a halt on the back straight, and copped a hard stationary car shot from Charlton.  During the frenzy, 919 Oscar Berry drove a flawless race from start to finish but couldn’t hold off a last lap charge from 786 Grant Harris, who grabbed the lead at the very end and took the win, with Berry having to settle with second.  Another fast race was in store for the consolation, as 352 Carl Belfield found some pace and fought through to the front of the pack quickly.  So too did Nichol and 290 Jay Tomkins, who soon joined Belfield in the battle for the lead.  Nichol was first to take advantage, carving past the black and white Astra for the lead, and soon Tomkins would also shuffle past Belfield to chase down the leading Nichol.  With three laps to go, Tomkins boldly attempted to spin Nichol but ended up getting caught on the smart Focus which sent the top two tumbling down the order.  That promoted Belfield back into the lead and he secured the eventual win ahead of 96 Craig Cornelius.  The floodlights were set to full beam as the final came round, which was looking to be a quiet race, when 54 Jake Moore cruised into the lead from pole, moving through the backmarkers with ease.  However, that run came to a sharp halt when a pile-up formed on the exit of turn four.  This rapidly grew to almost a track blockage by the time Moore came round, and he lost the lead after picking the wrong route.  Alfie Tomkins capitalised and took the lead ahead of his father Jay Tomkins.  Yet, just as Alfie was looking set to take the win, he found himself caught on 776 Terry Senford with two laps to go.  That gave 451 Nigel Belfield ample opportunity to put the bumper in hard on the young-gun Tomkins and take him out of the running.  This promoted Jay Tomkins to the lead, and he valiantly fought off Belfield for the win.  It was thus a runner-up place for Nigel Belfield and Phil Chapman completed an all-Cornish top three.  A good field of drivers came out for the Allcomers to cap off the night and was hectic from the off when 138 Dan Rice put away Cornelius on turn four, whilst a mini pile-up formed on turn one.  The red flags then came out when 161 Anton Ferris’s Astra suddenly set alight coming out of turn four, but that was dealt with swiftly.  Moore must have been kicking himself on the restart when Crosbie tried to go for the race lead, but Moore managed to get away after Crosbie went wide and clipped the wall, ending his night.  As hard as he tried, Moore couldn’t hold on to the lead when Nigel Belfield and Jay Tomkins rocketed past him and battled for the rest of the race, with Tomkins biding his time behind the leading Belfield.  As the last lap board came out, Tomkins lined up his fellow stalwart for a lovely last bender, and punted Belfield hard into pit bend.  However, Belfield held on and took a hard fought win from Tomkins, avenging the loss to the latter in the final, ending a fine night of racing from all involved.