The first of two Summer Monday night race sessions saw good support from across the three formulas on show, as the BriSCA F2 and Back 2 Basic Bangers served up a fast paced evening and the BriSCA Micro F2 racers concluded a busy period.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

A mid-thirties entry of BriSCA F2s was sufficient for a full-format schedule.  The evening started with the annual Ladies Race for the Bill Batten Trophy in aid of the Benevolent Fund.  Despite initial expectations of more drivers, circumstances conspired to leave a low entry of just six drivers on the grid, yet still they served up an eventful race.  207 Anja Jenkins got out of shape on the back straight after applying the throttle a little too sharply on the first lap, and just a moment later 194 Becky Howell clouted the home straight plating with sufficient force to bend the bumper and damage a front corner.  That led to her retirement from the race.  605 Kerrie Rundle clipped one of the marker tyres on the pit bend whilst she was running strongly in second, whilst 770 Millie Farrell was next to exit race after clipping the back straight plating whilst challenging 409 Payton Cockerill for the lead.  That gave Cockerill a healthy buffer at the front, and the former Ministox racer looked very accomplished in the loaned Jon Palmer machine.  Jenkins spun on the final lap, but there was no doubting the winner as Cockerill took the chequered ahead of 24 Stella Farrell, Jenkins and Rundle.  Such was teenager Cockerill’s enjoyment, that she quickly extended her participation in the rest of the meeting.  Heat one saw 464 Matt Linfield take up the early lead but behind, 126 Jamie Avery and 346 Ashley England (fresh from a recent trip to Scotland) both closed fast, with Avery eventually leading England home by the time of the chequered flag.  An early yellow flag was required for 95 Joe Willcock who had spun on turn two.  53 Phil Mann led the field away on the restart with 24 Jon Palmer already up to seventh.  There then followed a series of exciting exchanges as Palmer passed 207 Alfie Flecken only then for the young Ministox graduate to come back in with an attack to swap places.  After a second lap of such duelling, the hit from Flecken sent both him and Palmer into a half spin, as ahead 127 Matt Stoneman had forced his way past Mann for the lead with around a lap to go.  Unusually the consolation featured no yellow graded drivers, so it was a slightly imbalanced field that set off to secure the final qualifying spots for the meeting final.  980 Charlie Lobb moved quickly to the top of the field before half-distance which he held on to till the end, as behind 468 Sam Weston narrowly qualified despite a tangle with 605 Richie Andrews.  The Final saw Flecken being chased hard by Linfield as behind Palmer made his charge through the field.  Flecken looked confident out in front and was able to maintain his lead over the chasing pack.  931 Rebecca Smith had made her way up to second by the time the lap boards came out, but on the final lap Palmer made his move.  His last bend challenge saw Smith spin and drop out of the running as Palmer secured second, but it was Flecken who celebrated his win for the magnificent Roy Goodman Perpetual Challenge Trophy.  771 Alan Morrison rounded out the top three.  The Grand National for the Ash Sampson Memorial Trophy was led off in the now time-honoured tradition of a ceremonial rolling lap headed by Roy Goodman driving the Sampson car.  The race, once it got going, was quickly halted for Willcock whose bumper had been ripped off the 95 car.  The ever-improving Morrison led the field off on the restart, and the focus soon switched to a fine battle between Avery, Lobb and Palmer, with Avery eventually coming out the victor.

Back 2 Basic Bangers

In the opening heat 106 Max Grieve found himself stranded on the pit bend where 328 Mike Parry collided with him.  A good battle ensued between 31 Liam Shipway and 161Gary Nichol for the lead, before Shipway eventually edged clear and claimed the chequered flag.  459 Mitch Brooks took a flag-to-flag win in heat two but there was an excellent battle for second between 333 Craig Patridge and 154 Blazej Szczygiel which ended in spectacular rollover for the latter just as the chequered appeared.  The Final saw another rollover, this time for 201 Sam Nichol who gently tipped on to his side bringing the race to a halt.  A pile-up on the pit bend claimed a large number of cars including 315 Karl Sandercock as another race stoppage was required on the Honiton Bend for a flash fire under the 104 Matt Horwell car.  410 Dan Galley went in hard on 13 Phil Saunders on the pit bend when the race restarts, but amidst the mayhem, Patridge came through the field to take the win from 211 Adrian Coles and Parry.  A lightly contested Destruction Derby served up hits aplenty for the crowd who had stayed to cheer, and it was 549 Michael French who was declared the winner after seeing off 55 Joe Watts and 890 Leszek Malinowski.