The August Bank Holiday weekend got underway with a packed four formula programme at Smeatharpe.
BriSCA F2 Stock Cars
A disappointing number of no-shows necessitated a two from three format. From the yellow grade, 405 Josh Hamstead swept to a convincing victory in heat one. Heavy rain fell just as heat two began, duly soaking the circuit. 828 Julian Coombes relieved 185 Jessica Webb of the lead, but in turn 468 Sam Weston took control, surviving a strong attack from Coombes just ahead of the midway point. 127 Matt Stoneman charged into second, and pursued Weston in the closing stages, eventually grabbing the lead with just over a lap remaining. On a slippery surface, heat three saw 206 Matt Brewer emerge as the early leader, but in the sort of conditions that usually suit him, 194 Luke Johnson swiftly stormed ahead and won convincingly, despite 238 Lewis Smith tailing him late on. The Final was for the O’er the Border Trophy, boasting an array of cash bonuses. Scotsman 463 Ryan McGill won the title in 2025 but was unable to defend having been injured in a non-racing accident during the closed season. With 23 cars on track the opening laps were a frenetic affair, 870 Bruno Farrell was overhauled by Brewer and Smith who then proceeded to enjoy their own battle for the race lead. Behind them, 501 Jason Ward had reeled in 83 Sy Harraway who, in the opening phase, had despatched Ward into the plating. Anticipating the likely return hit, Harraway braked up the pair of them on the home straight with Ward colliding with the rear the 83 machine. As they entered the pit bend Harraway took both of them to the plating, resulting in a caution period with Harraway nose first to the safety fence. On the restart there was a furious rush of drivers in an effort to reach the front including 315 Charlie Fisher, 390 Jessica Smith and 468 Sam Weston all in the mix alongside Brewer and Lewis Smith. Fisher was the first to drop out of contention amongst a flurry of bumper work which saw Jessica Smith briefly leading onto the back straight, but she was unable to escape sufficiently quickly and with a clinical hit Weston made his move going into turn three. Smith unfortunately lost grip on the tricky track surface, propelling her into the west bend plating and necessitating another caution period. On the restart Weston broke free with 736 Josh Weare through into second. With the last lap board out Weare tried an attack on Weston’s rear bumper from quite far back. He did not miss by much but the move achieved nothing more than allowing 127 Matt Stoneman to challenge for second. However, Weare held on. Further back 24 Jon Palmer made a similar dive and heat three winner Johnson rattled round the plating in an effort to maintain speed into the home straight to conclude a thrilling race. Weston celebrated his victory on the cool down laps, remarking in the post-race interview how much he had enjoyed the race and owed the win to the set up choices made in the pits before the race. Coombes took charge of the Grand National, but heat one winner Hamstead chased him down as the race moved into the second half. However, just when a challenge looked likely, Hamstead’s car slowed, and that opened the door for 605 Richie Andrews to edge into second place, and he effected a timely last bend attack to steal the win from Coombes and grab the Chequered Flag trophy. Stoneman completed the top three and Webb received a £50 bonus as the night’s leading white grade points scorer.
2 Litre National Bangers
Some extras to the original list produced an intriguing entry. Heat one was dominated by 362 Johnny James, who won by a huge margin. Action was at a premium, although 562 Jayden James managed to tamely bundle 208 Kieran Barrett into 532 Brandon McKnight. In heat two, Barrett went on a wrecking spree, first by burying 687 Mark Cross. 555 Harry Gelsthorp then blasted McKnight before 462 Nico James rattled Gelsthorp around the west bend plating. The impressive Barrett ended the race with attacks on Jayden James and Nico James. From the rear of the grid, opening race winner Johnny James made it as high as second, but could not reel in long-time leader 838 Jamie Peters, who took the chequered. The final was another brutal affair. Gelsthorp and his team had done a sterling job pulling out the car to return, but that undoubtedly provided added motivation to the Nico and Jayden James, to exact more damage on him. Glesthorp found himself under attack almost immediately on the pit bend by Jayden, with 205 Alex Ganter being spun in the process. On the next lap Jayden James was pushing Glesthorp down the home straight with Nico James joining in to spin the 555 driver out which gave Ganter the opportunity to launch into the back of him. Jayden James continued to give out some hard shots to the rear of Gelsthorp’s car, another hit at the end of the home straight seeing James come off worse and leading to his temporary retirement as Nico James launched a huge hit on Gelsthorp on the back straight, the latter’s right rear wheel was left hanging just by pipes and cables. Gelsthorp crabbed round to the home straight where he ended up sideways across the start finish line. The temptation was too great as Nico James ploughed in only to find himself the target of 838 Jamie Peters with Ganter and McKnight also launching themselves into the wreck much to the delight of the spectators on the home straight. Despite the attention elsewhere there was still a race being run with 200 Jai Simmons taking the chequered flag from Cross and 50 Joe Mulladay. The Destruction Derby saw another fine effort as Gelsthorp returned ensuring a blockbuster end to the evening. It didn’t take long to kick off with a huge rear end hit by Barrett on Jayden James, whose car left trailing sparks as it crabbed around the circuit. By now, James was a marked man, and Ganter landed a similarly hard blow on the James car. Still the poundings continued, James slowing at the start of the back straight providing the perfect target for Gelsthorp. Nico James then met Peters head on, on turn four before Barrett met Nico James in a savage head-on on the same bend. Peters, now on opposite, came back to pound the James car even more, as Ganter went in on Gelsthorp, the 205 driver not particularly picky about who he attacked which made him a target of a big rear end hit by Peters. Peters then resumed his attack on the Nico James car with Gelsthorp joining in for good measure, Peters once again turned his attention to Ganter before one last blast into the rear of James to conclude a tremendous 2 Litre session conducted in good spirits and with superb efforts in the pits to allow the drivers and their cars to come back for more.
Ministox
A large entry of youngsters completed their very busy month of racing. 476 Jack Wadling was an early spinner in the first heat, and he was collected by 550 Callum Herzig. 27 Leo Rabone took the lead, but had fallen down the order by the time of a caution period when 836 Olly Oldham was left stranded on the exit of turn two. 475 Mason Sealy forged his way to the front, and survived another race suspension when 151 Ryan Hookway was in a precarious position heading into turn three. Despite attention from 114 Charlie Lomas, 522 Jacob Mikulla and 313 Charlie Weston, Sealy was not to be dislodged from first place, and he claimed the Club 21 Trophy. Sealy won again in heat two, having perfected a challenge on the lead trio ahead of him, to climb from fourth to first in one telling move. Weston won through for second after a fine battle with Lomas. Sealy thus earned pole position for the Devon Championship, and eased away at the start. Lomas continued to trail him, and late on when 770 Delilah Farrell spun on the exit of turn two, Sealy glanced off the plating to avoid her and Lomas closed. However, yellow flags appeared to rescue the stranded Farrell, and that closed the grid for a single file restart. Sealy again defended his position, but with one lap remaining, Mikulla was inadvertently clobbered in the driver’s door by 218 Rory Pearce. The yellow flags appeared again, to set up a one lap shoot out. Despite the combined efforts of Lomas, 511 Lexi Crosbie and 257 Kieran Hibberd, Sealy again brilliantly defended the attack to clinch a third successive Devon title. Sealy won, with Crosbie second and Lomas third.
Stock Rods
The non-contact Stock Rods slithered on the damp circuit, and struggled to find grip. 511 Jody Bryant barged his way to the front, but his challenge on 204 Georgie Polley was too forceful, and despite crossing the line first, he was docked two places, which saw 909 Justin Washer inherit the victory. The final exploded into a fractious contest. A clash involving 814 Max Barraclough and 111 Olly Bryant brought a yellow flag period, with Polley the lead car. She defended first place, holding off spirited challenges from 100 Thomas Weeks, Jody Bryant and 314 Jason Barraclough. A few laps later, however, and Polley left a gap on the inside. Jody Bryant pushed Weeks through the gap, but then tangled with Polley, leaving 835 Matt Westaway with nowhere to go. Weeks was away and gone, whilst Polley and Jody Bryant rejoined after missing at least one lap. Polley cruised at low speed, firstly cluttering the path of race leader weeks, and then indulging in a knockabout session with Bryant. The spat came to an end when Bryant ran into Polley and she was bundled into the unsuspecting 51 Aiden Vincent on the infield. In the race, 728 Kris Woods and Washer rounded out the top three behind Weeks, who claimed The Lego Trophy. Max Barraclough led home the Grand National but was docked two places for pushing 76 Martin Larcombe aside earlier in the race. That saw Vincent inherit the win.