Report by Alistair Oxby

The second of three August race fixtures at the United Downs Raceway took place in warm sunshine, as four formulas were on the bill and put on an excellent 16-race programme of events with the pits unable to take many more cars, had the need arose.

BriSCA F2 Stock Cars

The chief focus of the F2 Stock Car action was the annual ‘steering wheel trophy’ on the Final as the showpiece of Remembering Rog #95, marking the connection of the F2 community with the late Roger Willcock.  17 drivers assembled with the entire entry being south west based.  870 Bruno Farrell broke down on the grid for Heat One and so 16 cars took the start.  66 Ryan Hall was left as the only white-grader and he duly led the opening four laps of the race until 128 Jake Ralfs reeled him in to make a clean pass on the inside of turn three.  979 Paul Moss went spinning in turn one and dropped to the back of the order.  The other blue tops fared better and made good progress in the second half of the race with 468 Sam Weston, 315 Charlie Fisher and 935 Nathan Maidment all gaining positions.  Maidment was the best of these and he used the bumper well to move 605 Richie Andrews wide in turn three as they came to the last lap board to take up second place.  However, Ralfs was still too far ahead and was a convincing winner of the race.  Heat Two still had 16 cars on track, with Farrell repaired but 572 James Lindsay done for the day with car trouble.  Weston went for an early turn two spin and dropped to the back of the field whilst Farrell led the opening laps until the start of lap four when Andrews got better drive coming off turn four and took the inside line on the home straight to move into the lead, followed by Ralfs.  Farrell found himself stranded on the outside line and lost several places.  The race was brought under yellow flags when 83 Sy Harraway ended up stranded on the back straight with the nose of his car facing the plating and 828 Julian Coombes parked against his nerf rail with nowhere to go.  Andrews led away the restart which saw Maidment quickly move up to third place on the first lap of racing.  Four laps from the end, 418 Ben Borthwick pushed Moss wide in turn one to grab fourth position whilst Fisher attacked Maidment a lap later to gain a place but was unable to hold it on the exit of the corner.  A quality finish saw Ralfs pile into the back of Andrews on the last corner with Maidment also hitting the back bumper of Ralfs but Andrews managed to keep the power on around the outside of the corner and held on to win in a very close finish for the entire top three.  The Remembering Rog Final gridded 15 cars with Harraway also now absent.  A mad scramble at the drop of the green flag saw Coombes squeezed against the home straight wall and he dropped straight to the back of the yellow grade as Farrell led the way.  Andrews made the best progress in the yellow grade despite starting as last car and he moved ahead of Hall on lap three to claim second position just before the yellow flags emerged to assist Ralfs who had gone into the wall on turn three.  736 Josh Weare lost a lot of ground on the restart when the pack pushed him wide to skim the plating all around turns one and two.  Andrews made a great restart to hold his lead whilst the consistent Maidment worked his way up to second position within a couple of laps.  Borthwick passed Weston in turn one on lap seven to move into third but the response was effective from Weston and Borthwick lost track position and fell down the places again.  Andrews lost out to Maidment for the lead soon afterwards but held on to second position until lap 14 when Weston got a better run off turn two and moved ahead of him.  Fourth place and beyond had been quite a long way adrift of the top three at the half-way point in the race but 980 Charlie Lobb made the hard slog to get back in contention and he managed to catch Andrews three laps from the end when once again the transition from turn two into the back straight was the Achilles heel for Andrews.  Maidment went on to win the trophy ahead of Weston and Lobb whilst a late shove from Moss gave him fourth place and dropped Andrews to fifth in the final reckoning.  The same 15 cars returned for the Grand National which saw a few different drivers to the fore.  Moss seemed to have found some extra pace and he dealt with Coombes on lap 2 to move up to fifth place and then just drove past the rest of the whites and yellows over the next three laps to claim the race lead.  Weston pushed Moss wide in turn three a lap later but Moss came straight back to the front within a lap whilst a hit from 235 Alfie Brimble on Andrews sent the latter drifting through turn three.  That gained third place for Brimble and the status quo remained much the same for the second half of the race until a couple of laps from the end when Weston decided it was time for another push on Moss which came in turn three.  The execution was good and Weston moved ahead of Moss into the home straight with Brimble also powering ahead of Moss on the way to turn one.  Another last-bend finish saw Brimble go for the hit on Weston whilst Moss also charged in from third place but only hit a large portion of empty space.  Brimble won the dash off the last corner by a small margin to claim his first victory from the blue grade which was a fine note on which to end a cracking day of F2 action.

ORCi Stock Rods

The Stock Rods were racing for the Adam Ignaczak trophy with 24 drivers arriving in the pits although 415 Sean Gillett suffered mechanical issues in practice and was unable to take part in the racing with 220 Richard Short also loading up after practice.  The heats ran to a two-thirds format with drivers scoring points towards a closed-grid Final arranged in groups of six.  Heat One had 14 drivers on track and saw 862 Darryl Cock retire very early with an outside rear puncture as 320 Matt Hatch made the pace at the front and 914 Callum Faulconbridge sat his car on the outside line from the back to see what progress he could make.  913 Ben Faulconbridge had a bit of a wobble coming off turn four after a few laps which dropped him from fourth to fifth place although he managed to avoid spinning out.  Callum Faulconbridge and 314 Jason Barraclough tangled and took a slight excursion over the inside bank at turn two before the race was brought under yellow flags on lap 9 with 617 Christina Sillifant sat across the track in turn one and unable to recover.  Ben Faulconbridge was a man on a mission at the restart and went around the outside of turn two and the back straight to move up to second place on the first green-flag lap and three laps later he simply outpaced Hatch down the home straight to move into the lead.  The 913 Starlet was to remain at the front to the chequered flag followed home by Hatch and 728 Kris Woods.  14 cars also for Heat Two where 814 Max Barraclough got bogged down at the clutch start taking a tap of encouragement from 909 Justin Washer who was delayed behind him.  Barraclough continued to have a challenging race getting a black cross for contact on 891 Martyn Cleave and seeing 231 Simon Bassett pass him on the inside line on lap six as Bassett led the charge from the red grade.  Most of the notable changes in the race involved those drivers progressing from further down the grid with Jason Barraclough and Washer getting the inside line on 285 Martin Walker on the home straight and into turn one to drop him from sixth to eighth.  Washer continued to move up to fifth on lap 12 and fourth a couple of laps later, soon after which 131 Stephen Cock, who had been running in a solid second place for the whole race, drifted off line and dropped quickly through the positions.  Washer got up to third place in the closing part of the race when Jason Barraclough got spat out of the pack on the back straight but there was nobody who came close to catching 151 Simon Vincent who won from yellow by a significant margin.  Heat Three had 15 cars on track and saw Hatch do the early leading of the race whilst the bad day for Max Barraclough continued when he put himself into the turn three plating, quite possibly aided by an outside rear puncture.  Hatch was still at the front around the mid-point of the race but was passed by 77 Tom Larcombe who then raced away quickly to gain quite an advantage at the front.  Washer moved up to second place coming off turn four on lap 13 with Vincent then moving ahead of Hatch a lap later.  However, Vincent then stayed wide on the home straight and Hatch tried to lunge up the inside making slight contact.  Sillifant and Callum Faulconbridge also caught up with Hatch soon afterwards and Faulconbridge sat his car on the outside line five laps from the end to move up from sixth to third places in the space of a single lap of the track.  A further clash between Hatch and Vincent saw the latter take a trip up the turn two inner banking earning Hatch a black cross and Vincent likewise penalised for his reaction to the incident.  Larcombe won ahead of Washer and Faulconbridge.  21 of the 22 cars lined up for the Final with Cock the only driver not to feature.  100 Thomas Weeks sensed a problem at the start and made a hurried dash for the infield, almost wiping out 944 Callum Hosie who then retired a lap later with a puncture.  Larcombe made the best start from the front row and led the top three cars well clear of the rest of the field, fellow front-row starter Washer settling in second and Callum Faulconbridge behind him.  The only driver making much headway in the first half of the race was 728 Kris Woods who started ninth on the grid and worked his way forward to sixth at half distance, but then could make no further passes.  The last 12 laps of the race was all about the battle for second with Faulconbridge running side by side around the outside of Washer for the entire time.  Larcombe was the winner and whilst Faulconbridge never got fully around and ahead of Washer, he was an important nose ahead at the end of many laps including the one approaching the chequered flag.  16 drivers returned for the Grand National.  Hatch retired after a lap leaving Simon Vincent as the race leader and the only yellow-top still in the race.  Washer quickly got to the front of the blues but was unable to make sufficient progress with catching the leader.  The main progression in the race came from Callum Faulconbridge who pinned his car on the outside line when required and made it up to fourth position with 275 Jeremy Hatch being the last driver he went around the outside of.  Vincent was the clear winner to claim his second victory of the afternoon.  A decent day from the Stock Rods with some close racing for positions, even though many of the race winners did so with plenty of space to work with.

2 Litre National Bangers

A total of 13 National Bangers arrived for their version of the Lego Trophy in memory of Brian Paramore.  Awards for presentation went to 462 Nico James for his smart Ford Focus saloon and 562 Jayden James in a fresh Mk5 Astra.  The full entry were on track for the opening heat where 280 Jordan Fitzpatrick skimmed the wall coming off turn four for the first time and presumably knocked a drive shaft out.  He tried but failed to roll across the track to the infield and was left sat for a solid shot in the back wheel from 562 Bear.  The remaining action saw 11 Grubby Frankson take 271 Jordan Coleman around before 208 Kieran Barrett put himself softly into the turn one wall after an attack on 741 Alex Waterman which didn’t quite work out.  Grubby also reeled in and span Barrett on the back straight.  216 George Baker didn’t quite have the pace to stay ahead of 186 Lewis Fasey who was the winner.  11 cars started heat two after Fitzpatrick broke down on the pre-race grid.  Coleman took a push from 286 Sophie Fasey in the early stages but gave back as good as he got although Grubby then ran Coleman into the turn one wall to bring him to a stop.  Bear arrived to nail Grubby hard whilst 462 Nico landed a decent shot to Coleman.  166 Luke Gillbard nailed the rejoined Bear adding him back to the turn two pile where Grubby was also able to land a revenge shot on the 562 car.  In the race, Baker led for a considerable time once again but was subsequently passed by Sophie Fasey and Lewis Fasey, and it was Lewis who ended up at the front of the queue in time for the chequered flag.  8 cars raced in the Final for the Lego Trophy.  Nico James wound out Barrett before nailing into Gillbard on the second turn leaving the latter crabbing quite badly with displaced back wheels.  Gillbard nonetheless managed to catch and take out Barrett who rejoined only to take a hit and be spun again by 741 Boris.  Gillbard arrived on the scene with a solid head-on to Barrett as Sophie Fasey outran her brother to take the win with Baker in third place.  Just three cars returned for the King of Crash and of those, 462 Nico’s Focus failed to respond to repeated attempts at a clutch start so 362 Jonny James left him sat at the end of the home straight before returning to the pits to watch the outcome.  The result was as expected with Barrett taking a full lap run-up to blow Nico from Sunday tea-time to Wednesday breakfast.  562 Bear slowed and waited for a big shot on turn four from Barrett which was enough to put Bear up the banking and leave Barrett scrap as well.  Bear managed to find enough traction to limp back down to the tarmac for a couple more hits on Barrett to seal the deal on his victory.  Entertaining stuff with around half of the drivers more than happy to do the entertaining and take home a scrap car.

ORCi Ministox

Completing the race programme were the ORCi Ministox for their Cornish Championship which attracted an entry of 20 drivers.  257 Kieran Hibberd had car issues before the opening heat and so 19 cars contested the race.  Novices 357 Oliver Russell and 836 Olly Oldham clashed in turn one in the early laps of the race but both were able to keep going and further drama followed for Russell who found himself on the outside of three cars into turn one.  Inexperience meant that he turned in too soon leaving 151 Ryan Hookway and 411 Anna-Rose Crosbie with nowhere to go and the marker tyre on the inside kerb took the full force of the crash that followed.  Hookway was unable to restart the car having landed on track in the corner and the yellow flags came out on lap four.  117 Max Starr led the restart but drifted wide almost straight away handing the lead to 522 Jacob Mikulla although the race only ran for another lap before home straight congestion saw 770 Delilah Farrell spin and end up facing the wall near race control bringing about a second race-stoppage.  Mikulla was leader for the restart but 475 Mason Sealy passed him on the back straight on the first lap of resumed racing.  Incidents from the closed grid restart saw 132 Rowan McAleer and 218 Rory Pearce combine to bundle 235 Kaitlin Harris wide in turn one before more novice capers witnessed Russell spinning himself on the exit of turn four where he was clattered hard on the nose by Mikulla.  Yellows were required again on lap nine to rescue Russell who was shaken but OK.  Sealy led the restart for the last portion of the race and continued to take the victory with the main change in the closing laps being Mikulla who restarted in fourth place getting back ahead of 550 Callum Herzig to score a top three finish.  Heat two featured 18 cars and held a sense of déjà vu for Mikulla who encountered the spun Harris on the exit of turn four at the start of the race.  The outcome was the same with Mikulla hitting Harris head-on but Harris was pushed backwards onto the run-off area and she rejoined the race after a couple of laps had passed.  At half distance in the race, Starr was still leading the field but this changed on the next lap when 505 Louie Herzig squeezed through on turn three.  The unlucky Hookway then got spun out to the wall on the home straight by the pack and yellows were needed on lap 10 to move him to a place of safety.  Sealy had just moved ahead of Herzig before the stoppage and so the 475 car led the way on the restart where Herzig soon dropped to third as 114 Charlie Lomas moved ahead of him.  Hibberd was also pushing hard and found the inside line available into turn one four laps from the end which promoted him to second position.  However, Lomas reversed the positions with an almost identical move on the same part of the track a lap later.  Hibberd wasn’t done and tucked inside on the back straight to take second place again into turn three with just over a lap to go and this time 313 Charlie Weston followed him through the gap into third position.  The last bit of bad luck for Lomas was to come a lap later, on the run off the last corner to the chequered flag.  575 Caden Clark had spun out at the start of the straight and Lomas piled into him head-on resulting in a DNF.  Hibberd also lost time and the result was therefore Sealy winning ahead of Weston and Mikulla.  19 cars returned for the Cornish Championship which was lined up in points order from the heats.  Sealy made a good start from pole position and soon generated enough of a gap at the front to shelter himself from any potential attack from Mikulla who had shared the front row of the grid with him.  The main changes in the race order were Lomas pushing Louie Herzig wide to move up to fourth place.  The other driver to make forward progress was Hibberd who started tenth on the grid having missed the opening heat.  He managed to reel in Herzig and knocked him wide in turn three to move to sixth place which is as high as he would reach.  Sealy took the title ahead of Mikulla and Weston.  A lively day from the Minis with the heats proving to be full of incident although it was good to see that all except one driver was still able to take part in the Final.